The Photographer’s Eye Syllabus

Instructor: Christina Freeman

christinahfreeman@gmail.com

class blog: www.universitysettlementphoto.blogspot.com

University Settlement Digital Photography:

The Photographer’s Eye

Written by the Museum of Modern Art’s famous Curator of Photography, John Szarkowski, The Photographer’s Eye, serves as an essential reference for decades of photographers. Inspired by this book, the course will cover key photographic topics such as The Thing Itself, Detail, Framing, Time, and Vantage Point. This course is great for new photographers and experienced photographers looking for a refresher on these topics.

There will be weekly assignments for students to explore the topics mentioned above. Each week, students will need to bring in examples of their work from the assignment in either print or digital form.

Note: you do not need to purchase the Szarkowski book, but you might enjoy owning it!

Week 1 (January 5)

Topic: The Thing Itself

Technical focus: basics of exposure, lighting & flash

Week 2 (January 19)

Topic: Detail

Technical focus: macro photography

Week 3 (January 26)

Topic: Framing

Technical focus: composition, rule of thirds, cropping

Week 4 - (February 2)

Field trip to Chelsea galleries - cancelled!

meet at houston street center

Week 5 (February 9)

Topic: Time

Technical focus: shutter speed, sports mode, kids & pets mode grid layouts

Week 6 (February 16)

Topic: Vantage Point

Technical focus: portrait mode, landscape mode

Week 7 (February 23)

Topic: Color & Color Theory

Technical focus: White balance, Saturation, Black & White, Sepia

Week 8 (March 2)

Topic: Editing & File Storage

Technical focus: Using Adobe Bridge or Photoshop Elements to rate & organize photos

Review of all topics

photoshop syllabus: january/february

Instructor: Christina Freeman

christinahfreeman@gmail.com

class blog: www.universitysettlementphoto.blogspot.com

University Settlement Photoshop:

The focus of this course will be improving straight images, particularly images you have already taken and have problems with that you would like to resolve.

This is a great course for orienting yourself with Photoshop and also if you want to improve on the skills you already have.

It is highly recommended that you have access to a computer with Photoshop to practice.

There will be weekly lessons posted on the class blog, and I would like everyone to practice the lesson at home and bring in an example of their work each week.

Keyboard shortcuts will also be on the class blog.

Week 1 (January 5)

Introduction to Photoshop:

Tools Palette, Opening files, Undo (History), Cropping, Straighten, Rotate, Flip, Layers Palette

Save, Save As

Week 2 (January 19)

Brushes, Stamp Tool, Zoom, Hand Tool, Burn, Dodge, Sponge, Eraser

Week 3 (January 26)

Automatic Adjustments, Exposure, Saturation, Black & White, Contrast, Levels, Curves,

Week 4 - (February 2)

Marquee Tools, Magic Wand, Lasso, Feather Selection, Move, Blur, Sharpen, Smudge,

Week 5 (February 9)

Paint Brush, Paint Bucket, Eye Dropper, Default colors

Week 6 (February 16)

Adjustments to selections, Copying selections, Merge Down, Flatten Image

Week 7 (February 23)

Masks and Channels, Free Transform

Week 8 (March 2)

Filters, Healing Brush, Patch Tool, Pen Tool

Preparing the image for print, Image Size, Border, Canvas

Digital Photography class homework

Practice with exposure:

Bring in one image of the same subject photographed using bracketing (keep the Aperture and Shutter Speed the same, but change the ISO for each picture).

This will allow you to see the affect of ISO on the exposure.

Take 10 photographs of anything! wow! really? yes!

Photoshop class homework

The homework for this week:

bring in one image that is crooked and the straightened version

bring in one image that you flipped or rotated

bring in one image that you added a border to (using the crop tool)

images (photoshop lesson: crop, straighten, rotate)

the photoshop CS2 tool palette with categories

the Photoshop CS3 tool palette

Crop and Straighten, Rotate, Flip

Crop and Straighten

1. Open Photoshop (From your Start Menu > Programs > Adobe CS2)

2. Open your image by going to the File menu and selecting Open.

3. Choose File and click Open

4. Make sure the Layers Palette is visible, if not go to Window > Layers

5. Copy your background using the keyboard shortcut CNTRL + J (Command J)

6. Click on the Crop Tool in the Tools Palette (keyboard shortcut is C)

7. Set the dimensions in the tool options bar, for Width type 3 in, for Height type 2 in

8. Draw a crop Marquee around the image, the area inside the crop mark will be left and the area outside will be discarded

9. Make sure the Perspective box is not checked

10. To straighten the image, move your cursor just outside the marquee near a corner. Your cursor icon will change to a double-pointing curved arrow indicating that you can rotate the marquee.

11. Rotate and move the marquee so that one edge follows a horizon line.

12. After you get that one edge aligned with the horizon, reposition all four edges to mark the exact crop area.

13. Press Return or Enter on your keyboard to crop the image.

Rotate & Flip

1. Using the cropped image, go to the Image Menu > Rotate Canvas > 180 degrees

2. go to the Image Menu > Rotate Canvas > 90 degrees CW

3. go to the Image Menu > Rotate Canvas > 90 CCW

4. go to the Image Menu > Rotate Canvas > Flip Vertical

5. go to the Image Menu > Rotate Canvas > Flip Horizontal

Add a border using the crop tool

1. First select the background color.

2. Next make a crop selection and

3. Drag the borders outside of the document area.

4. When you're happy with the selection press enter.

You will see a colored border added to your photo.

***REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACKWARDS ONE STEP WITH THE KEYBOARD SHORCUT CONTROL + Z or COMMAND + Z***

*If you finish with extra time you can try it with another image of your own or another from the blog

History Palette

If you want to undo more than one action, but you don't want to

go back all the way to the beginning, the History Palette is great!

