Photoshop I

Photoshop is an amazingly powerful tool to any photographer. After a week with Robert instructing our class, I feel like I can do almost anything with images and yet we've only scratched the surface of what Photoshop can do. Here are a few images that I've put together this week in Photoshop.

This photo of Mikela, James and Alex was taken in my Intro to Light class. The lighting is coming from above using an umbrella.

I lightened up the original image, touched up any major blemishes on the faces and added a background image of the sun rising that I took on my trip to NYC.

Here is another shot of James that I took during my Intro to Lighting class.

I decided to replace James' face with a mannequin's, gave him John's glasses and eyes and put in a background shot of Georgetown.

Photoshop is truly amazing!

CDIA Showcase - Developing a Style and Portfolio

Tonight's CDIA showcase featured three photographers specializing in different areas of photography and a photo editor. Vincent Ricardel, a portrait photographer, Morgan Howarth, architectural, Sean McCormick, a travel photographer and Lauren Stockbower, a photo editor, sat on a panel to discuss style and portfolio development. Chris Alvanas, the director of photography here at the DC campus, moderated the discussion.

We started out by discussing digital portfolios versus printed book portfolios. With the advent of digital photography, it is easy to have an online portfolio. However, a photo online may not necessarily translate to a good printed photo. Many clients will still want to see a printed book of your work to be sure that your photos are high quality before they hire you for a job.

After discussing portfolios we moved on to the topic of style. Each panelist stressed that it is important to be consistent with your style so you don't alienate and confuse people reviewing your work. While you may strive for a certain style, ultimately it can be influenced by clients, equipment and situations that you encounter.

Having access to working professional photographers is a great asset to the students here at CDIA. The experience and knowledge that they shared is truly insightful.

From left to right; Chris Alvanas, Morgan Howarth, Vincent Ricardel, Sean McCormick, and Lauren Stockbower.

The crowd

Intro to Photoshop

This week we will be working with Adobe Photoshop CS4 with Robert Rathe (www.robertrathe.com) as our instructor. Photoshop is a powerful image editor which allows us to get the best results possible. Today we played with some basic tools and learned about masking. We were given an image of an old man to practice masking. Masking is a way of adjusting a specific area of an image.

This is the original image we were given to play with.

In layers you can see the areas I masked and what type of adjustments were applied.

This is what I came up with for today.

Wedding Shoot - Other FT Class

While on break today I got to see the other FT class shooting part of their assignment for Wedding Photography. They had 6 couples to shoot. First, they started off in the studio where the brides and grooms were getting their hair and makeup done. Afterward, they went to a location to shoot more shots. Later they came back in the studio for reception shots. We volunteered to fill in as background people when they came back for the reception shoot.

Paparazi!

Looking good!

Here are some of the models.

Smile!

There was even cake! I had a few slices, it was delicious.

The final shot.

The Bag Shot

Today we had our "Bag Shot" assignment. Below is a description of the assignment.

Each member of each studio working group will take turns art directing, assisting and shooting a "Bag Shot", based on the following scenario.

Someone has dropped some type of bag. The contents of the bag have spilled out onto a surface. Based on the bag, the contents, the surface and the lighting, you will tell us something about the person who dropped the bag, or the circumstances under which the bag was dropped. Please keep in mind that a studio photographer has total control over (and responsibility for) every detail in the frame. We suggest that you imagine the character or the situation first, then plan and assemble the props and background materials you will need to create you visual narrative. You are restricted to the use of a single light source only.

Our group initially thought about doing a girl who was totally wasted in the restroom and has all her items from her bag strewn out across the floor.

I decided to go for a simpler shot of a girl putting on makeup.

After a hard day of thinking as to how to shoot the assignment, I finally settled on shooting a photographer tripping over a light stand in the studio. TA Dave was a great sport in filling in as the unfortunate photographer. Tomorrow we process our photos and share with the class.

Working with Strobe Lighting

Day 2 of Introduction to Lighting. Today we learned about flash/strobe lighting and things to modify the lights like soft boxes, umbrellas and grates. The strobe lights that we use have power packs which we can use to adjust the power and control the amount of light emitted by the strobe. The power packs we have can fire up to 3 strobes. We attached PocketWizards to the hotshoe of our cameras to trigger the strobe lights.

Dave and Erik explaining how to use the power pack and strobe lights.

