Lately we've all been concentrating on completing our digital paintings. I've polished mine off and I'm pretty sure that I'm done with it. If you would like to take a look please refer to me previous post "...From Scratch!" We haven't had a new assignment since then aside from working on the wiki and I have already contributed three articles to that and hope to do more.
I've also decided to try and produce a new banner for our wiki. I don't have many ideas as of yet but I'm aiming to make a better one than the current, which once again can be found at http://woodbinejhs.ca/btt/wiki.
That's all for now, now it's time for me to get back to work!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
...From Scratch!
Lately in class we've been working with Adobe Photoshop Elements as I have mentioned in my previous posts. We've already learned how to correct and edit existing images. The next step in our Photoshop Path Of Wisdom is creating our very own image...from scratch!
The kind of work we're doing, by creating our own image on Photoshop, is considered and known as 'digital painting'. This term makes good sense if you think about it. Digital because of the use of technology and painting because we are, just like an artist, painting on our own blank canvas (just that ours is on a monitor and not a wooden stand!). The idea is pretty simple but composing an image can be quite tough when you're not familiar with the program you are using! I strongly suggest for everyone to try out their techniques before they work on their final product! Using a lot of layers is a very beneficial idea, that way you can just delete parts of your picture that you aren't happy with without affecting the rest of your work.
If you'd like to see what I've done so far on this assignment, please take a look at our Wiki Gallery. There are some other great images to check out there as well. This is all for now!
The kind of work we're doing, by creating our own image on Photoshop, is considered and known as 'digital painting'. This term makes good sense if you think about it. Digital because of the use of technology and painting because we are, just like an artist, painting on our own blank canvas (just that ours is on a monitor and not a wooden stand!). The idea is pretty simple but composing an image can be quite tough when you're not familiar with the program you are using! I strongly suggest for everyone to try out their techniques before they work on their final product! Using a lot of layers is a very beneficial idea, that way you can just delete parts of your picture that you aren't happy with without affecting the rest of your work.
If you'd like to see what I've done so far on this assignment, please take a look at our Wiki Gallery. There are some other great images to check out there as well. This is all for now!
Monday, February 19, 2007
Ha! In your face Wikipedia!
In today's class we were made aware of our very own wiki! It has been created specially for the people taking the course. For those of you who don't know wiki comes from the hawaiian word which means something close to community. A wiki is basically a community which allows its users to contribute information that would be beneficial to other users of the wiki.
Wiki-type of communities are growing increasingly popular. They are proving to be a very productive way of learning and gaining knowledge. They are used for teaching courses to business purposes! Wikis compile different concepts or ideas related to a subject. The best part is that wikis are "By The People For The People!"
Wikipedia is a good example of a wiki since all the information is inputted by the users. The information is monitored by administrative staff to keep out useless garbage, of course!
Our wiki can be found at www.woodbinejhs.ca/btt/wiki
(*Note: Wiki is exclusive to students taking the BTT course)
Wiki-type of communities are growing increasingly popular. They are proving to be a very productive way of learning and gaining knowledge. They are used for teaching courses to business purposes! Wikis compile different concepts or ideas related to a subject. The best part is that wikis are "By The People For The People!"
Wikipedia is a good example of a wiki since all the information is inputted by the users. The information is monitored by administrative staff to keep out useless garbage, of course!
Our wiki can be found at www.woodbinejhs.ca/btt/wiki
(*Note: Wiki is exclusive to students taking the BTT course)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Playful Customization
In today's class we looked at different things we can add or change about an existing picture. We've already learned how to make a picture look better so this class was focussed on making a picture look like something it actually wasn't!
The picture we were experimenting with can be considered a landscape picture (deliberately not a good one, since we wanted to 'fix' it!). We were shown how to change and add things to the sky (e.g.: moon, lightning etc.). We messed around with a few other aspects of the picture but the possibilities are left quite broad. Now it is up to our imaginations and our knowledge of photoshop to create a more interesting image out of our boring piles of snow!
The picture we were experimenting with can be considered a landscape picture (deliberately not a good one, since we wanted to 'fix' it!). We were shown how to change and add things to the sky (e.g.: moon, lightning etc.). We messed around with a few other aspects of the picture but the possibilities are left quite broad. Now it is up to our imaginations and our knowledge of photoshop to create a more interesting image out of our boring piles of snow!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Sliding Into Perfection
When you take pictures you often only judge the content of the picture. We usually only evaluate the colours, quality and such only sparingly in the pictures we take. They are, however, an important aspect of any photograph or image. Sadly, a lot of pictures and images you may find on the internet, or just pictures you've taken yourself, might be very poor in these areas. Fortunately for us we can easily fix or edit these parts of our pictures using proper knowledge of Adobe Photoshop Elements. So let's look at a few common problems in images and how to fix them.
