Exercise 4 - on the Tyne

Step-by-step image editing process

Screen capture from PS Bridge



Step 1 - technical edit

Initially I quickly review all of the images full-size on the pc screen, sifting out any that are not up to scratch. Once the process is completed I check these 'rejected' images just in case I've binned a good one by mistake. After I'm sure they are all bad - I delete all of the RAW files; however, if I like one of these images and wish to try it again I save it as a JPEG. This allows me to print is as a thumbnail for my pocket book next time I visit the location. 



Contact sheet made up of rejects

Step 2 - the selects

For the remaining sifts I use the star rating to 'judge' the images making it easy to change my mind and either upgrade or downgrade the photograph. For this second sift I allocate all images with a rating - this is arbitrary on the first run through, but second time around having inspected everything the rating is better balanced and more accurate. At this stage the 1 and 2 star images are filtered out, checked and then 'rejected' (rather than deleted). Normally, at the end of the editing process these images will be deleted - RAW and JPEG.

 

Top section - drop down menu for star ratings
Bottom section - information panel showing rating statistics



Step 3 - the first selects

The remaining photographs are then reviewed again and given their final rating, anything with 5 stars will be moved to a final image folder for further processing. During this review some of the photographs are opened in RAW and 'auto' adjusted to confirm, or otherwise, their potential in terms of the final image.

Images with a rating of 3 and 4 stars remain in RAW format and are renamed and tagged before being filed.

Step 4 - group and review

Rather than grouping and reviewing, for me, this step is more about creating order and flow within the set of selected images. Ensuring that there is harmony and that the viewer will be able to move from one image to next without flipping backwards because something is missing.

Step 5 - final selection

Finally, I return to the brief and re-read it. This is to ensure the final selection of images delivers the brief, any that are not 100% relevant are removed. Now I choose the best photographs.



Tyne Bridge

I selected this photograph because of the: -

Ø         Off-centre framing of the bridge

Ø         Semi-silhouette of the bridge shot into the sun

Ø         Lens flare

Ø         White foam from the wake of the boat

Ø         Sky and the clouds



Priory Reflection

I shot this photograph of the Priory in the window of the downstairs cabin on the boat and selected it because: -

Ø         The Priory works well as a reflection

Ø         I like the people sitting on the RHS and the shapes of the people standing in the doorway on the LHS

Ø         The position of the fluorescent lighting in the sky is surreal



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With regards to the question I raised in an earlier post - what should I do with the JPEG's?

I have decided that until all of my image processing work is completed for a particular project I will keep the JPEG files - a kind of security blanket.

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Exercise 3 - Histogram

I was introduced to the histogram, by the assistant in Jessops, during the whistle-stop tour of my first digital camera - a D40. He said it was very important, but too difficult to explain properly in 5 minutes. His instruction was to "look at it for every picture and it would become obvious" - I did and it did.

To become familiar with the histogram I simply went around pointing my camera at different things taking snap-shots and reviewing the graph. Initially I assumed that a good graph should be a normal distribution, but very quickly realised this was unachievable. Understanding the dynamic range of my digital camera highlighted the real differences between film and digital; at the same time as introducing the brand new world of image manipulation and the amalgamation of multiple photographs.

The best description I've read is: the histogram is simply representative of the style of image or subject matter; as such there is no such thing as a perfect histogram - Archna Gupta.

I find the histogram an invaluable tool and refer to it all the time. In bright sunlight or during the night, it is much easier to read a graph than it is to 'see' a photograph on the screen. 

General guide for dynamic range:

Low contrast situation - where shadows are limited or none-existent

Ø         Overcast sky with sky excluded ~ 3 EV

Ø         Overcast sky and shade ~ 5-7 EV

Medium contrast situation - if your subject is side lit with a reflector bouncing light back into the scene

Ø         Sun overhead at midday, with some shade ~ 7-9 EV

Ø         Sunny day, side lit subject with some shade ~ 7-9 EV

High contrast situation - point your camera directly at a light source

Ø         100 watt bulb in small interior ~ 11-12 EV

Ø         Night scene with street lights ~ 12-13 EV

Ø         Interior with bright window light ~ 14-15 EV

Ø         Bright sun back lit subjects ~ 15-17 EV

From an article by Roger Passman - http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/dynamic-range-and-contrast-in-photography

Grass - low contrast

Bridge across Bermuda infeed - average contrast



Histograms for the Bridge at -1ev, 0ev, +1ev



Park bench - high contrast

The only clipping that occurred (in camera, without moving the exposure) was the sky in the image above - approximately one third of the sky is burnt out. This is hardly surprising since I was shooting directly into the sun - even though it was hidden behind the tree.

POLARIZERS

On a different but related subject - as I was doing this exercise I decided to investigate what affect a polarizer had on the histogram.

Without polarizer



With polarizer



Exercise 2 - the water's edge

When reading this exercise, nothing immediately sprang to mind regarding how I should alter my existing workflow, so I left it as it was. My ongoing project required a number of visits to the lake to get an appropriate range of photographs - different times of day and different weather conditions.

After my first outing I transferred my photographs and carried out the first sift. Removing these photographs got me thinking about "planning verses execution" and TAOP project about planning a shoot. Whilst I didn't specifically write a plan for this exercise I did think carefully about the specific photographs I wanted to take. Then naturally, other photographic opportunities presented themselves on the day.

Since some of the planned and the ad-hoc photographs were relegated, I started to analyse much more carefully the photographs that I wanted to repeat on the following visit. This in turn generated ideas for new photographs that I wanted to try.

