Assignment #8 Photo Illustration

A photo illustration is an original image created from two or more photos, used to convey concepts and ideas in a way that may be difficult or impossible to convey using a "straight" photograph.

The Orlando Sentinel’s policy on photo illustrations:
The combination of photography and illustration to create a “photo illustration” is acceptable in cases in which the subject matter is complex, abstract or difficult to convey through documentary photography. However, all photo illustrations must contain an element of the absurd so exaggerated that the image could not be confused with a documentary photo. These pieces must be labeled as photo illustrations, and their use must be approved by a supervising design or photo editor.

It is important to distinguish to the viewer that a photo illustration is created, not recorded.  It should have "an element of the absurd so exaggerated" so the viewer will immediately know that the image is not a straight photo.  This may be accomplished by using such techniques as exaggerated sizes (tiny human) and impossible positioning, composition and place (background). 

The photo illustration should also communicate a concept or idea.  For example, the use of the colors red, white and blue, the flag, Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty are all associated with the United States, and they may also convey the idea of patriotism.  Photos of wine bottles and glasses, the baguette or the Eiffel Tower makes one think of France.



A good way to come up with ideas is to first think of the ideas and concepts of the story that you are trying to illustrate, and then translate these ideas and concepts into images.

Tips:  Use all of the Photoshop tools to your advantage.  Especially helpful  are the masking tools and the blending modes.  It is more realistic in the final illustration if the lighting remains constant (direction and hard/soft), so keep this in mind when photographing the individual images for the illustration.
Remember:  You must use only your original photos.  Do not infringe the copyright of other photographers by stealing their photos from the webl

Assignment:  150 Points
Create two or more versions of one photo illustration, ideally related to a story that you worked on for your photo essay.  Combine at least two photos to convey a concept or idea for that story.  The different versions may use slightly different photos, or the same photos with slightly different sizes/placement, or different orientations, such as one being landscape (double page spread) and another being in portrait orientation (cover?).
Due:
Wednesday, July 31st.

http://abduzeedo.com/case-study-olympic-running-photo-illustration
http://www.jamesporto.com/
http://dzineblog.com/2011/03/30-brilliant-examples-of-photo-illustration.html
http://www.designsmag.com/2011/06/55-mind-blowing-creative-photo-illustration/
http://www.web3mantra.com/2011/04/16/25-best-photo-illustrations-examples/

Ethics and Photojournalism

NPPA CODE OF ETHICS

Visual journalists and those who manage visual news productions are accountable for upholding the following standards in their daily work:

1. Be accurate and comprehensive in the representation of subjects.
2. Resist being manipulated by staged photo opportunities.
3. Be complete and provide context when photographing or recording subjects. Avoid stereotyping individuals and groups. Recognize and work to avoid presenting one's own biases in the work.
4. Treat all subjects with respect and dignity. Give special consideration to vulnerable subjects and compassion to victims of crime or tragedy. Intrude on private moments of grief only when the public has an overriding and justifiable need to see.
5. While photographing subjects do not intentionally contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or influence events.
6. Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images' content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects.
7. Do not pay sources or subjects or reward them materially for information or participation.
8. Do not accept gifts, favors, or compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage.
9. Do not intentionally sabotage the efforts of other journalists.

Ideally, visual journalists should:

1. Strive to ensure that the public's business is conducted in public. Defend the rights of access for all journalists.
2. Think proactively, as a student of psychology, sociology, politics and art to develop a unique vision and presentation. Work with a voracious appetite for current events and contemporary visual media.
3. Strive for total and unrestricted access to subjects, recommend alternatives to shallow or rushed opportunities, seek a diversity of viewpoints, and work to show unpopular or unnoticed points of view.
4. Avoid political, civic and business involvements or other employment that compromise or give the appearance of compromising one's own journalistic independence.
5. Strive to be unobtrusive and humble in dealing with subjects.
6. Respect the integrity of the photographic moment.
7. Strive by example and influence to maintain the spirit and high standards expressed in this code. When confronted with situations in which the proper action is not clear, seek the counsel of those who exhibit the highest standards of the profession. Visual journalists should continuously study their craft and the ethics that guide it.

