Project 1: Workflow
Excercise 1: My own workflow -1
For this portrait session, I have planned to follow the following work flow:
For this portrait session, I have planned to follow the following work flow:
- Choose lens (18-55, or 18-200)
- Decide whether I need a polarising filter
- Make sure the lens and filter are clean, and bring a cloth
- Make sure the battery is charged
- Is the memory card empty?
- Choose model and setting.
- Planning for cloudy weather to avoid sharp shadows, or evening light for soft lighting
- What ISO, white balance or flash do I need?
- Develop the composition during the shoot and try different scales
- When the shoot is ended, return all the camera settings to neutral
- Download photos to pc
- Put the photos in a folder named after today's date
- The files will automatically be given a serial number
- Browse all photos and delete those which are clearly faulty
- Choose those photos which are artistically and creatively most pleasing
- Take a break, then come back to the final selection and choose one or two
- Straighten and crop etc as needed
- Rename the two files and save them in a different location for this exercise
- Upload final picture to web
Execrcise 2: My own workflow - 2
In this exercise I'm shooting for a specifc assignment - little Elsa's christening with a reception afterwards. It is open ended because I don't know exactly when it will finish. Throughout the day I will go through the photos taken and review the quality and if I need more shots of a certain situation.
The workflow is very much like in excercise 1, with one addition: I'm planning on using the automatic variable ISO setting, as the light in the church can be low and I'm not planning on using neither flash nor a tripod. I'll use the shutter priority with a minumum of 1/60th second. I know some pictures could be grainy but I'd rather not disturb in church. We shall see how it turns out.
After the shoot I ended up with lots of pictures of various quality. The automatic ISO setting worked well in some instances, but in especially close ups it turned out too grainy. It was the first time I used this automatic setting, which I found through looking through my camera menus, and I still think it was worthwhile using. Working without the flash gave the picture a soft natural light.
In this exercise I'm shooting for a specifc assignment - little Elsa's christening with a reception afterwards. It is open ended because I don't know exactly when it will finish. Throughout the day I will go through the photos taken and review the quality and if I need more shots of a certain situation.
The workflow is very much like in excercise 1, with one addition: I'm planning on using the automatic variable ISO setting, as the light in the church can be low and I'm not planning on using neither flash nor a tripod. I'll use the shutter priority with a minumum of 1/60th second. I know some pictures could be grainy but I'd rather not disturb in church. We shall see how it turns out.
After the shoot I ended up with lots of pictures of various quality. The automatic ISO setting worked well in some instances, but in especially close ups it turned out too grainy. It was the first time I used this automatic setting, which I found through looking through my camera menus, and I still think it was worthwhile using. Working without the flash gave the picture a soft natural light.
Out of all the photographs, I found three photos the most pleasing. It was difficult to choose, but in the end I chose one of the interior, during the christening, and one of the exterior of the church, as they contain an allround illustration. I straightened and cropped to improve. I saved two compressed images with a new name, for inclusion on this website. The two selected pictures are below. Link to picture I chose not to include here.
Exercise 3: Histogram
This series of photos contains three sets of low, average and high dynamic range. The histogram changes depending on the range, and can be viewed firstly on the camera's LCD display and secondly in Photoshop. I have learned that the histogram is accessed through Menu: Image: Histogram. EXIF data can be accessed through File: File info: select EXIF.
Low dynamic range: The photos below show low contrast.
This series of photos contains three sets of low, average and high dynamic range. The histogram changes depending on the range, and can be viewed firstly on the camera's LCD display and secondly in Photoshop. I have learned that the histogram is accessed through Menu: Image: Histogram. EXIF data can be accessed through File: File info: select EXIF.
Low dynamic range: The photos below show low contrast.
In the low contrast images above, the values on the histograms are squeezed together and the graph appears smoth. As the images move from overexposed to underexposed, the values on the histogram move towards the left, as it gets darker.
Average dynamic range: The photos below show average contrast
Average dynamic range: The photos below show average contrast
The histograms above show an average dynamic range. The graphs have a more jagged appearance than the low dynamic series and spread further accross the scale. As the image move from overexposed to underexposed, the graph moves towards the left.
High dynamic range: The photos below show high contrast.
High dynamic range: The photos below show high contrast.
The high dynamic pictures above, have histograms with values spread accross the scale, because they contain both dark and light areas. In the histogram belonging to the overexposed picture, highlight clipping can be seen, as the values are pushed up high against the white end to the right. This cannot be seen in the other two histograms, which tells us that they are better exposed images. There are no shadow clippings in this series of images.
To summarise, the histogram is a tool for ensuring the images contain a correct exposure and to record details in both bright and dark areas. The articles Understanding your digital camera's histogram by Digital Darrell and Camera histograms: tones and contrast by Cambridge in Colour have helped me to understand this subject further.