On to modifiers! Umbrellas, softboxes and grates oh my!

James and Mikela taken with a softbox.

I took this with the umbrella above Mikhaela, James and Alejandra.

James and his future wife just using a strobe and reflector.

Learning to control light is essential to becoming a great photographer. Tomorrow we have to shoot a group assignment called the "Dropped Bag." We can only use one light to shoot an image where a bag is dropped and the contents have spilled out on the floor. From the contents and the surface of the floor we should be able to tell a story of who's bag it is and why it was dropped. It'll be interesting to see what the groups come up with.

Intro to Light - Day 1

After a week off from classes because of the snow, I was eager to start classes again. Today we started Introduction to Light with Michael Cunningham. We talked about the difference about ambient/available light and continuous/hot light and how to use a light meter to measure the amount of light falling on a subject. We then went to a area with lots of windows to shoot in available light. While shooting in ambient/available light, Michael showed us how to use reflectors to bounce light back into a subject to give it more light. After taking turns shooting our classmates we went into the studio to shoot with continuous/hot light. There were several stations setup where we could shoot various objects and students.

Michael and Erik demonstrating how to use a light meter.

Hot/Continuous Light

Various modifiers for hot lights.

Michael and David demonstrating the use of reflectors in ambient light.

John shot with ambient light.

Classmate James sitting in for a portrait shot.

John holding the reflector to bounce light to light up the other side of James's face.

CDIA Commercial Shoot

There were no classes today at CDIA because of President's Day. However, Gaston Lacombe, a CDIA alum, was shooting a CDIA commercial on campus. I joined to watch them as they prepared for the shoot. Eventually I got used as one of the photographers with TA David Phillipich, and FT student Caroline Spacee.

I believe the commercial is supposed to start off in a video game and then it pans out to see a kid playing the video game and then it pans out to see photographers taking pictures of the kid playing the video game and then it pans out to see a video editor editing video of the photographers taking pictures of the kid playing the video game. Get it? The commercial is supposed to show off all the departments here at CDIA.

Erik Eucke taking light measurements.

The video gamer taking instructions from Gaston. Guru Chris Alvanas observing.

Taking some shots with the gamer facing the camera.

Taking shots with the gamer sitting and facing the camera. TA David Phillipich helping out with the reflector.

TA David Phillipich doing what he does best with the camera.

FT student Caroline Space with a color checker card.

Put David and Caroline together and you have magic!

I eventually got shot holding a light meter and then together with David and Caroline. Being on the set was a lot of fun and also a lot of work. It's amazing what is needed to achieve perfect lighting and composition. Everyone was very good natured and very open to other people's creative opinions. I can't wait to see the final product.

Classes Cancelled for the Week

This dastardly weather has managed to cancel classes for the rest of the week. I really miss my class and instructors. Can't wait for next week. Hopefully I haven't forgotten anything crucial yet.

Blizzard Part II

Another 8 - 10 inches expected today. The winds are fierce and the snow is just as fierce. There is no stop to this weather and the weather has stopped everything else.

Classes Cancelled 2010-02-10

Classes are cancelled again as we are experiencing Snowmagedon Part II. Another 10+ inches. I don't expect to be back in school till next week. Till then I guess I'll just have to be content with shooting stuff around my apartment.

Day Off @ Brookside Garden

Today me and my friend Terry visited Brookside Garden in Silver Spring. We both had the day off. The Park was pretty much abandoned except for a few employees digging the place out. As we wandered around the park looking for stuff to shoot, a park employee informed us that the park is closed and that we should not be in there. Here are a few pictures I managed to take before we left them to their digging and plowing. Nothing really special. I wished I had Lightroom to post process these pics. It's amazing what a little Lightroom love can do!

Classes Cancelled 2010-02-09

School is closed again and we're expecting another 10-20 inches on top of the 20+ inches we already got. I'm doubtful that we'll have class at all this week. :(

Day Off Because of Snow

Because of all the snow, classes are cancelled. I took this opportunity to travel to the Strathmore Mansion this morning to take some pictures. The Strathmore Mansion is usually filled with sledders flying down the long hills whenever there is a snow day. However, there was nobody around this morning. All I could find was this lonely bare tree with a set of lonely tracks. How sad.

Classes Cancelled 2010-02-08

Darn, no classes for tomorrow.