When the LAPD released O.J. Simpson's mug shot, Time and Newsweek both ran the same photo on the cover.  Time magazine manipulated the photograph to make it darker and more menacing.  Since it was a news photograph, it shouldn't have been altered at all.  Time later apologized for the incident.

Brian Walski, a Los Angeles Times reporter, combined two photographs into one used on the newspaper's front page Monday (above). Sharp-eyed journalists at another paper spotted Iraqis at left who were repeated in the picture.

Reuters on Sunday withdrew an image of smoke rising from burning buildings after an Israeli airstrike Saturday on the suburbs of Beirut after evidence emerged that it had been manipulated to show more smoke. The manipulated image is shown on the left. The unaltered image, shown on the right, has since run.

This famous photograph, known as "Falling Man," captures the plunge of an unknown victim of 9/11 from the north tower—one of many who jumped or fell to their deaths from the upper floors of the World Trade Center.

The decision to publish or censor such images was polarizing in 2001.

Tsarnaev makes cover of Rolling Stone, draws outrage, boycotts.

State Police photographer releases bloody Tsarnaev photos to Boston Magazine

Here, in his own words, Sean Murphy shares his thoughts on the Rolling Stone cover. He stresses that he is speaking strictly for himself and not as a representative of the Massachusetts State Police:

“As a professional law-enforcement officer of 25 years, I believe that the image that was portrayed by Rolling Stone magazine was an insult to any person who has every worn a uniform of any color or any police organization or military branch, and the family members who have ever lost a loved one serving in the line of duty. The truth is that glamorizing the face of terror is not just insulting to the family members of those killed in the line of duty, it also could be an incentive to those who may be unstable to do something to get their face on the cover of Rolling Stonemagazine.

“I hope that the people who see these images will know that this was real. It was as real as it gets. This may have played out as a television show, but this was not a television show. Officer Dick Donohue almost gave his life. Officer Sean Collier did give his life. These were real people, with real lives, with real families. And to have this cover dropped into Boston was hurtful to their memories and their families. I know from first-hand conversations that this Rolling Stone cover has kept many of them up—again. It’s irritated the wounds that will never heal—again. There is nothing glamorous in bringing more pain to a grieving family.

“Photography is very simple, it’s very basic. It brings us back to the cave. An image like this on the cover of Rolling Stone, we see it instantly as being wrong. What Rolling Stone did was wrong. This guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber. Not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.”

Where can you take a picture?

Public Places
     You may take photos in most public spaces without restriction.  Where restrictions do occur, they usually fall into the category of "common sense" restrictions, such as in elementary schools, police buildings and prisons, and in courtrooms.  There are also special rules for government legislative buildings.  The constitution actually gives congress the right to control its buildings, so this is not even subject to judicial oversight.

Public Places  -  No Restrictions:
-street
-sidewalk
-airport (except for off limit areas such as runways)
-beach, park, zoo
-train, bus station

Public Schools:
     Generally, you may photograph in pre-school through high school only with the school administrator's permission.  Since they have the right to restrict access to the campus, they effectively have the right to restrict access to photographers.  Note:  parents do not have the right keep their children from being photographed on school property.
     You may take photos without restriction on public university property, although you may not photograph in classrooms during instruction time without the instructor's permission.  Dorm areas are also considered off limits except with prior permission.

Public Places  -  Restricted:
-Hospitals
-Prisons and jails
-Military Bases
-NSA, CIA, SEC, NRC, Library of Congress
-Lawmaking Venues - Congress and it's offices
-Tribal Lands
-Courtroom

Private Property
     Generally, you may photograph onto private property without permission if it is in "public view."  You may stand on the sidewalk and photograph someone mowing their lawn or sitting on the porch, even inside the window.  However, you may not use extraordinary techniques, such as long telephoto lenses.
     You may not step onto other people's property without their permission.  This is trespassing and is illegal.  The law is murky about photographing in privately owned but public spaces, such as shopping malls and restaurants.  Your best bet would be to follow the rules set down by the owner.
     You may publish any photos that you have already taken.  The owner can't demand your film or memory card, and may be guilty of battery if he touches you or the camera.  He can, however, bar you from taking further photos.


