ART 425 Artist in Context
Assignment: Photograph, organize,
back- up, and edit no less than six of your own artworks resulting in a
folder of edited Òmaster filesÓ as specified below. I will evaluate results
by looking at your files on your external hard drive via Photoshop Bridge. This
handout covers the following: Taking
Digital Photographs for Your Portfolio Managing
Your Digital Images Backing
up Your Digital Files Digitally
Editing Your Images Preparing
Images for Various Uses: Web, Projections, Prints
An
artist must have good quality images of their work. You use them for
everything including, graduate school, jobs, grants, shows, competitions, and
residencies. The very worst
thing an artist can do is to send out poor quality visual images of their
visual artwork. So having the right equipment and learning how to use it to
take quality images is a must for every serious artist. What makes a good image? Digital images must
be taken with a high quality camera. A SLR (single-lens reflex) camera with a
digital back is ideal, but a high quality, fixed lens digital camera will
work (available to borrow from the department or media services). A normal
point and shoot camera is not really sufficient. Almost all of these lesser
cameras have inferior lenses that are often wide angle (this will warp/bulge
the rectangles of your artworks), have only auto-adjustment options, and take
images in a compress file format such as a jpeg. The idea camera settings and shooting conditions will
include the following: Shooting
conditions: á
Context: Always shoot on a
plain background. Never shoot your work behind glass. The work can be matted
but in a neutral manner. á
Camera Position: Shoot square by
locating camera 100% perpendicular, centered, and level to your artwork.
Check verticality of camera lens using a level. á
Lighting: Light the work evenly
with no hot spots, reflections, glare, and strong shadows in 3D works. For
all 2d work, use photo lights on stands and ÔcrossÕ light to reduce glare and
hot spots. Use a light meter to test for hot spots. Bounced lighting can help
cut down hard shadows in 3d work. Always us photo lights of consistent light
ÔtemperatureÕ particularly if you cannot create a custom white point within
your camera (see below). Turn off other light sources in the area to improve
light ÔtemperatureÕ consistency . Ideally shoot with
photo lights of a mid range temperature like 5500 K (not too warm, not to
cool). á
Shoot correct views: Fill the frame as
much as possible. 2D work should include full frontal, a context shot for
scale, and details as appropriate. 3D objects and installations take more
experimentation to figure out the best views. The primary image should be the
most indicative with other shots including details or views that express
oneÕs spatial experience of the work. Camera
settings: á
Focus: Always use a tripod.
In most cases auto-focus is fine but sometimes you need to manually focus because
certain types of surfaces defy auto-focusing sensors. á
Exposure: Use a manual setting
and bracket shots by adjusting between depth of field (f stop) and shutter
speed. Usually the depth of field is set at a minimum and shutter speed
becomes your variable to achieve different exposures. á
Lessen Lens Distortion: Use non-wide lens
when possible or shoot at Òmid zoomÓ. á
Adjust White Point: ÒWhite pointÓ is the
condition that sets the color ÒtemperatureÓ of your image. Think about a white wall that looks
warm (toward the yellow), it is in the 2000 degree K range. One that looks
cool (toward the bluish) is probably more like 8000 degree K range . The color temperature of your image is a function
of both the temperature of the light bulbs you use and the white point
setting in the camera (they should match). Creating a custom white point in
your camera means that the camera reads a white that you designate to be
neutral (no color cast) and then adjusts itself accordingly. á
File Settings: use an uncompressed
file format such as TIFF not JPEG with sufficient file size of a Ômaster
imageÕ (at least 3000 pixels in largest dimension / 20+ mb file) á
Suppress camera flash and any other image adjustment
function
Once
you have created digital photos of your work the next step is storing and
organizing them in a way that helps you keep track of different versions
created for different uses. 1.
Organization: You will use your digital images in a variety of ways (web,
print, projected for lectures, etc. ) and each use
will require the files to be prepared differently. Tragedy happens when one
overwrites a full size 22 mb master file with a tiny 50 kb web file because
it wasnÕt clear what was what.
