Chris Reynolds Photography: November 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Frame within a frame final printed image

Photoshop review

Question One: What are the three types edits that we have learned and in what order did we complete these edits for the Frame within a Frame project? Why do we edit photographs in this order?

1. Exposure (that was you get the brightness correct before anything, and you do this by accessing levels and curves)

2. Color (use photo filter and color balance) (that was you can worry about getting the color right without worrying about the color being affecting by the levels of light)

3. Vignetting (this changes the brightness of the outside and in a way crops it, and should always be a final step)

Question Two: What are the “quick keys” for: Move Tool, Crop Tool, Brush Tool, Text Tool, and Mask Mode. We did not go over the “quick keys” for Mask Mode in class, find the answer through your own research.

Move: V

Brush: B

Text: T

Mask: Q

Question Three: What are the “short-cuts” for Select-All, Inverse-Selection and Deselect-Selection. (Ctrl + ?, if you work on a PC, or Command + ?, if you work on a Mac.)

Select-all: Command+A

Inverse-Selection: Shift-Command-I

Deselect-Selection: Command+D

Question Four: Write all the steps necessary to create vignetting. Do not forget to write what Brush Mode we use, and what percentage of opacity, hardness and flow we use to paint the mask.

1. Select the Brush Tool (B). Make sure that your hardness is at 0% and you percentage of opacity and flow are both at 100%.

2. Make sure the your circle fills the image without going off the edge, and do this by adjusting your master diameter.

3. Click the masking icon at the bottom of the tools palette so that it flashes red

4. Begin to mask the image with your circle so that it forms a nice potato shape

5. Click the mask icon again so that your potato's edge forms a line that looks like marching ants

6. Go to Window and click on "layers"

7. Click on the icon at the bottom of the layers window that looks like a half black, half white circle, and select "curves"

8. Adjust the curves to properly vignette your image.

Question Five: When you open a JPEG in Photoshop, how many layers do you start with, and what are they / is it called?

When you open a JPEG, you start with one layer, and it is called "background"

Question Six: Which of these buttons on your Layers palette do you press to make a new edit layer (curves, levels, color balance, etc.)? Which of these buttons do you use to delete a layer?

To make a new layer, you click on the half black, half white circle at the bottom of the window.

To edit an existing layer you double-click on the half black-half white circle next to the layer that you want to edit.

To delete a layer, you drag the layer to the trash can icon.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Story-Telling

http://www.sarahmacwright.com/notes/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/ophelia.jpg

1. What is the first thing you notice in this photograph?

The dead woman.

2. Do you think the woman is dead or alive? If she is alive, what kind of emotions does she appear to be experiencing?

On the verge of death. She is experiencing no emotions

3. At what time of day do you think this photograph was taken?

in the morning, because she is in some sort of pajama or nightgown, and the light is not from above, the sun is not high in the sky it is low, which would mean it is either the morning or afternoon but most people do not wear their nightgowns in the afternoon

4. What are the light sources in this photograph?

two lamps, windows from both walls

5. How would you describe the environment or room here?

filled with water, but otherwise orderly

6. What objects do you see on the steps leading upstairs?

slippers

7. Is the female subject wearing shoes?

8. The title of this piece is “Ophelia.” Do some quick research… what is the history of the name “Ophelia” in literature?

Ophelia was a female character in Shakespeare's "Hamlet." Ophelia, in the play, was driven to almost insanity from a broken heart and towards the end of the play, climbs on a branch of a tree and, as the branch breaks, falls into the water and drowns. She also takes rue, which is an herb that used to be used for giving an abortion, which may have suggested that was pregnant and was mildly suicidal. Rue is also symbolic of regret.

Short Story:

It was late, but the news that Mary was bringing was good, oh it was more than good. Walking home from the doctor's, she thought she could feel it inside of her, or maybe it was just her premature optimism. Her hand was almost shaking from a concoction of emotions, and she stepped into her house, already picturing the potential outcomes of when she would tell her husband of the news. She walked upstairs, but on top of her heavy breathing and the slight creaking of the staircase, she could hear something else...no. No it couldn't be...but it was....she heard the noises of a woman? Oh yes, she was quite sure now, her husband was cheating on her. She stopped and stood there, almost like a dear in front of headlights, she felt like she had just swallowed an unchewed tortilla chip that was scraping her throat on its way down. She turned, tears turning her cheeks into a waterfall, and lay down on the downstairs couch, crying herself to sleep. How could she deal with this? It was late, but the news was wrong, so terribly wrong for the occasion. Dreading the following morning like it was her execution, she envied the soundness of sleep her child was getting inside of her.

When she woke up, he was gone. She had checked upstairs, she checked the basement. He and that woman had vanished. She called him, at work, on his cell, even his parents, but nobody knew where he had gone. She was in one of those movies, she thought, where by the end when everything is so messed up and crazed you are unable to even imagine how nice the beginning was. Yes, this was the end, she thought. She entered her room and took of her jeans and shirt, for they were a present from her husband. She slipped on her nightgown, and found the sleeping pills in her bathroom She grabbed the bottle of vodka that her husband kept on the night-stand. She moved downstairs, but yet she saw herself, as if she had no control over her actions, but was an imprint of a long-lost woman once alive, as if she was already dead before she died. She laid her slippers on the stairs, and spread herself across on the floor. She rubbed her stomach, regretting that her child would never be able to see the light of day, but feared what kind of life it would have if that light ever reached it. She poured the pills in her mouth, letting some spill on the ground around her, and drank. She let one last tear slip, and as it did it seemed to fill the room with water, slowly engulfing her and her baby, taking them down to a place from which they shall never return.