Create A Comic Book From Photographs

Hello Students,

Your new assignment is to create a comic book with a comic book cover using photographs. Check out the guidelines and follow the filter process to create cool comic book styled art from photographs. You could also use the warhol style to give your photos an artistic look. Your comic should tell a short story or at least be the beginning to a longer story. Use exaggerated facial expressions, camera angles, word ballons and different panel layouts to give your comic that air of authenticity.

Comic Book Assignment:

• Brainstorm a short comic book story that will fit into 2 pages of 6 to 8 panels
• Sketch or storyboard your scenes on paper, create 1 full page cover image complete with title artwork and 2 comic pages with 4-6 images per page
• Your comic book story could be an action scene, a dramatic scene, a scary story, a dream sequence, a slice of life or a funny story with a punchline... use your imagination. Use this comic to tell a joke, recreate a story or recreate your favorite superhero comic
• Check out the comic book panel layouts below for different page design ideas
• Research comic books, look at how the people are posed, color usage, angles, and try to capture that style in your images. The more exaggerated the camera angles and facial expressions the better. Don't limit yourself, super powers and special effects can be added in photoshop
• Get your models together, pose and arrange them and shoot your panels
• Lay your photos out and crop/resize to create your comic book panels and cover
• Post the comic book cover and pages to your blog when complete

Comic book pages can have lots of different panel layouts, here are 8 different page layouts

How To Style Your Photo Into Comic Book Art:

You have lots of options to stylize your artwork to make it look like a comic book illustration. Use different filters, half-tones, bright colors, warhol style or other filters. Try the process below and see if you like the results. You could even print your photos, trace them with a felt pen and scan them to make your artwork if you wanted too. Use your imagination and experiment for the best results.

• Open photo in Photoshop
• Go to Filer > Artistic > Poster Edges
• Adjust sliders for desired effect
• Edit each image for the comic-look, clean up the backgrounds and add bold and bright colors for visual appeal
• Create your "panel" template with the line tool or a brush tool
• Copy-paste your processed photos into each panel, use "Paste-Into" for ease of placement and scaling
• Create text bubble and add text
• Add finishing touches and post to when complete!

Due Tuesday, have fun!

- Mr.W

Color Channel and Blending Mode Manipulation

Hello Students,

Fine art photography and experimental photo techniques like infrared photography can be created with Photoshop to expand your ability to use digital photo manipulation for creative expression. Part of the key to tapping into the power of photoshop is understanding Color Channels, and how layers can be manipulated with Blending Modes. In this project you will convert your Color Channels to Layers filled with the colors of your choice, and then experiment with different blending modes. The results will be surprising. The idea here is to be creative and try to achieve an artistic exposure effect. Essentially replacing the standard RGB values with your own values/gradients/images etc. Next we will follow a tutorial to create an "Infrared" photography effect.

Digital images are created with 3 channels of color, Red, Green and Blue. You will convert the color channels in your image into colored layers, and then manipulate them with blending modes.

This image was separated into color layers in PS and the blue layer was replace with a blur orange gradient

Experiment with filling red layers with blue colors, or green with yellow and then changing the blending modes.  In this image I used a Gradient to achieve my desired effect of drawing the eye into the center of the flower couples with blending mode to enhance the effect.

Channel Mix - Color Channel and Blending Mode Experimentation Assignment:

To set up a color mixing experiment you will convert color "Channels" to color "Layers". Follow the steps below, arrange your layers and explore blending modes for a creative effect. When complete post your photo and move onto the Infrared tutorial:

• Open a photograph of your choice. Chose a photo that shows rich colors.
• Open Layer palette and Channels Palette side by side
• Select Red Channel to view that channels value in greyscale
• Command-Click the Red Channel Icon to turn it into a Selection
• Click on the RGB Channel to restore to full color
• Make a new layer, click your Color Icon and create a new Layer. Fill that Layer with Red.
• Hide that layer and repeat that process until you have a layer that represents each color in the Color Channel, Red, Green and Blue

Your Layer Palette should look like this when complete. You can change the white layer for a black one to achieve different results

• Create a layer of white and place behind your Red, Green and Blue Layers
• Change the Blending Mode of the top Layer until you find a desirable result
• Continue changing blending modes and re-arranging color layers and save 3 different versions that you find artistically pleasing
• Repeat this process with a second image of your choice and upload to the flickr page

Original

Mixed Channels

Infrared Photography Tutorial:

Infrared photography is a way to see a spectrum of light that isn't visible to the human eye. It requires special filters, methods and sometimes equipment modification.