Here are some organization guidelines: Use consistent file
names: Create
simple, comprehensible names for each image and then use it consistently
adding suffixes to designate differences. Note that I also follow good naming
protocols for all digital files including no caps, underscores rather than
spaces, and abbreviations rather than very long titles. No only will this
make you look like a pro but will help you get in the habit for when it
matters like with web files. Example:
I have a series of prints I have titled tessellations. So maybe I name each file is named tess1, tess2, and my context shot tess_install.
If I have details IÕd name them in such a way that when they sit in
alphabetical order in a computer folder they end up together. So I name a
detail tess1_det not det_tess1. Then, to differentiate between say my original shot, a
full size edited version, and a version prepared for web use I use: tess1_orig, tess1_editmaster, tess1_web.
Use folders: Like naming, create a
series of folders that will hold images prepared for different uses and
sub-folders to organize different series of work within those types. Example: I create an original_photos folders to keep an unedited, off the camera copy
of all my images, I then copy those images IÕve edited but plan to keep full
size and in a reeditable format and place them into a master_edited_images folder. I
could then copy these master files, resize and optimize them for web use and
place them into a web_images folder (not to be confused with root folders of
specific sites).
Simple
rule, back up all files always.
Digital image files require lots more storage space than text
documents so cloud and network folders are not always an option. You might
use a couple of external drives. One you work from (bringing it around from
computer to computer) and another as a duplicate. Or you can use your
personal computer as your back up drive. There are back up programs (Macs
have time machine) that will
automatically back up by initially copying everything, and then subsequently,
copying only new and changed files. Jump drives are small and easy to loose
(is your name and address on yours?). Whatever you choose, you must be able
to tell and show me your back-up scheme.
The
best approach is to take excellent photographs of your artworks so you need
to do as little editing as possible. What follows is a basic checklist.
Consider doing your edits in such a way that they are re-editable if that
seems called for (see creating a master file below). Use adjustment layers,
smart filters, and set guides and masks rather than cropping are ways of
making edits that can be changed later. 1.
Adjust for correct exposure and color Try
using PS auto levels, contrast, and or color to test if these automated
adjustments might not do a good job at fixing basics. DonÕt forget a modest
use of shadow/highlight to lighten deep shadows. 2.
Straighten and unwarp These
should be done in the camera but when all else fails use Edit>transform>rotate
to make the artwork perpendicular to image edge and Edit>transform>warp
or even distort to correct bulged and warped rectangles. 3.
Crop Sometimes
artists choose to crop an image to the edges of the work and sometimes to
include the full object. You do not want more surround than art. 4.
Clean up surrounding areas With
skill and knowhow one can isolate an artwork from its surroundings and
therefore edit the surroundings in many ways. This could be as simple as
getting rid of marks on the wall or artfully getting rid of distracting
elements in a room.
Digital
images can be edited for various types of use (output). The best approach is
to shoot, edit and retain a high quality, large size, ÒlosslessÓ (non
compressed) master image of each artwork and then make copies for each
specific use, changing them in ways appropriate for that output. For our
purposes, a master file can be a PS file that might retain editing options
via adjustment layers. They should be in a PS or TIFF format and be no smaller than 20 MB (like 2200 x
3300 pixels).
Making
prints (including printed portfolio books) from digital images is just about
the only output that necessitates very large size files. Images for printing
are formatted according to the settings required by each specific printer and
paper used. Images viewed on digital displays (PowerPoint presentations, web
sites etc) are sized according to the pixel dimension of a target display
(computer screen or projector). Images and other media files for the web are
often optimized in specific formats to shorten download times. The most
common variables are file size (pixel dimension), file format (lossless like
a TIFF, or smaller JPEG and GIFs for web images and
graphics), and color space (embedded color profiles that predict various
output devices). Note
on Film Slides: Rarely
used anymore. So the best approach when someone asks for film slides is to
have a professional lab make them from your digital images. This process uses
a piece of equipment called a
Ôfilm recorderÕ. The proportions of your image should match the
proportions of the 35mm slide (even if you need to mask with black). Each processing lab will tell you how
the file should be prepared (dpi, pixel dimension/ size ratio, and file
format. A 9 MB is ok file size but a 20+ MB file is what the pros would use. There
are services that allow you to upload the images online and they mail you the
resulting slides (slides.com for example) |