Mister Wilson's Digital Photography Class: October 2018

Monday, October 29, 2018

How to Write a Good Great Resume and List of References

Hello Students,

Having a solid resume is the cornerstone developing your career. A well written and well designed resume is what sets you apart from other job applicants. A perfectly written job application, a quality resume and a list of positive references is the job seekers trifecta. In this class we will teach you these skills to help in your search for employment. Below is a list of resume writing tips, read over it before finalizing your own resume.

Link(right click to download): ROP PORTFOLIO HANDBOOK

Resume Writing Tips:

Typography matters!:

Never use comic sans, zapfino or anything difficult to read or is more "expressive" than "rational". Use sans-serif for headers and section titles, pick a complementary serif font for all other text. Limit your fonts to 2, with 1 or 2 modifiers (bold, italic, etc). Also, refer back to our rules on typography in our introduction to typography and utilize those guidelines in your resume. Choose fonts that are complimentary to each other and assist in creating information hierarchy, this helps the reviewer find the information they need quickly. Choose a good sans serif font for your section titles and a complimentary serif font for the rest.

Have an objective:

Know the purpose of your resume and edit it for different job scenarios. Having a focused job objective listed on your resume will help you with attaining an interview and getting hired.

Back up your special skills with job experience:

List your skills but make sure your listed job experience, training or education reflects those skills. Are you really good at making websites? Let them know how and where you learned that skill.

Research and use the right keywords:

Every industry has its own language, research job offerings and pay attention to the keywords that are used. If you put your resume online with a job placement service they will often use certain keywords to search their database for potential hires.

Be descriptive with job experience:

A job title will communicate your role, but not the details of your work experience. List the duties, tasks, activities, skills and achievements that were part of your job.

Format your text:

Use bold text to start each section. Use bullets for lists. Make the document easy to quickly scan and read. Clarity of format is crucial, you have ten seconds before the employer will move on to another applicant.

List most recent job experience first:

This also goes for education, list the most recent first. If your still in High School you can say "future class of 2012", or "Currently attending HS".

List most important skills first:

When writing out your skill list make the most important skills the first ones on the list. If you are applying for a web design job, list your web skills first. Change and edit this for different industries/jobs.

Leave out the obvious:

It is not necessary to add "available for interview" or "references available upon request". References are standard and expected, and of course you are available for an interview. Thats the whole point!

Avoid negativity:

Don't trash talk past employers or state that you didn't like a past job. Simply state that you were looking for future opportunities.

Go with what you got:

If you haven't had work experience yet, just list any summer jobs, volunteer experience etc. If you have hobbies that are relevant to the job you can list those. If you don't have a diploma or degree then just list your estimated date for completion.

Proofread your resume:

Have your neighbor or classmate read your resume. Sometimes the spellchecker doesn't catch typos. The more eyeballs that see your resume before it gets in the hands of the employer the better.

Although these resumes contain similar information, styles do vary. Focus on what makes a resume readable, identifiable and effective. It should be unique to stand out from the rest, but not overly expressive as that can make legibility difficult.

Resume Writing Assignment:

Read:
Check out these links to get some tips from the pros
Practical Resume Writing Tips
20 Best and Worst Fonts for Resume Writing
More Best and Worst Fonts for Resume's
Resume Tips: Avoid These Typography Mistakes

Create:

Download the ROP Career Portfolio Handbook and follow the template to write your own resume from scratch
Create a 1 page resume that meets the handbook requirements for all included information
Use any program or online tools of your choice to write your resume
Demonstrate good typography, spelling and accuracy!
Make sure your resume shows good information hierarchy so it is simple to read and each section is listed clearly
Email or print and turn in your resume and list of references for credit - DO NOT POST YOUR RESUME ON YOUR BLOG! It contains sensitive information!
Due Wednesday

List Of References Writing Assignment:
It is incredibly important to develop a great list of references. These references will help you obtain jobs, college admissions or acceptance into special programs.

Who makes a good reference?

Teacher
Coach
Counseler
Present or past employer
Family friend
Anyone that can speak highly of your abilities, skills and worth

References to avoid:

Anyone under 18
Personal friends
family members
Anyone who cannot speak highly of your abilities or skills

Important Tips:

The format of your references should match your resume exactly, same header, same fonts.
Do not include references on your resume
Include at least three references
All references should be responsible adults who know you well and can speak to your character and skills
Always ask whether or not someone is willing to be a reference before including them in your list
Verify the contact information before handing over to an employer

Format:

Use the following format for your references, using your own accurate information of course:

Persons Name: Bob Smith

Address: 123 Fake Street

Santa Cruz Ca, 95060

Phone #: (831) 555-4321

Title and Business Owner

work place: Moland Spring Bottled Water

Grading:

Your resume's and reference lists are graded assignments. For a total of 10 points, grading is as follows:

2Pts - Resume and List of References is complete per Handbook Guidelines

2Pts - Resume and List of References is well formatted and easy to read

2Pts - Resume and List of References contains no typos or errors

2Pts - Resume and List of References are two separate documents with consistent style, font and header

2Pts - Resume and List of References are emailed to me as PDF files with descriptive file names (don't send a file called "untitled.pdf")

Have fun!