Police Authority.
     The courts have ruled both ways on whether the police may invite photographers onto public property, but the U.S. Supreme court has ruled that this violates the 4th amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure.
     The police often will forbid you from photographing where you have a clear right to photograph.  You should listen and obey them unless you are prepared to go to jail and pay the costs of the court case to stand up for your rights.  The police do have the right to control photography if it legitimately interferes with an active investigation.

http://www.lbpost.com/life/12188-police-chief-confirms-detaining-photographers-within-departmental-policy#.UMCyGJPjlgZ

     The Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act does NOT forbid you from photographing in public places or around public buildings, such as bridges, harbors and industrial facilities.  Doing so, however, may invite federal agents to your house for questioning.

Assignment #7 MultiMedia

Assignment:

Create a story and illustrate it with video, or time-lapse, or a combination of video, time-lapse and/or still photos.  The piece must be from 1.5 - 5 minutes long, and include a title and credits at the end.  Ideally you will do a story on the Photo Essay assignment, but you may choose another idea if you'd like.  The Multimedia piece must be well thought out and presented in a serious manner (i.e.- No cheesy iMovie themes).  Audio is very important, so you should be very careful if using the original audio from the clip (i.e. - guard against wind noise, etc).  Alternately, you may use music files or voice narration.  You are NOT allowed to use copyrighted music.

Multimedia pieces can be one of the following:

• Video - from one to five minutes long, including title, credits and sound.
• Time-Lapse - Using your dSLR and an intervalometer, create a time lapse from one to five minutes long.  Include title, credits and sound.
• Combination of Video, Time Lapse and/or Still photos, with the above requirements.
• Slide show with narration, with the above requirements.

Grading:

150 Points

Due: Tuesday 7/30

dSLR Video Tips

Exposure

• Use Manual exposure
• Set the Shutter Speed according to the fps (1/2x fps)  A fast shutter speed makes the video appear choppy
• Set the Aperture for the proper exposure.  Use  ND filters to maintain small apertures

Frames Per Second

24fps - cinematic look, best results with 1/50s shutter speed

30fps - video (tv) look,  shoot up to 1/60s

60fps - best for action and slow motion

ISO

160, 320, 640 and 1250 offer the least amount of noise (on Canon cameras)

Picture Styles

• Turn sharpening off
• Set contrast and sharpening down a bit
• Be careful of too much saturation
• Video is like shooting jpegs, you have to get it right at the time of shooting.  You don’t have a RAW file to work with.

White Balance

• set the proper white balance, not AWB
• Some cameras allow you to set the WB in 100 deg. Kelvin increments

Focus

• Manual focus is the best, you don’t have autofocus when shooting.
• zoom in on the live view screen to better see the focus

• Use a Tripod - without a tripod, the video will look sloppy and amateurish.  Use a fluid head for panning
• Use some sort of stabilization rig.  The dSLR is small and lightweight and not easy to hand hold for video
• Use Motion - gives the viewer more info as the frame changes.  Attach to a car, set on a skateboard
• Planning the movie before you shoot will help you get the shots you need.  Remember to include an overall scene, as well as medium shots and close ups.
• Always get more footage than you think you'll need.  You will soon realize this in editing.
• Microphones - external microphones add to the quality.  Slides into the hot-shoe of your camera
• Shoot Wide-Open - this takes advantage of the large sensor and fast lenses in the dSLR system.  You may need to use a ND filter in bright daylight.
• Leave room at the beginning and ending - start recording early and keep recording a few seconds after you think you are done.  Easy to edit out.
• Keep the camera horizontal.  For vertical subjects, pan up and down.
• You will need a high speed memory card to record video.  Get one with lots of capacity because video uses up a lot of memory.
• Avoid shooting clips continuously.  Long clips can heat up the camera to dangerous levels.

http://vimeo.com/videoschool/lesson/15/shooting-video-with-a-dslr

Weekend Update - assignment

Here is a fun weekend assignment to keep you tripping (the shutter):

Part 1  Emotion
     Photograph (or video) to illustrate an emotion.  Choose an emotion such as Love, Hate, Sadness and use your camera to illustrate the concept.  The class must be able to understand your theme through the photos only, without explanation.  You should have at least 5 photos, and may present them in the way that you wish.  You may use video if you are comfortable with shooting and editing video.  You may produce a slide show, and you may use time lapse if you wish.