Colours:
Often a pictures colours may not have come out right, or look strange to you. To fix this problem using Photoshop Elements you alter the levels of RGB in your picture. You can do this by going to enhace>brightness/contrast>levels. From there you will be directed to a pop up screen. That will show a graphic representation of the over all RGB levels in your image and sliders that can help you alter them. You can move those around to lighten or darken your image to your heart's content, but there is also a drop down menu that let's you control the individual levels of the colours red, green and blue in your picture. Just move around some sliders and there you have it!
Image Quality:
Image quality is an entirely different issue. The quality of an image depends on its resolution. The resolution determines how many pixels there are per inch of the image. Pixel is short for picture element. Each pixel is like one dot of colour in an image, the more of these dots there are per inch the sharper, better quality you get in a picture. So when you're creating an image to print remember to always keep your resolution at 300, to get the best results. If you're just putting an image on the internet 72 is the suggested resolution so it doesn't take as much time to load and use up large amounts of bandwidth. It's hard to increase the resolution of an image once it has already been taken. Since the computer sees everything as a mathematical equation, it can only see the number of dots per inch and their hexadecimal codes. If you ask it to add more information (add more pixels), it can only stretch o ut the information it already has. The computer can only make a guess for you and thus the resolution can only be fixed slightly.
If your picture, for some reason, is too dull, bright or blurry, you can use the dodge, burn and sharpen tools to help you out.
Sharpen: The sharpen tool can sharpen parts of an image, but don't expect great results. If you have a blurry picture, sorry, you should just hold the camera still!
Dodge/Burn: The dodge and burn tools affect how light or dark the colours in your image are. If you use the dodge tool over an area the colours become brighter. If you use the burn tool the colours become darker, as if they had become "burnt", thus the name of the tool. Both of these were originally techniques used by manual developpers in the past.
So these are some ways to make your pictures look better using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Similar tools can be found in other photo-editing software so it's always good to know some basics. Now everything can look picture perfect!
Colours:
Often a pictures colours may not have come out right, or look strange to you. To fix this problem using Photoshop Elements you alter the levels of RGB in your picture. You can do this by going to enhace>brightness/contrast>levels. From there you will be directed to a pop up screen. That will show a graphic representation of the over all RGB levels in your image and sliders that can help you alter them. You can move those around to lighten or darken your image to your heart's content, but there is also a drop down menu that let's you control the individual levels of the colours red, green and blue in your picture. Just move around some sliders and there you have it!
Image Quality:
Image quality is an entirely different issue. The quality of an image depends on its resolution. The resolution determines how many pixels there are per inch of the image. Pixel is short for picture element. Each pixel is like one dot of colour in an image, the more of these dots there are per inch the sharper, better quality you get in a picture. So when you're creating an image to print remember to always keep your resolution at 300, to get the best results. If you're just putting an image on the internet 72 is the suggested resolution so it doesn't take as much time to load and use up large amounts of bandwidth. It's hard to increase the resolution of an image once it has already been taken. Since the computer sees everything as a mathematical equation, it can only see the number of dots per inch and their hexadecimal codes. If you ask it to add more information (add more pixels), it can only stretch o ut the information it already has. The computer can only make a guess for you and thus the resolution can only be fixed slightly.
If your picture, for some reason, is too dull, bright or blurry, you can use the dodge, burn and sharpen tools to help you out.
Sharpen: The sharpen tool can sharpen parts of an image, but don't expect great results. If you have a blurry picture, sorry, you should just hold the camera still!
Dodge/Burn: The dodge and burn tools affect how light or dark the colours in your image are. If you use the dodge tool over an area the colours become brighter. If you use the burn tool the colours become darker, as if they had become "burnt", thus the name of the tool. Both of these were originally techniques used by manual developpers in the past.
So these are some ways to make your pictures look better using Adobe Photoshop Elements. Similar tools can be found in other photo-editing software so it's always good to know some basics. Now everything can look picture perfect!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Behind The Camera Lens
We have all dealt with pictures throughout the course of our lifetimes. We've either been in pictures or taken them or simply viewed them as they fill the world around us. Pictures are a timeless record of an emotion, idea or message. They are ideal for expressing views, making memories or simply having fun. So you may think, "Pictures? What's the big deal? I've been working with those since I was a child!" But the truth is that not many people get a chance to look at things from the photographer's perspective, the artist's angle or through the image composer's eyes.