- Mr.W

Long Term Project 1: Portfolio Development

Hello Students,

Having a polished and professional looking portfolio is key to your success in finding work after High School and moving on to developing a career. Download the ROP Portfolio Handbook to use as a guide for creating your own portfolio, a requirement in all ROP classes.

Portfolio's are due by early May and must be ready for presentation, evaluation and critique (make it perfect!) but that is no reason to slack on this project. You should put great time and care into creating the professional side of your portfolio and then you will be ready to add your creative projects as the semester progresses. You will complete a digital version as a PDF file for evaluation. Class winner will be able to print and prepare their portfolio for inclusion in the Portfolio Showcase competition. Everyone can print a copy to keep and report covers will be provided if possible.

Remember that the best portfolio in class will be sent to the portfolio design competition that ROP has at the end of each school year, your portfolio will compete against other graphic design classes across the county, and there are prizes!

A judge evaluates print portfolio's from past entrants...

Portfolio Cover Design Assignment:

Design an eye catching cover design for you your portfolio
Include your name, the title of this class, the school you are currently attending and the year
Design your cover for standard letter size 8.5X11 inch paper
When you are done post your portfolio cover design to your blog
Cover design is due on Thursday

Portfolio Development Long Term Assignment:

Your portfolio must be created in Indesign and the final file must be a multi-page PDF document
Use the Pages palette to create multiple pages for your portfolio with Indesign
Your portfolio cover, table of contents and all materials should look clean and consistent. Use consistent design style across all aspects of your portfolio, this includes color, typography, layout and style

Your Portfolio must contain in this order: See portfolio handbook for more details...

Cover page with your name, class title, year. Spend some time on this, it should show good design skill and be reflective of your personality
Table of contents
Letter of Introduction
Resume
Handwritten Job Application
List of References
Letter of Recommendation - cannot be from your ROP teacher or a family member
3 or more work samples with written explanation about the work, why is it important to your career choice? What did the project entail, what were the challenges and difficulties? Give us details.

How Your Portfolio Is Evaluated:

Contains required content and format
Well organized
Free of grammar mistakes
contains ROP related work samples
Shows creativity
Nice appearance
Shows skill development
Appropriate for use in job search
Professional appearance
Nice presentation
Shows good design and wise choice of color palettes
Shows consistency across all pages
Reflects your style, personality and interests

A print portfolio can take many forms, it can be professionally bound, stitched by hand or bound with a spiral ring... how will you create your portfolio, what will make it stand out above the rest?

Tips For Winning The Portfolio Competition:

In the last few years the portfolio competition has gotten fierce, especially for the graphic design category. Other schools have printing facilities that we don't, so you must use your creativity, ingenuity and eye for design to stand above the rest. Consider purchasing a large format portfolio binder and printing work samples at 11X17", or consider making a hand-bound book format to showcase your work. The limits are only contained by your creativity!

Use this as a rough guide to laying out your own portfolio...

Ok, have fun!

Previous Student Portfolio Cover Design Samples:

P.S. There are more samples on the back table for review...

Hello Students,

To develop your print portfolio we will use Adobe InDesign's powerful layout software to create multiple page document with compelling design, color, typography and content. Use this post and the details below to explore and become familiar with InDesign

Launch and Explore InDesign

Go to the dock and launch InDesign, or look in your Applications folder to find the app
Go to the File Menu and create a New Document
Go to the Window Menu and set your Workspace to Advanced
Explore the tool bar, click on the text tool and draw a text box to create text, try the shape tools and look for the color modifiers to change colors at the top of the screen
Open all the palettes under the Window Menu and explore all the functions, look at the quick guides below for reference
See if you can create text of different sizes, change the colors, modify the text kerning and tracking and draw shapes in different colors and with different borders
Try importing an image, use File Menu/Place... you can insert a photo into a shape, or drop it onto the page you want
Try opening the Pages Palette and create multiple pages
When you are comfortable, begin creating your portfolio!