Part 2  Ethics
     Come up with a recent example of ethics (or lack thereof) in photography and present it to the class.  There are two very good examples in today's news, and numerous examples from the past few years.

Due:  Monday July 22nd

Photo Essay II

The Photo Essay is a related series of photos intended to illustrate a story.  The photo essay may consist mainly of photos with minimal text as explanation, or may help illustrate full text essays.

The goal of this assignment is for you to complete a full photo essay of a story that has local appeal, which will be posted to the city magazine website.  The first part of the essay will be to come up with the idea and to start writing and photographing it.  You will then have over a week to continue to photograph and edit your work.  You will then work with your fellow students to edit the work for the final presentation.

The intended audience is the LBCC student community, so the story should be appealing to them.  You may come up with a story about LBCC itself, something appealing to college students in general, or something concerning the Long Beach area.

To get you thinking more about composition, you must use a different aspect ratio than the standard 3:2 35mm ratio.

Photo Essay ideas:

• The life of a (popular) college professor
• Student Life
• The new food court vendor
• Construction on campus
• Area businesses - targeted to students
• Local music scene

Due:

Part 1 - Wednesday July 24

• At least two well written paragraphs, a list of 10 photo ideas, and at least 10 preliminary photos.

Come up with a firm idea and start writing the story and start to illustrate it.  The idea is the main thing at this point.  Write at least two paragraphs on the idea, and a list of photos that you are thinking of taking.  Also, start photographing, the quality is not as important right now, just start to get familiar with the story that you have chosen.

Part 2 - Wednesday July 31st

• A completed photo essay including at least 10 well edited photos with captions, and written text of at least three paragraphs.  You must use a different aspect ratio than the standard 3:2 35mm ratio.

You will be working with your fellow students to edit the text and the group of photos.  The final photo essay will be due Thursday, August 1st.

Open Lab

Class

From here on out, just figure on having open computer lab from 9:00am to 10:30am every morning.  You have the current assignments, as well as the blog postings to work on.

Copyright for Photographers

What is copyright?Copyright is a legal concept, provided in most countries, that gives artists the exclusive right to publish, adapt and license their work for financial benefit.

Why has copyright?Copyright is designed for you — the artist. Without copyright, people would be free to use your artistic work without payment, and you’d have little financial incentive to create art.With copyright, someone who wants to commercially use your work has to get your permission first. They have to license your work, and perhaps pay you real money. Now you can be a “professional” photographer, and buy a nicer camera.

How do I get copyright?Automatically. The law protects your artwork upon mere creation.

Do I have to register, publish, or add a notice?No. Those were requirements in the U.S. before 1976 but they were omitted to conform with the Berne Convention.  But, registering your photos with the copyright office gives you legal benefits...see below.

Who owns the copyright?The person who presses the shutter-release automatically owns the copyright to the photograph.

The one exception is when the the photographer is a full-time employee, then the employer owns the copyright as a “work made for hire.”This does not apply to part-time, volunteer, or contract (e.g. wedding) photographers. 
Work For Hire In order for the employer to hire you and keep the copyright on the photos you create, you must be an employee.  This means the employer must pay benefits and give assignments.  Additionally, in California, the employer must pay workers compensation and unemployment benefits.

Freelance Photography You own the copyright but grant the publication one-time usage rights, or one time usage rights for a specified period of time. You may also sell the copyright (hopefully for a large amount of money).  A photographer owns the copyright unless they explicitly sign it away in writing.

Models (and other people in a photo) do not own copyright; they own their likeness, as publicity rights. Likewise, property owners haveproperty rights.What rights do I get?As a copyright owner, you control who can copy, adapt, license and publicly display your photos, particularly for profit.As a photographer, you get to be the only person to:

1. make and sell copies of your photos;

1. create other art using your photos, such as paintings or Photoshop variations;

1. publish your photos on the Internet and in books;

1. license usage of your photos to other people in exchange for money.