I then generated thumbnail prints of these photographs, stuck them in my pocket book, and scribbled notes beside them as an aide-mémoire. As a result, my workflow has been amended to include these review and planning steps.

Extract from my pocket book



One of the contact sheets for Exercise 2



These are the two photographs I selected at the end of this exercise.



Reflections



Bermuda island





Exercise 1 - Budge

Initially I set my workflow out on a piece of paper - a list of tasks rather than an actual flowchart. I'm not sure that I 'departed' from my workflow, rather more created one that was so flexible there was no need to depart from it. This is a bog-standard workflow, with standard action check-lists for each stage. Until now I have done very little in RAW and the principal learning was what should be done in RAW verses what should be done in Photoshop. This division of labour works for me, but it may evolve over time.





Digital Photo Workflow

  One of the items, not included in the flowchart, that I find quite useful is contact sheets. On the flowchart I'd insert it between the last two process boxes.




Contact sheet for Exercise 1

 Finally having reviewed the photographs taken for this exercise I settled on these two: -


Budge in profile



Touch your nose


Moving on to this type of workflow poses some interesting questions regarding the photographs removed during the filtering process - should they be stored or deleted? My camera is set up to take RAW and fine - what should I do with the JPEG files, do I actually need them? Should they go in the bin once I've transferred everything to the PC? Or should they be backup copies?

Another key learning - don't delete your new XMP files! The XMP files contain the modifications you make to NEF files allowing the NEF files themselves to remain unchanged. Plus the XMP files only weigh about 8kb, so take up no space at all.

The Adobe Museum of Digital Media

The AMDM launched today - 6th October 2010.

An introduction about the museum (from the website)

"The mission of the Adobe Museum of Digital Media is o showcase and preserve groundbreaking digital work and expert commentary to illustrate how digital media shapes and impacts today's society.

Open 365 days an year, 24 hours a day, and accessible everywhere, AMDM is a place to reflect on the importance and impact of digital media in our lives. The museum is an ever-changing repository of eclectic exhibits. Shows will be curated by leaders in art, technology and business to inspire fresh conversation about our constantly evolving digital landscape."

This is one of the museum tour guides:

The first exhibit is by American artist Tony Oursler - this is a quote from his website regarding his work:
"His art deals with topics from Multiple Personality Disorder to corporate power and media brainwashing.
His works appeal to common viewers not just those who, in the words of British pop band Pulp, studied sculpture at St Martins College and few viewers walk out of an Oursler show without a few fresh brain synapses snapping into place."
http://www.tonyoursler.com/


                       The home page of the exhibit is full of green scribbles like this:

To look around just click on one of the scribbles, once inside click on anything and everything. A word of warnig, don't be too rough with the magnifying glass - if it slams into the wall, it breaks and you can't see what your looking at!

The concept and the reality are fantastic - go take a look...
http://www.adobemuseum.com/

Currently in the Pdog19 library - October

In Camera, Francis Bacon, Photography, Film and the Practice of Painting

by Martin Harrison (2005, Thames and Hudson)

"Francis Bacon famously found inspiration in photographs, film-stills and mass-media imagery, In Camera ... reveals how these new media informed some of Bacon's most important paintings and triggered decisive turning points in his stylistic development." From the preface.

This book makes interesting reading and includes an extensive collection of Bacon's paintings as well as his 'working documents' - collages made from photographs, newspapers, etc. The book tries to analyse how these documents, together with other artists, influenced his work activities and his output.

20th Century Photography, Museum Ludwig Cologne

(2007, Taschen)

This "...present volume is a testimony to the richness of the photographic image, to the creativity of the artist who - with camera in hand - are constantly taking us along on new voyages of discovery. Their artistic experiences are an enrichment of our lives." From the preface by Marc Scheps.

This book is a collection of over 750 photographs taken, by hundreds of photographers, during the 20th century. Each photograph, or set of photographs, has a brief write up about the artist and the 'meaning' behind the art.

A Brief History of Art

by Camilla de la Bedoyere et al (2006, Flame Tree Publishing)

This book provides a snapshot from the world of painting over a 700 year period - from circa 1315 through to 1999. It naturally includes the most famous painters of the time and their most iconic works. More interestingly, it also includes names little heard of before and establishes them in terms of their influence and relationship to the 'greats'.

Image management

One of the key steps missing from my previous workflow was the browser step. This week was my first foray into 'Bridge' - I'm very impressed. Initially I just let Elements grab and load my photographs, this was a big mistake because it eventually ground to a halt. My solution, and I'm not sure if it was sensible, was to generate a new backup and then delete everything within Elements. I don't think there have been any issues doing this.

Before I copy my files from my card I create appropriately named folders and then drag the images to their new home. Steve Paxton (link on last post) recommends a piece of software called DIM that can simplify this task and since its basically free, I'm going to give it a go.

Looking through thumb nails in Explorer is fine, but not ideal. It is just possible, this is one of the reasons that I've never actually got down to managing my backlog of photographs. In order to review and select sequences of images I just created a junk folder and moved images back and forth; a bit tedious but workable.

I've only scratched the surface of what Bridge can do and it makes the idea of developing a workflow exciting. I now understand how large volumes of images can be processed so fast. I only wish I'd had to develop a workflow earlier.



Screen capure of some of the images for Exercise 1

 Some of the great things I've found: -

Ø         Seeing your images close together on the screen

Ø         Being able to rearrange the sequences and compare small differences

Ø         The ease of removing seconds from your main file

Ø         Being able to update your metadata

I'm sure the list goes on....