Hidden Tools and Shortcut Keys

Character Formatting Panel In InDesign

Paragraph Formatting Panel in InDesign

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Compositing and Portrait Capstone: Creative Multiple Exposure Portrait

Creative Multiple Exposure Portrait Project:
Imagine being able to capture not only a subjects portrait, but also communicate a life experience or story, internal impulses, dreams or perhaps an alter-ego. In this project students will demonstrate mastery by creating a multiple exposure portrait that involves a storytelling element.

"The Driver" By Seth Wilson. "I have always loved the open road, since I was a child I traveled across the desert many times and that imagery has always been burned into my subconscious. Recently I took photos on a solo trip back to my home city for a memorial to honor a childhood friend. This image is a representation of the road always being on my mind."

Links for Reading: think about how you can use the multiple exposure method to tell your own story or share an experience visually, because that is part of the challenge for this project... read and review these links before proceeding.

Echosight, a collaborative double exposure project: echosight
Article, double exposure and journalism: The formidable impact of double exposure and journalism
Daniella Zalcmans Project: Canada's Devastating Legacy of Residential Schools

Creative Multiple Exposure Assignment:
In this hands-on project, students will plan and create their own creative multiple exposure portraits. Students will develop their own narrative, develop imagery to represent it and use photography to capture those images and combine them into a finished work with Photoshop.

Students must create pencil sketches and concepts for approval before proceeding.

Follow the processes below to complete your own portrait:

Part 1: Pre-production
Before proceeding create a pencil sketch of your concept or write a brief description of your narrative (who, what, when, where, why) for approval before proceeding. Think of something you want to communicate about yourself or an experience you have had, or ideas, causes or hobbies that interest you...

Part 2: Portrait Production
You may work in pairs or small teams to capture the portraits you will use for your compositions. You will need to research and get creative with your environment to capture a portrait that will edit/blend well with their other exposures. You must frame your portraits correctly and capture them with good lighting and a background with good contrast for editing. Backgrounds with excessive noise (leaves, wood grain, signs, etc) will be difficult to edit out, so look for clean white walls, green screen, etc. Use our studio for best results.

Part 3: Additional Exposures
You must capture at least 3 additional exposures to use for this project, this can be done on campus or off campus as homework (take many pictures so you have 2 good images to use). You should take original photos for this project. Capture images that will help communicate the narrative you established in Part 1.

Part 4: Lab Work
Edit your portrait and captured images into a creative multiple exposure image with Photoshop. Follow the steps listed below and watch the video for an understanding of the process. Research online tutorials for inspiration and additional tips and tricks. Focus on using imagery to communicate the narrative you established in your concept sketch or written description.

Aaron dreams of redlining v8's, the autobahn and finding the ultimate set of rims for his twin turbo 1 series. This multiple exposure portrait contains elements that speak to his inner desires.

Photoshop Process:

Tutorials:

Using Masks for Double Exposure

Using multiple exposures in Photoshop

Open your portrait in Photoshop, make a duplicate of the portrait layer in the layer palette and turn off the visibility for the original (this is a backup layer in case you make a mistake and want to re-edit). Follow the steps below as a rough guide to create your own composition. Research online tutorials for additional tips, tricks and techniques:

From the Select Menu choose Color Range. Use the Eyedropper tool to select the background area of your portrait. Then use the Eyedropper with the + symbol to add to the Selection area, use the - symbol option to remove areas. Continue until you have a clean Matte and click OK
Use a Lasso Tool to fine tune your selection
Click DELETE to remove the selected area
Scale down your layer by using the quick key Command T (T for Transform). Hold the Shift Key while you scale your portrait layer down in order to keep the proportions correct
Use the Eraser Tool with a soft and large brush to create the face effect on your portrait, hiding any edges
Create any color modifications with Adjustment layers above your portrait
Import your other images 1 by 1 by clicking and dragging or using the import option from the file menu
Adjust your new layer and set the Blending Mode to something that looks good, for my example I used Screen. Try all the options to see what looks best for your images; the different light and dark and color values in different photos will create different results for everyone. Tip: Hold the Shift Key and click the + or - Keys to quickly jog through the Blending Modes for your selected Layer
Position your layers and scale if needed, use Command-T to quickly scale
Adjust the Opacity for your layers in the Layer Palette if needed
Continue editing until complete, refer to the additional online tutorial links in the next section for inspiration and other techniques
Save your file and export as a JPG for sharing

Ask your instructor for a demonstration of this process for more help!

Have fun!

Student Work Examples:

- Mr.W

Thursday, October 18, 2018

Studio Portraiture and Lighting Patterns

Hello Students,

Having a studio environment and using studio lighting is one of the best way for a photographer to have total control over the lighting and background elements in their photos. Different lighting positions are used to enhance facial features, eyes, hair... and to create different moods, atmosphere and effects in the photo. We will cover some basic lighting set ups and then you will work in groups to create examples of the different lighting positions for portraiture.