In a sense, copyright doesn’t give you anything, it just takes abilities away from other people, saying what they can’t do. Thus it’s an “exclusionary right” or a “negative right.”

What do I not get?Copyright is not an absolute right; there are over 20 exclusions, limitations and exceptions. These include:

• Facts and unoriginal work

• Ideas

• Duration

• Fair use, for public benefit or non-profit

Copyright does not apply to facts, since these are universal not individual. Factual dates and figures can’t be copyrighted, but text expressing those facts may be. Similarly, works with no originality or creativity (such as “slavish copying”) cannot gain copyright.Copyright covers form but not idea. It applies to the tangible artistic result — known as the “form of material expression” — not the underlying concept. So your photograph has copyright, but not the idea or viewpoint behind it. For example, if you take a great photo of some natural thing, such as a beach or Yosemite Valley, you can’t stop other people from taking the same photo.Many artworks are no longer protected by copyright (they are in the “public domain”) and are free for everyone to use. This includes artworks published before 1923; copyrights that have expired (complex); and public property such as written laws.Copyright can expire. In the U.S., the duration is lifetime plus 70 years.Copyright does not prevent resale. In the U.S., after the “first sale”, the owner can resell a work as-is.Fair use is permitted. This is for purposes that benefit the public interest or that are private, non-commercial and do not affect potential revenue.

What about that © symbol?The © symbol, or any other marking, is not required. It was necessary in the U.S. before 1989, but adoption of the Berne Convention removed this requirement, as copyright is now automatic. However, a copyright notice is still optionally used as means of identifying the copyright owner, along with the date of creation. You don’t have to include the © with your photo, but the addition of “© 2006 Joe Bloggs” tells everyone that Joe Bloggs hereby declares copyright ownership of this photo since 2006.

Why should I register?Registration is required to be able to file a lawsuit. If you registered your work before an infringement (or within three months of first publication), then you can sue for statutory damages of up to $30,000 (or $150,000 for willful infringement) PLUS attorney’s fees. Also, it will be much easier to hire a lawyer on a contingency basis.
For a post-infringement of copyright, you will still have to register it before commencing a suit, but you can only get actual damages and no attorney’s fees, which makes a lawsuit uneconomical.

How do I register copyright?You can apply online. An unlimited number of photos can be registered as a group for one fee of $35 (as long as they have the same author and registration year). Just put your JPEG digital photos in a single zip file and upload them to the U.S. Copyright office.  Most professional photographers recommend registering their photographs on a quarterly basis.  There are different rules for registering photos that have been previously published.

http://www.copyright.gov/

ASMP has a lot of good information on copyright for photographers, including podcasts, faqs and step by step tutorials:
http://asmp.org/tutorials/best-practices.html#.ULd0HNPjlgY

Some interesting links on copyright:

http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2013/04/19/5-famous-copyright-infringement-cases/

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/arts/design/appeals-court-ruling-favors-richard-prince-in-copyright-case.html?_r=3&

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/12/obama-image-copyright-case-is-settled/

Sports - Links

Here are the links to some of the sports websites I showed in class:

http://www.peterreadmiller.com/

http://www.daveblackphotography.com/index.php

http://www.vladimirrys.com/home/

http://www.darrenheath.com/

http://www.bobmartin.com/

A good sports photograph will:

• be Timely  -  Nobody reading the paper cares about last weeks game, your photos need to be in tomorrow morning's paper, which means a deadline of this evening, right after the game.
• be Timely  - The best sports photographs show concepts such as victory, defeat, determination, grit etc. that transcend the one game and stand the test of time.

• Catch the Winning Play  -  Concentration, knowledge of the sport and the timing of an athlete are needed to catch the game-winning touchdown or homerun any big play that changes the dynamics of the game.
• Summarize the game in one photo  - The photo chosen should parallell the lead story, often the leading scorer or a play that changes the game.

