Layers and Masks - example

Layers and Masks

Look at:
Wendy McMurdo
Paul M Smith
Adam Green

To bring your pictures together in Photoshop:

As usual - save originals and make duplicate files. {Before you upload them to screen change the dpi to 72 in images side but DON'T do this until you have finished working on them - and then save the one you worked on and make a duplicate for screen.}

1. Decide which is going to be your background and which the overlay (to go into the 'background' picture)
2. Use the move tool (top right 'tool palette' icon). Click on to the overlay picture and drag it on top of your background picture. This now appears in the background layer palette as 'Layer 1'.
3. In the 'Layer Palette', change the 'Opacity' scale to a lower percentage (making sure that 'Layer 1' is selected). Now you will be able to see the background layer behind as well as the overlay.
4. Creating a Layer Mask and using 'reveal all' (or 'hide all' - see 7.). This helps to improve your accuracy but remember whichever way you do this the job is fiddly! Select the top layer 'Layer 1' go to -
   layer - layer mask - reveal all.
   
5. Reveal all shows all the overlay. You can alter the opacity in the Layers palette if this helps but it is easier to see what you are doing at 100%. To get rid of what you don't want use the paintbrushes. First, check that the colours (at the bottom of the 'tool palette') are black and white - you can switch between these using 'x' on the keyboard (to add or subtract from the picture) or click the arrow next to the box.
6. Click on paint brush and choose an appropriate size from the tool bar. Make sure the layer box in the Layer palette is highlighted (click on it). Then paint away with the brush - getting rid of the overlay that you don't want. If you take away something you want press 'x' on the keyboard and then paint it back in.
   
7. and using 'hide all'. At number 4 above you can click on 'hide all' instead in which case the overlay is hidden and you paint it back in using a paintbrush and the black and white colours at the bottom of the tool palette.

Don't forget that to use this image (rather than work on it) make a duplicate, go to the Layers window and flatten Layers then save as a jpeg. Again, if you are going to present this on screen go to image size and reduce it to 72 dpi.

Review - to be up to date do the following:

Use a sSLR (digital single lens reflex camera) on shutter speed priority and then on aperture priority.

Shutter Speed priority
Usually marked as a 'S' on the dial.
This allows you to choose a shutter speed, which is then fixed. This would cause a problem with exposure as you move from light to dark situations but in this mode the camera will change the aperture for you to make sure the exposure is correct.
For example, you may decide that 1/250 is a good speed to freeze some action (running water for instance). In this case you could choose 'S' on the dial, change the shutter speed to 1/250 and as you point to shoot in a light situation the camera may adjust to f16 (smaller aperture and therefore less light) and when you point to a dark area the aperture may open up to f3.6.

Aperture priority
Usually marked as an 'A' on the dial.
This allows you to choose an aperture, which the camera then fixes for you. Consequently the camera adjusts the shutter speed according to the lighting situation (exposure value).
For example, you may want a short depth of field for a portrait and therefore choose f3.6 (or even f1.4 if possible), this is a wide, open aperture. In a brightly lit situation the camera would choose a fast shutter speed so that not too much light coems in. If you then move to a darker lighting situation the camera could adjust the shutter speed to 1/60 or 1/30 so that enough light gets in to expose the shot properly.
By the end of today you need to have used both of the above 'mo9des' on the dSLR camera dial, achieving the following examples (four mininum):

• 1. A short depth of field. (A little in focus)
  
• 2. A deep depth of field. (A lot in focus)
• 3. Movement frozen with a fast shutter speed.
• 4. Movement blurred with a slow shutter speed.

Don't forget - As evidence that you have understood what you are doing (and have therefore developed skills) write up what you have done and explain how you did it, in bullet points on your blog with labels that reflect the four pictures above.

When you have finsihed these tasks you can look through all the work you have done so far on this course and decide what chanes you would like to make to them on Photoshop (we will discuss how later). On the 8th of March present your intentions on iphoto slideshow, discussing what you wish to change and why.

For reference:

www.stephengill.co.uk go to: Hackney flowers

Google images, search: scan self-portrait

Google Emily August and Fred Miranda

This picture is a scan of an old fashioned lens and flower petals from my garden. It reflects two aspects of my life. These two aspects are directly represented in the flowers and lens. However, the vivid colours are equally important to me. There would be no colour without light as colour is a reflection of light, different frequencies of waves on the electro mangnetic spectrum.

Kim's self-portrait

Make sure your Blogger is NOT public.

Monday 12th October
Well-done. There are a lot of stunning Blogs being created in this class.
Today make sure you have finished the following.
1. If you have a completed photogram (from your rotation class) scan it, adjust it for the screen (72dpi) and upload it to your Blog (Posting-New Post- click on photo icon). Otherwise make sure you have scanned another image.
2. Make sure you have gone to your email address and accepted all Blogger invitations from those in your class.
3. Make sure you have invited everyone to be an author and got the email address correct (Settings-Permissions-Add Author).
4. Make sure that all your entries have a label. If you did not do this when you uploaded then go to Posting-Edit Post and add a label to each entry.
5. Make sure that your Blog is not public. Go to Settings-Permissions-Blog Readers-click on 'Only blog authors'. You must not forget to do this because of issues of privacy, confidentiality and copyright.
6. Comment on all your entries. Explain what you did to achieve each entry. This is where you will pick up higher marks which we will be looking at in the next brief.

Once you have completed ALL of the above please go to PhotoShop and use Layers again to manipulate an image (to upload) again.