When you begin to recognize lighting patterns you can experiment with placement, shadows and light effects.

Studio Lighting Patterns:

A lighting pattern pertains to how the light and shadows fall across the face. We all know that harsh outdoor lighting can be unflattering to our subjects, casting deep shadows under the lips, in the eye sockets and neck area. By using studio lights we can create pleasing light patterns with rich tonal value to accentuate our subjects facial contours. Different lighting set ups work better for women and men separately, and it is important to know the basics, once you have an understanding of basic light patterns you can begin to experiment and achieve the results you desire in each of your portraits.

1: Split Lighting

Split lighting is a simple, single light set up. It is called split lighting because it divides the face into light and dark areas. This setup tends to be rather dramatic in effect. To achieve this look the light is placed 90 degrees to the left or right of the subject. Any lighting pattern can be used on any facial position, but the light may need to be moved in relation to the subjects face for best results.

Term Definition - Catch light: Sometimes the subjects eyes may be too dark in a split lighting set up, so often a "catch light" is used in front of the subjects eyes to fill the reflections in their eyes and to avoid a "dead" look in their eyes. This catch light can be a big diffused umbrella light, not bright enough to affect the split light set up, but just enough to cause some reflection in the eyes, brightening up the subjects look over all.

2: Loop Lighting

Loop lighting is when lighting is positioned to create a shadow of the viewers nose falling across the face. To create this look the light position must be slightly higher than eye level and about 30-45 degrees from the camera. This positioning may need to change with each person, everyones face is different. Learn to read your subjects face, in loop lighting the shadow of the nose and the shadow of the cheek shouldn't touch. Adjust light as needed to achieve this. Loop lighting is a common method as it is usually flattering to the subject and is easy to achieve.

3: Rembrandt Lighting

So named because the same lighting is used in Rembrandt's paintings. This set up is identifiable because the shadow created by the nose and the cheek do touch, creating little triangle highlights under the subjects eyes. Proper Rembrandt lighting should also use a catch light on the shadow side of the face to keep the eyes from looking lifeless. This is a dramatic lighting set up that creates a deep mood. If your subject has high cheekbones this is a good method, if their nose is very short or shallow you may need to adjust your lighting to achieve the light triangle so endemic of this method. To create Rembrandt lighting the subject must turn slightly away from the light and the light must be above the top of the head. Not everyone's face is ideal for this method, so do what looks best and is most flattering.

4: Butterfly Lighting

This lighting setup is named because of the butterfly shaped shadow that is created under the subjects nose. In this setup the light is placed above and behind the camera. This setup is used for glamour lighting and to create shadows under the cheeks and chin. It can be flattering for older subjects as it tends to minimize the shadows in wrinkles, which would be more pronounced in side lighting. Sometimes in Butterfly lighting a reflector is placed under the subject, sometimes the subject will hold the reflector themselves. This pattern flatters subjects with thin faces and high cheekbones.

Studio Light Styles / Broad Lighting:

Broad lighting isn't a pattern itself but a style of pattern, any of the above patterns can be broad or short. Broad lighting refers to the subjects face being turned away from the camera so that the lighted area of the face is broader and the shadow areas are smaller or shorter. This type of lighting can make a persons face appear wider and may not be flattering, or it can be used to make a thinner persons face seem fuller.

Short Lighting:

Short lighting is the opposite of broad lighting, the subjects face is turned towards the light making the shadow area smaller, and often more flattering. It puts more of the face into shadow, adds depth to the image and tends to me more slimming and flattering.

Link: 6 Portrait Lighting Patterns

Studio Lighting Assignment:

Pair up with 3-4 others and sign up for some time in the studio. We only have one studio so we will need to share. When you use the studio be extremely careful when handling the lights to avoid broken bulbs and broken equipment. Take turns acting as models and create examples of the following light setups:

Split lighting
Loop lighting
Rembrandt lighting
Butterfly lighting
Broad lighting (in any pattern)
Short lighting (in any pattern)
Experimental (choose a light position/pattern/technique and get creative with it)

Post process or shoot your images as B&W images to demonstrate the proper lighting patterns, B&W can show tonal patterns and light/dark areas with more clarity than a color image. Post your 7 best results to your blog when complete.

Have fun!