Technical Aspects:

• Autofocus  - Continuous autofocus is most often used.  For some sports "zone" focusing works well.  Many sports photographers manually set the focus button to a button on the back of the camera.
• Shutter speed  - 1/1000 of a second or higher to freeze the action.  Panning and blur are better at 1/15th or 1/30th, but can be faster for faster action
• Lens  - the long, fast telephoto is a staple for sports photography.  A medium length fast(er) is useful for indoor sports.
• Predict the action  - where will the most exciting part of the play end up?
• Position - Where to stand on the sideline to get the shot.  Unusual angles add interest.

Due:  Tuesday July 16th

Present a sports story of 7-15 photographs on one particular sport.  This can be anything from team sports such as Basketball or Football, to individual sports such as tennis, surfing or golf. 
This story must include action shots as well as portraits of athletes. 

Ideally the action shots should include the standard fast shutter speed "stop action" as well as creative use of shutter speed such as panning and blur.  The portrait should be set up and more formal, but with a creative "edge,"  think Sports Illustrated or a Gatorade ad.
Don't forget the interplay of coaches, players and fans.  Also a good establishing shot (such as the arena and crowd) will add to the assignment.

Due: 7-15 jpegs.  See the "file specs" blog for file specifications.  Place in a collection labeled "Sports" in your Lightroom catalog.

Shutter Speed and Flash

Below are examples showing how the shutter speed affects the ambient exposure when using flash on camera.  In this example the aperture was constant at f.4, and I adjusted the shutter speed from one second to 1/200s, the fastest flash sync on my camera.

1sec f.4

 1/2 sec f.4

 1/4 sec f.4

 1/8 sec f.4

 1/15 sec f.4

 1/30 sec f.4

 1/60 sec f.4

 1/125 sec f.4

 1/200 sec f.4

On-Camera Flash

Notes on Using On-Camera Flash

Guide Number  - Refers to the strength of the flash (brightness) -usually at ISO 100 

 GN = f.stop x distance

GN100 f.2@50feet

GN100 f.4@25feet

Flash Exposure done by modifying the aperture only.  The shutter speed does not determine the exposure of the flash lighting.

Flash Sync Speed - varies from camera to camera, usually 1/30 to 1/200s

High Speed Sync - up to 1/8000 useful for large aperture on sunny day

Dragging the Shutter - using both ambient and flash light, set the shutter for the correct ambient light exposure.

-the flash exposes the foreground, and the ambient exposure exposes the background.
-Moving objects are frozen by the flash exposure, and may blur with long ambient exposures.
-typically the best results occur when the ambient exposure is 1-2 stops down from the correct exposure.

2nd (rear) curtain sync - flash fires at the end of the exposure

Fill Flash 

-used to fill in the shadows for more even lighting - set to minus 2 or minus 3 stops

-used to illuminate the subject against a bright background-silhouette  -underexpose the background and correctly expose the subject with flash

TTL Through the Lens Metering

the flash and camera sends out a pre-flash and the exposure set using a sensor in the lens.  May be coupled to the focus distance

Flash Exposure Compensation

works just like camera exposure compensation and allows you to vary the amount of flash exposure.  

Bounce Flash

aiming your flash at a ceiling or wall converts into a larger light source which is a softer light source.  Straight flash is quite harsh lighting.  -Wall color

Off Camera Flash

wired - 6” to 33’, straight or coiled, usually proprietary

wireless - infrared, radio and optical

-optical - slave -not TTL

-radio full TTL, no direct line of sight needed, different channels

-optical TTL, direct line of sight needed

little faster than radio

Modifiers and Gels

-modifiers to control light direction or to soften

-Gels are used to modify light color

-Wide Angle diffuser built into the flash - to 17mm

Tips

-flash should usually be used to complement the ambient light, not to overpower it

-direct flash and high shutter speed is almost always a no-no.

-Bounce the flash for better directional lighting and softer light

-Drag the shutter - balance the ambient with the flash exposure

Problems

• Uneven lighting - subjects should be the same distance from the flash - inverse square law

• Shadow on the Wall
• Unwanted Reflections - in glass or eyeglasses
• Uneven Coverage