Images and pictures that you see in the media on a normal basis are A LOT more than they seem. They may actually be manipulating your thoughts in a certain way and you don't have a clue about it! In truth, the construction of media is a lot more than just taking a random picture and sticking a slogan on it. The presenter has to carefully evaluate their audience and think of a catchy way to promote or convey their message or idea. There are many techniques followed in the world behind the camera lens, and I believe it is important for you to familiarize yourself with them!
The Rules Of Composition:
I will mention here a few of the rules of composition and how they work towards the final product. There are many other rules of composition that you can find but these are quite major.
1) Rule Of Thirds: This rule focuses on the positioning of the main object or concept in your image. To understand it please look at the picture below:
Source: http://www.picturecorrect.com/photographytips/composition.htm
The idea here is to divide your picture into 9 sections as depicted above. Instead of placing your focal point in the dead center of the image you should aim to place it on one of the points circled in red above. This gives a more interesting angle to your image and draws the consumer in.
2) Simplicity: You should always try to keep your image simple. A simple more clean way of presenting the image will make a more striking point and avoid any distractions. A good way of doing this is trying not to have any lines or other elements leading away from your focal point and keeping a fairly subtle background.
3) Framing: Even if you don't know anything about photography, you probably do know that putting a frame around a picture is a good thing to do. This works for focal points in images as well except its purpose is not to hold the image up. Framing while composing in image refers to having the surroundings of your focal point placed around it so that they frame it. But you have to be careful with this and make sure that your focal point is what stays dominant and that the way you frame your focal point doesn't take away from it.
4) Texture: Involving texture in your image is effective. Texture makes the human mind wander and think about how the objects in the picture feel. It concentrates the mind's energy and draws the consumer's interest. When using texture, make sure that all the shadows play out properly in the picture and that its features are highlighted and darkened accordingly. Lighting is key for texture!
5) Leading Lines: This is rule of composition that you can have a bit of fun with. It is very versatile as well as useful. Leading lines can be used to guide the eye around the image and make it look at things that you want to be looked at. Leading lines can be almost anything and they allow the composer of the image to make sure that the viewer receives the right idea of the image.
6) Colour: Colour, this is a no-brainer, you may think. Colours can change the way a picture makes a person feel and how they react to it. So keep your colour combinations in mind when you compose an image. It is important to use colours that are appropriate to your subject, cause and situation. A little slip could give the wrong message! Use combinations that are pleasing to the eyes (or unpleasant if that's the idea you're going for, but that's a different kind of statement).
So now you know what the experts think about before they present their work. These are all things you should think about to before you create, consume or be part of a picture yourself!
*Note: We'll be using Adobe Photoshop Elements to experiment with these rules and other ideas that apply to image composition. If you'd like to learn more about photoshop, I'd suggest you look at an introductory tutorial.
Images and pictures that you see in the media on a normal basis are A LOT more than they seem. They may actually be manipulating your thoughts in a certain way and you don't have a clue about it! In truth, the construction of media is a lot more than just taking a random picture and sticking a slogan on it. The presenter has to carefully evaluate their audience and think of a catchy way to promote or convey their message or idea. There are many techniques followed in the world behind the camera lens, and I believe it is important for you to familiarize yourself with them!
The Rules Of Composition:
I will mention here a few of the rules of composition and how they work towards the final product. There are many other rules of composition that you can find but these are quite major.
1) Rule Of Thirds: This rule focuses on the positioning of the main object or concept in your image. To understand it please look at the picture below:
Source: http://www.picturecorrect.com/photographytips/composition.htm
The idea here is to divide your picture into 9 sections as depicted above. Instead of placing your focal point in the dead center of the image you should aim to place it on one of the points circled in red above. This gives a more interesting angle to your image and draws the consumer in.
2) Simplicity: You should always try to keep your image simple. A simple more clean way of presenting the image will make a more striking point and avoid any distractions. A good way of doing this is trying not to have any lines or other elements leading away from your focal point and keeping a fairly subtle background.
3) Framing: Even if you don't know anything about photography, you probably do know that putting a frame around a picture is a good thing to do. This works for focal points in images as well except its purpose is not to hold the image up. Framing while composing in image refers to having the surroundings of your focal point placed around it so that they frame it. But you have to be careful with this and make sure that your focal point is what stays dominant and that the way you frame your focal point doesn't take away from it.
