PROJECT: Digital Photography Instructions.

HDR, Black and White, Selective Color with Layer Masking, and Photomerge!

ONE PHOTO IS DUE AT CRITIQUE FROM THE BELOW CHOICES.

Take photos in RAW on your camera for incredible detail! Take a panoramic view and weave it together! Take bracketed photos and get the best quality for your photo! Here's how Photoshop can help you!

In Photoshop, go to File/Automate, and then choose photomerge and/or HDR.

Note: Although it is not required, consider shooting in Camera Raw. Go to the Menu section on your camera and find the Raw setting.

Project specs: one work will be done in this section. That work will be seen at critque. You may choose which project direction you want to take.

First Choice: PHOTO MERGE IN PHOTOSHOP
PURPOSE: GETTING MORE INFORMATION IN A SINGLE PHOTO BY TAKING SEVERAL PHOTOS CLOSER UP TO THE SUBJECT AND MERGING THEM TOGETHER IN PHOTOSHOP.

1. First, a panoramic view (three or more) - take three or more photos in panoramic style. Stitch them in the Photomerge section.

Use Levels and Curves to adjust the image. Options: (1) Use destructive, turn your work to grayscale by Image/Mode/Grayscale, then back to Image/Mode/RGB to work on the image, or (2) Use non-destructive, Layer/Adjustment Layer/Hue-Saturation and turn the saturation down to 0.

2. Second, take several images of the same framing on your camera with different exposure settings (light to dark, plus to minus) and place these into HDR to make a final work with perfected lighting. Your aim is to respect the Photography Zone System, and make sure both the bright whites and the darkest darks still have texture and information.

As in the first part of this project, use Levels and Curves to adjust the image. Options: (1) Use destructive, turn your work to grayscale by Image/Mode/Grayscale, then back to Image/Mode/RGB to work on the image, or (2) Use non-destructive, Layer/Adjustment Layer/Hue-Saturation and turn the saturation down to 0.

Explanation: Photomerge takes two or more pictures taken in panoramic view and stitches them together into one picture (lateral). HDR takes several photos of the same frame shot at different bracketed light (plus + or minus- on your exposure scale) and combines light and dark values to get a better picture.

Second Choice: HDR IN PHOTOSHOP.
PURPOSE: TAKING SEVERAL PHOTOS OF THE SAME SUBJECT (WITH YOUR TRIPOD) WITH BRACKETING FROM YOUR CAMERA. THIS ALLOWS DETAILS IN THE LIGHTEST LIGHTS AND THE DARKEST DARKS. YOU SHOOT THESE PHOTOS FOR THE ZONE SYSTEM.

Further explanation of HDR: remember in the days of your black and white photography, you took a bracketing group of shots? You shot the same photo in less and more exposure time, or changed the aperture to open more or less. Bottom line, you made contacts and had to choose the best one from the group. HDR allows you to place all of the best shots together into one image. They are layered on top and below each other (depth). Your camera screen should show this: -4...-2...-1...0...+1...+2...+4 (or similar numbers). Minus darkens the image, plus lightens the image. Shoot at least 4 of these settings, then place them in HDR. Often, it says Exposure in the Menu.

Third Choice: CAMERA RAW.
PURPOSE: GETTING THE MOST AMOUNT OF INFORMATION POSSIBLE INTO ONE PHOTO. MAKE THIS A BLACK AND WHITE AND WORK ON IT IN PHOTOSHOP.

Fourth Choice: LAYER MASKING WITH PHOTOSHOP.
PURPOSE: TAKING A PHOTOGRAPH, MAKING TWO LAYERS IN PHOTOSHOP, AND USING THE LAYER MASK TO MAKE A SELECTIVE COLOR PHOTOGRAPH. ONE LAYER WORK WILL BE BLACK AND WHITE, THE OTHER LAYER WORK WILL BE COLOR. ALLOW SELECTIONS OF THE COLOR TO RESIDE IN THE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO.



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