To summarise, the histogram is a tool for ensuring the images contain a correct exposure and to record details in both bright and dark areas. The articles Understanding your digital camera's histogram by Digital Darrell and Camera histograms: tones and contrast by Cambridge in Colour have helped me to understand this subject further.
Exercise 4: Editing
Editing means here selecting the final pictures in a series. To alter a picture with software is called processing. Editing is an important part of the photographic workflow and is highly personal and part of the creative process.
For this exercise, I have chosen a sequence of images taken of the exterior and interior of Copenhagen airport.
Step One
Obviously faulty photos are put in "the faulty folder".
Step Two
I put pictures that are creatively satisfactory in the "select folder".
Step Three
I choose the several best out of the group of all satisfactory images from the previous step. These images have that little extra. I put them in the "first selects" folder.
Step Four
After a break, I look at the first selects again, to make sure I made the right choice.
Step Five
I choose the required two images and put them in the folder "finals folder".
Editing means here selecting the final pictures in a series. To alter a picture with software is called processing. Editing is an important part of the photographic workflow and is highly personal and part of the creative process.
For this exercise, I have chosen a sequence of images taken of the exterior and interior of Copenhagen airport.
Step One
Obviously faulty photos are put in "the faulty folder".
Step Two
I put pictures that are creatively satisfactory in the "select folder".
Step Three
I choose the several best out of the group of all satisfactory images from the previous step. These images have that little extra. I put them in the "first selects" folder.
Step Four
After a break, I look at the first selects again, to make sure I made the right choice.
Step Five
I choose the required two images and put them in the folder "finals folder".
The two final selected imaged are shown below. Even though they are quite similar, they stand out from the group. I like they way the shadows create a pattern.
When you have to select one or two images from a large set, it is really useful to follow a routine, as it makes your thought process much clearer.
When you have to select one or two images from a large set, it is really useful to follow a routine, as it makes your thought process much clearer.
Assignment 1: Workflow
In this assignment, the task is to construct a sensible workflow, with a series of photos in a field of photography I feel comfortable with. My idea is to take a set of photos around Dublin 2, the area which I work in. I can go out during lunch hours on several days, and try to capture features within an area very well known to me. The challenge is to capture something interesting in the familiar. To add some extra interest, I'll be looking for red object with this confined area. This will also make me concentrate on my assignment, instead of taking pictures of everything that moves.
These are the steps I follow:
Saturate colour
Rotate and crop
Custom rotate
Darken with layers filter
Save for web
I think my workflow is especially characterised by the systematic numbering and naming by letters of folders, in order to keep them chronological. This might differ from the workflow of others.
The final images for this assignment are shown in the gallery below.
In this assignment, the task is to construct a sensible workflow, with a series of photos in a field of photography I feel comfortable with. My idea is to take a set of photos around Dublin 2, the area which I work in. I can go out during lunch hours on several days, and try to capture features within an area very well known to me. The challenge is to capture something interesting in the familiar. To add some extra interest, I'll be looking for red object with this confined area. This will also make me concentrate on my assignment, instead of taking pictures of everything that moves.
These are the steps I follow:
- Check the memory card is empty
- Charge the battery
- Choose the lens for which I have a polarising filter. I think it will be a sunny day. After the first day I feel rather restricted with the shorter lens, so I choose the longer lens, for possible close ups of people.
- Make sure the lens and filter are clean.
- I have a few places in mind for possible photos.
- The shoot continues several days, and after each day I download the photos into the folder called "Assignment 1". I have created subfolders with very descriptive names:
- Faulty
- Technically OK
- Artistically pleasing
- First selects
- Final selects
- After each download, I put faulty images in the first folder, and leave the rest in "2 Technically OK". When I am about to download after the second shoot, I encounter the problem with similar filenames. Each fresh batch of photos are automatically named DSC_0001, DSC_002 etc. If I save a new batch into the existing folder they would overwrite the old photos. The solution to this is to rename all the new photos before moving them into the folders I have set up. In Windows Explorer I select all new photos, right click on the first in the list, and rename by putting an "a" in the beginning of the filename. All document's names are subsequently changed and I can move them into the folders I have set up. After each day with a shoot, I continue to name them "b", "c", etc.
- As I feel I have enough images, I judge them and move them along the process of the folders "Artistically pleasing", "First Selects" and "Final Selects". It gets more difficult towards the end, to actually decide which ones should go in to the Final Selects. Some images are instant favourites, whereas others take longer to choose, especially when I have a good few of the same object.
- In the "Final Selects" folder I create two subfolders: "Originals" and "Processed", in order not to destoy the originals as I alter them in Photoshop.
- I go through each image in Photoshop, a program which is new to me. With the help of a book I learn how to
Saturate colour
Rotate and crop
Custom rotate
Darken with layers filter
Save for web
- Finally, I send of the jpeg files to be printed, and also put the images up on a web gallery.
I think my workflow is especially characterised by the systematic numbering and naming by letters of folders, in order to keep them chronological. This might differ from the workflow of others.
The final images for this assignment are shown in the gallery below.