Susan Rucker: Introduction to Digital Media: Project 1

Digital Camera:

Nikon D80

10.2 Mega Pixels

Flash-Speedlight SB-600

Hardware:

Mac OS X

3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

4 GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM

Macintosh HD

Software:
Adobe Photoshop CS3

Photos for image one where shot at my home while my children where outside playing on a beautiful sunny day. The camera is a high quality camera that has the capability of taking three pictures per second. With all of the sun light, I was able to get some great pictures with a high resolution and large picture size. The camera was set to auto focus.

The photo for my second image was taken at my daughters dance recital. The coloring of this image was completely different than my first images for many reasons. First of all, the picture was taken inside of a building during the cloudy month of December and the Haley was jumping around.. It was challenging to try and get a good action shot with good lighting. My camera has a pretty good removable flash, but it does not reset very quick. I was forced to mess with the image color on this one.

All images were imported digitally into my computer using the USB cord that came with the camera. Photos were imported into my iPhoto events and exported into my personal folder for saving pictures. I then opened Photoshop and began working on my first project.

I really feel like I put a lot of work into both of these assignments and I truly enjoyed doing them. I have learned so much about Photoshop through all of the group discussion and reading. Since I am a beginner on Photoshop, I felt that it was much more beneficial to see the original image and then the change that was made. Since I do not know all of the feature that Photoshop has to offer, it was difficult for me to give constructive ideas on what to do to a photo. However, I do feel that I received some good feedback from classmates on my pictures.

Image 1: Three Image Photo Frame Template with Smart Objects in Photoshop

I am familiar with Photoshop as far as knowing the basics of the program. I really wanted to be able to create something that I would use at home. While researching one of sites that a class mate posted I found a tutorial on Three Image Photo Frame Template with Smart Objects in Photoshop. I thought this project looked fun and would incorporate several of the techniques required for Project 1. In this tutorial, I learned how to create a simple three image photo frame using masks where I could easily switch out pictures. This is what I did.

I created a new document in Photoshop from the menu bar. In the New dialog box I set the width to 7 inches, the height to 5 inches and the resolution to 300 pixels/inch. I left the background contents to White. When the new document was created I went to edit on the menu bar and changed the fill color to black. I then added a new layer and called it Placeholder left. Using the Rectangular Marquee Tool I used the options bar and changed the style option to Fixed Ratio with a width of 1 x 2. I then filled the selection with 50% gray and put a white 10 px inside stroke around it.

I then selected the move tool and held down the Alt key and drug a copy of the gray box to the right of the image. Doing this created a new layer in the files panel. I renamed the layer placeholder right. I did it again and created another new layer that I renamed as placeholder middle. I resized the middle layer to be more dominant than the other two images. Duplicating the layers kept the effects that I already created such as fill color and inside stroke. After all three image boxes where created I clicked Distribute Horizontal Centers icon in order to space the images horizontally.

My next step was to fill the boxes with an image. I opened the first image and copied it to the clipboard by doing command A (all) and then command C (copy). I switch back the frame, selected Placeholder Left in the layers pallet and pasted the picture. It automatically created a new layer above the placeholder left. I moved the picture over the left frame and selected Layer on the menu bar. I went down to Create Clipping Mask. Photoshop “clipped” the picture into the placeholder. I was able to maneuver the picture into the location where I felt it would look best. I had to resize the picture using transform for the best fit. I repeated this procedure for the other two placeholders.

I loved this tutorial! The best part is that I was able to convert the three photos into smart objects and replaced the pictures to create frames for all three of my children. All I did was select the Layers panel and on each photo, I right clicked and selected Convert to Smart Object. It is so easy. I was then able to right click on each photo and select Replace Contents and I easily switched out the photos.

Finally, I used the Text Tool to add two separate text boxes to put Derick’s first and last name. When I selected the color tool, I used the eye drop feature to select the green color that was in Derick’s shirt. I flattened the image and saved it as a jpeg. I even had it printed at Wal-Mart. I Love, Love, Love, this activity!

The only feedback I have received on this photo was that the third picture did not have the same color sharpness as the other two. I felt this was an issue too, but I really liked the picture and did not know how to change it before I started the project. I went back and messed with the contrast of the image to make it look as sharp as the other two. I also changed the image resolution to 96 pixels in order to meet the assignment requirements.

Link to picture before peer review:

http://web.missouri.edu/~syrzq8/PS_Proj_1/RuckerS_Proj1_image1_after.jpg

Link to picture after peer review:

http://web.missouri.edu/~syrzq8/PS_Proj_1/RuckerS_Proj1_image1_after_PR.jpg

Image 2: Dance Recital Lightened With Border and Text Added

Image 2 was a completely different activity than my image 1. I selected a photo of my daughter at her dance recital. The photo was taken in a building with lighting was not very good. The photo was originally dark so my first step was to lighten the photo. I created a duplicate layer of the background and did a screen overlay where I could change the opacity if need be.

After lightening the original image I cropped it down to fit just the girls where I would still have room for text and a border. I then selected the magnetic lasso and outlined Haley. After I surrounded it, I selected the inverse and Adjusted everything but Haley to Black and White. I then selected the Marque tool and created a rectangle around the picture with about a half an inch border. I then selected the inverse and filled the space with the eyedropper to match Haley’s pajama pants.

My final step was to add text the image with colors to match Haley’s pajamas. In then added an effect of an outer glow on each text box. Haley really liked what I did with her picture. I then flattened the image and saved it in jpeg format.

The feedback I received on this image was to change the font size and to darken a bar that is in the background. I did not notice how it separated the letters until it was pointed out during the review process. I went back and changed the font size of the text so it did not look like it was setting on the bus. I then went to the background layer and selected the bar with the magnetic lasso. I then changed the saturation/hue of the bar to blend in better with the background. I also changed the image resolution to 96 ppi in order to load faster. I really liked the peer review process, especially for this photo.

Link to picture before peer review:

http://web.missouri.edu/~syrzq8/PS_Proj_1/RuckerS_Proj1_image2_after-_.jpg

Link to picture after peer review:

http://web.missouri.edu/~syrzq8/PS_Proj_1/RuckerS_Proj1_image2_after_PR.jpg