The History palette in Photoshop is the command center for keeping track of changes to your images, undoing editing steps, and correcting mistakes.

To find the History palette go to the Window Menu and select history. The original file is at the top of the list and any changes you have made to it are below in chronological order.

You can go back in time by clicking above. You can skip around anywhere in the list but once you make a new change any later changes past that point will disappear.

You can set the number of actions that the history will remember in your preferences. The default is usually 20.

depth of field

example of large aperture, short depth of field

examples of student work from abstract class

Digital Painting

1. Open Photoshop

2. Open a new blank document by going to the File menu and selecting New.

3. Set the Width at 8.5 and the Height at 11 inches, Set the Resolution to 300 dpi,

Color Mode should be RGB 8 bit, Choose White for the Color

4. Fill the blank document by going to the Edit menu and selecting Fill,

Choose Color under the drop down menu options. Pick your color from the options (Yellow).

5. Make sure the Layers Palette is visible, if not go to Window - > Layers

6. Create a new empty layer by clicking on the small square next to the cookie.

7. Choose the Eliptical Marquee from the Tools Palette and set the Feather to 25 pixels.

8. Draw out an oval on the new empty layer

9. Fill the Oval with Blue.

10. Create a new empty layer by clicking on the small square next to the cookie.

11. Choose the Brush Tool (Keyboard Letter B)

12. Set the default colors for foreground and background by clicking on the black & white squares in the tool palette.

13. On the new empty layer paint your black marks with the brush (lines and circles).

Adjust your brush with the brackets or in the drop down menu. (Left bracket makes the brush smaller, right bigger)

14. Use the pencil tool for thinner lines. (It is located under the brush in the tools palette)

15. Choose the color red for the foreground color. Using the brush tool with a soft edge, paint the red dot. (You can bring the hardness slider down to the left to make the soft edge).

16. Choose the color black for the foreground color. Using the brush tool with 60% opacity and a soft edge, paint the last black dot.

images for december 8

Gradient Tool

Open a blank document.

1. Open Photoshop

2. Open a new blank document by going to the File menu and selecting New.

3. Set the Width at 8.5 and the Height at 11 inches, Set the Resolution to 300 dpi,

Color Mode should be RGB 8 bit, Choose White for the Color

4. Make sure the Layers Palette is visible, if not go to Window - > Layers

5. Choose the Marquee (Keyboard shortcut is M) from the Tools Palette and set the Feather to 25 pixels.

6. Choose your foreground color by clicking on the top colored square at the bottom of the tool palette. Choose a shade of blue. We will leave the background color as black for now. (If it is not already black, set it to black)

7. Draw out a square Marquee Tool.

8. Click on the Gradient Tool (Keyboard shortcut is G)

9. Choose the Type of Gradient in the drop down menu (we will use the first one)

10. Inside the Marquee Tool, click and drag out your Gradient Tool. You will see the longer you stretch the Gradient Tool, the more of the foreground color is visible. The shorter you draw out the Gradient Tool, the more of the background color is visible.

11. Repeat this process (steps 5-10) with different Marquee tools and different colors. Try again with a different Gradient.

Advanced:

You may continue to add more layers of varying colors or play with erasing parts of the layers until you are happy.

Try flipping the canvas as you create the work to see how it varies. (Image menu - Rotate Canvas - 180 degrees)

You can also add additional Hue/Saturation layers to see how they change the image.

Save the image:

Save your image by going to the File menu and Save As (Choose JPEG for finished images and PSD for unfinished images). For JPEG save the image at the highest size (Size 12).

***REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACKWARDS ONE STEP WITH THE KEYBOARD SHORCUT CONTROL + Z or COMMAND + Z***

*If you finish with extra time you can try it with one of your own images.

Homework for December 8

look over the list of contemporary photographers and choose one for this week.
make work inspired by that photographer!

http://universitysettlementphoto.blogspot.com/2010/10/contemporary-photographers-working-with.html

December 1: Blossfeldt project

Instructions for Using Filters

Open the image in Photoshop:

1. Open Photoshop

2. Open your image by going to the File menu and selecting Open.

3. Choose File and click Open

4. Make sure the Layers Palette is visible, if not go to Window - > Layers

5. Copy your background using the keyboard shortcut CNTRL + J (Command J)

6. Go to the Filter Menu and choose Filter Gallery

7. In the Filter Gallery at the bottom left corner choose Fit On Screen (It will allow you to see the whole image)

8. Try the various options under the Artistic List, when you like your choice click OKAY

Save the image:

Save your image by going to the File menu and Save As (Choose JPEG for finished images and PSD for unfinished images). For JPEG save the image at the highest size (Size 12).

***REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACKWARDS ONE STEP WITH THE KEYBOARD SHORCUT CONTROL + Z or COMMAND + Z***

Advanced:

Use the Selection Tools to Change the color of particular areas in the image:

1. Under the Image menu choose Mode and RGB. If you are asked if you want to flatten the image, say no.

2. Select your foreground color by clicking on the top square in the Tools Palette, Select your color from the options provided

3. Use the marquee tools to draw out geometric shapes and then fill them with color using the paint bucket.

4. You can also make a second copy of the background and apply a different filter to it. Then you can erase parts of the top layer to reveal what is below.

Save your image by going to the File menu and Save As (Choose JPEG for finished images and PSD for unfinished images). For JPEG save the image at the highest size (Size 12).

***REMEMBER YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACKWARDS ONE STEP WITH THE KEYBOARD SHORCUT CONTROL + Z or COMMAND + Z***