4) Texture: Involving texture in your image is effective. Texture makes the human mind wander and think about how the objects in the picture feel. It concentrates the mind's energy and draws the consumer's interest. When using texture, make sure that all the shadows play out properly in the picture and that its features are highlighted and darkened accordingly. Lighting is key for texture!
5) Leading Lines: This is rule of composition that you can have a bit of fun with. It is very versatile as well as useful. Leading lines can be used to guide the eye around the image and make it look at things that you want to be looked at. Leading lines can be almost anything and they allow the composer of the image to make sure that the viewer receives the right idea of the image.
6) Colour: Colour, this is a no-brainer, you may think. Colours can change the way a picture makes a person feel and how they react to it. So keep your colour combinations in mind when you compose an image. It is important to use colours that are appropriate to your subject, cause and situation. A little slip could give the wrong message! Use combinations that are pleasing to the eyes (or unpleasant if that's the idea you're going for, but that's a different kind of statement).
So now you know what the experts think about before they present their work. These are all things you should think about to before you create, consume or be part of a picture yourself!
*Note: We'll be using Adobe Photoshop Elements to experiment with these rules and other ideas that apply to image composition. If you'd like to learn more about photoshop, I'd suggest you look at an introductory tutorial.
Friday, February 02, 2007
lamicedaxeH?
Now...you're probably wondering what I'm talking about if you've read the title. Well the truth is that even I'm not quite sure what I'm talking about. Here let me fix that
lamicedaxeH-------->Hexadecimal
Yes, we're learning about Hexadecimal, the base 16 number system. As you all know we follow the base 10 number system and we have already explored binary the base 2 number system (Refer to "Computers? Those are ancient!" for more information.
This is how Hexadecimal works:
-Place values increase by multiplying by 16 (E.G. 1, 16, 32, etc.)
-We can place numbers up to "9" in place value columns
-Letters (A-F) are used after 9
A=10
B=11
C=12
D=13
E=14
F=15
And after F(15) you would naturally move to the next column, since Hexadecimal is the base 16 number system. To understand this concept better lets look at an example. Let's say you want to represent the number 17 using Hexadecimal, it would be done like so:
FF0000
The FF symbolizes all 255 levels of red. The first two zeros symbolize zero values of green and the last two zeros symbolize 0 values of blue. Leaving you with pure red. Using Hexadecimal you can go from 00 to FF for red green and blue. You need the right amount of each colour to create the right shade.
Since we have 255 levels of each colour. In total we have the possibility of 16.7 million colours, that's a lot to work with. Hexadecimal codes help us assign a specific code to each one of these colours making them much easier to use.
To sum all that up...Hexadecimal is just another thing that makes our already complicated lives slightly simpler!
lamicedaxeH-------->Hexadecimal
Yes, we're learning about Hexadecimal, the base 16 number system. As you all know we follow the base 10 number system and we have already explored binary the base 2 number system (Refer to "Computers? Those are ancient!" for more information.
This is how Hexadecimal works:
-Place values increase by multiplying by 16 (E.G. 1, 16, 32, etc.)
-We can place numbers up to "9" in place value columns
-Letters (A-F) are used after 9
A=10
B=11
C=12
D=13
E=14
F=15
And after F(15) you would naturally move to the next column, since Hexadecimal is the base 16 number system. To understand this concept better lets look at an example. Let's say you want to represent the number 17 using Hexadecimal, it would be done like so:
So the number 17 would be represented as "11" using Hexadecimal. Since we have 16(x1) and 1(x1).
The most common use of Hexadecimal, which we discussed in class is used to define values of RGB(Red, Green, Blue). Different values of the colours red, green and blue are what allow our computer monitors to display the wide range of colours that they do today. Different values of red, green and blue are applied to make these colours and Hexadecimal is what defines these values. The most vital piece of information that you need to know is that there are 255 levels of each colour, red, green and blue.
Another example can be used here to make this idea clear. If you want the colour pure red you would use the Hexadecimal code:
FF0000
The FF symbolizes all 255 levels of red. The first two zeros symbolize zero values of green and the last two zeros symbolize 0 values of blue. Leaving you with pure red. Using Hexadecimal you can go from 00 to FF for red green and blue. You need the right amount of each colour to create the right shade.
Since we have 255 levels of each colour. In total we have the possibility of 16.7 million colours, that's a lot to work with. Hexadecimal codes help us assign a specific code to each one of these colours making them much easier to use.
To sum all that up...Hexadecimal is just another thing that makes our already complicated lives slightly simpler!
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