- Mr.W

Student Examples:

Monday, October 15, 2018

The Brenizer Method, AKA: Bokehrama, AKA: Photo Stitch

Hello Students,

Your new assignment is to create an example of the Brenizer Process, also called Bokehrama. This hands on lesson will introduce and guide students in the process of creating a panoramic stitch to mimic a large format image. Popularized by Ryan Brenizer, it has become a popular method for portrait, auto and wedding photography. This process uses standard equipment to replicate the large format look, this is a great project for creating compelling and creative portraits that won't break the bank!

This image was created with over 40 different exposures and combined with Photomerge, cropped and processed for the final result. Photo credit: Seth Wilson, 2017

The "Brenizer Method" Seamless Photo Stitch:
The Brenizer Method is named after Ryan Brenizer, a wedding photographer who invented the method, uses it in his wedding photography and teaches it to others as well. The advantages to this method is it produces a very high resolution images, essentially mimics a lens that has an f-stop of 1 and produces great bokeh. The process to create a successful Bokehrama image is in 2 parts, capturing and processing. Read the detailed instructions below before attempting to create your own.

Camera Capture Process:

Use a DSLR or similar camera with exposure control.
Find an environment with elements that will show depth with detail along the fore, mid and backplane. This will show off the method best.
Stand in one place and dial in your camera exposure, then lock it down, including white balance.
Set your lens/aperture to it's widest setting for the shallowest depth of field
Focus on your subject/center area, use autofocus to dial it in, then switch to manual. You don't want the camera to c
oks good your ready for photoshop!
hange focus between shots
Frame your subject and take some test shots, make sure the light is good and the subject is framed tightly, if not move yourself forward or backward to frame your subject/area
Take your photo framing your subject in the center.
Move slightly to the right and take an overlapping shot, keeping the camera steady, continue shooting in a grid pattern to the left, top, bottom, bottom right, bottom left, etc.
Make sure each shot overlaps with the previous for blending.
Up to 40 exposures can be used for a large image. More is better so you can crop the best area after combining.
Review your shots and make sure each one overlaps and the exposures aren't changing between shots, if it looks good you are ready for Photoshop

Photo Stitching Process in Photoshop:

Move all of your exposures from the camera and copy them to your computer and place them in a new project folder.
Launch Photoshop and go File > Automate > Photomerge
Click the Browse button and navigate to your folder of images, use Command-Shift to select all of your images at once and load them into Photomerge. Alternatively you could use Command-A for Select all.
Click OK to start the process. Photomerge may take up to 30 minutes or longer depending on the size and number of photos you are combining. The processing speed of your computer also affects the speed of this process, allow appropriate time for the computer to complete it's work.
If your Photomerge is successful, you will see your finished and combined image.
Crop your photo, use the Crop Tool in the Toolbar. Hold Command while you click-drag with the Crop Tool to create a perfectly square crop.
Save your image to your folder as a Photoshop file.
Use your Photoshop skills to modify your image as desired for creative results and make it cool!

Tutorial 1: Brenizer Method Tutorial
Tutorial 2: 5 Steps to the Brenizer Method
Link: The Brenizer Method Page
Link: Brenizer Method used for pet portrait photography

This photo stitch of the Tilden Park Carousel facade was created with over 50 images and combined by hand in Adobe Photoshop. Photo credit: Seth Wilson, 2016

Have fun!

Student Examples:

- Mr.W

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

HDR Pro Project

Hello Students,

Your new assignment is to shoot a set of bracketed exposure images and combine them with Photoshop's "Merge to HDR Pro" feature. HDR Pro is a powerful tone mapping program, and is the best way to merge multi-exposure images.

This image was created with 3 bracketed exposures, tone mapped with Photoshop and adjusted for best results

Project Requirements:

• You will produce 4 final images for this project.

• You must use a tripod to shoot a set of multiple exposure images. and then combine them with the Merge to HDR Pro feature in photoshop. Take 3 different exposures, underexposed, normal and overexposed. Team up since we only have a few tripods.
• Take more than 3 exposures if you like, but you will need to bracket your exposures manually

• Edit the sliders in the Merge to HDR Pro menu to achieve good tone in your image
• Produce 2 color and 2 B&W images with the HDR process, subject is your choice

• Upload your 4 final images as jpgs to your blog when complete.

Tips and Advice to get great results:

Subject matter is your choice, but avoid any portraits or any subject that will move between taking each picture.
HDRI process works best with landscapes, cars, architecture and objects that have rich texture or very shiny surfaces, like cars, windows, glass, water reflections, etc...
HDR Pro can align your images, but if there is too much movement between exposures than results can be less than desirable. Check the "Remove Ghosts" button for best results
Use a tripod, it is mandatory for this project!
If you want to use this for portraiture, make sure your subject can hold themselves extremely still between shots... otherwise there will be ghosting and blur in your image.