In this exercise you will create an infrared effect with your own image using Photoshop. Follow the steps below or read the tutorial link to complete your own example. Compare your results to the example below, are they similar in effect? Make sure you follow the steps carefully:

• Open your image and duplicate the background layer, relabel it "infrared".
• Open the Channels Palette and click on the green channel, your image will appear black and white, this is the color "data" for the green channel. An RGB image has 3 channels to make a single color image.
• With the green channel selected, apply a Gaussian Blur to the Green Channel. The Gaussian Blur Radius can be set to about 35 pixels.
• Change the Blend Mode of the infrared layer to "Screen".
• Add a Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer, set the Red value to -50, the Green value to 200 and the Blue value to -50.  Also make sure the Monochrome checkbox is checked. 
• Lower the Opacity of the infrared layer to 35%.
• Add a new blank Layer to the top of your layer stack and fill the layer with white. Change the name of this layer to "Grain"
• Apply a "grain" effect by using the Add Noise filter under the Filter Menu / Noise.
• Change the Noise layer Blend Mode to "Multiply".
• Duplicate the background layer and place it between the Grain layer and the Channel Mixer layer and lower it's opacity to 50%.
• Save a JPG and post after you make any final adjustments, compare your results to the one below.

Photo before processing. Fall Creek, 2015. Photo by S.Wilson

Photo after Infrared process with Photoshop using blending modes, filters and adjustment layers.

Have fun!

- Mr.W

Advanced Portrait Study

Hello Students,

This assignment is an advanced study in portrait photography. You will have to find a volunteer to model for you. Your task is to take a series of portraits as outlined below. The challenge with this project is to coach your model to position themselves in a way that shows their best look. A standard roll of film has 36 exposures, and it wasn't unusual to shoot an entire roll in order to get 1 great image. You should shoot at least 2 rolls worth of film, or roughly 70 photos over the course of this challenge, create a Contact Sheet and choose your final 7 images from them.

Advanced Portrait Study Assignment Part A:

Your client (who is a famous model, celebrity, or actor, or millionaire executive, okay maybe they are just your best friend, but let's pretend for now they are a VIP) has just hired you to shoot a series of portraits for an upcoming magazine ad/article/brochure/book/event/etc. Your job is to get them to open up and show their best side to your camera. You must coach them, break them out of their comfort zone and follow your directions to show their best look.

Required Reading:

6 Tips for Better Portraits from Peter Hurley, professional photographer for celebrities, actors and executives

• Find a volunteer to act as your model. You will be shooting many shots so they must be committed
• Shoot a series of images for each of the techniques listed below. Upon completion you should have over 70 images to choose your final 7 from
• Final deliverables: Contact Sheet and 7 final images posted to your blog with post-image enhancement

Assignment Requirements:
Work with your client to take many photos of them in a variety of locations, angles, poses and lighting conditions. Take time to make each of the photos effective portraits, each image should be framed well, show good exposure and focus and be suitable as a portrait. Avoid the urge to quickly take many photos, take your time and strive for variety in your final images. You are expected to show a contact sheet of at least 70 images when complete to show the effort put into your series.

After you have partnered up with a client take time to shoot images in each of these 7 styles listed below. Shoot multiple shots (at least 10) for each style to make sure you have a really good example to show in the final series.

1) Alter Your Perspective:

A photographers instinct is to shoot at eye level, try an extreme angle from different sides. Try to position yourself around the subject, not vice versa. Try multiple angles and take a shot or two from each one.

Photo by striatic

2) Looking Off Camera/Off Frame:

Have your subject framed at different distances and looking off camera. Have your model focus on something unseen or seen, off in the distance or closeup. This helps create an air of mystique. Shoot multiple shots from different distances.

Photo by monicutza80

3) Looking Within The Frame:

Have your subject looking at something within the frame. Consider what they are looking at. If it is a snack they might seem hungry. If it is a cell phone that is ringing perhaps they look annoyed.

Photo by paulbence

4) Experiment With Lighting:

Try shooting indoors with no lights except our studio lights. Try looking for a single light source, or anywhere with deep shadow or shadows that can cast a pattern on the models face. Try light sources from the front, back, sides. Shoot multiple images.

5) Get Your Subject Out Of Their Comfort Zone:

Ask your model to get out of their comfort zone by doing something active such as jumping, spinning, dancing, riding a bike, sprinting, stretching, doing yoga, etc. Shoot as many action shots as you can, make sure to adjust your exposure settings to reduce motion blur. Make sure they are doing something they may not normally do.

6) The Candid:

Ask your model to go about their business and pretend you aren't there. Follow them around, once they are comfortable begin to shoot images and try to capture those natural moments.

Photo created by Christopher Rye

7) Get A Smile:

While you are taking pictures, at any time, tell a joke and try to make your model laugh a genuine laugh. If you time it just right and anticipate their laughter you can snap a shot at the right time.

Presentation:

When complete pick your best 7 images from the series and apply any post editing or process to your images for the best creative results. Then create a "Contact Sheet" of your 70 images to show below your final choices.

Quick Preview of what you are expected to turn in for PART A 

Due of by next class!

Have fun! - Mr.W