Ass 211 - Task 2b - Presenting photo images

Automate options (fig.1)

Once I had download all of that days photographic shots in to a new folder on the computers desk-top, I opened up the Photoshop software to create a new set of contact sheets.

By clicking on File in the main menu heading bar, a pull down window opens, scrolling down the various choices to Automate, a sub-window opens with additional options, by selecting the Contact Sheet II a new independent window is opened (fig.1). This is where you can make bespoke choices for your contact sheet - page size, resolution, number of images per page and so on, once you are happy with your choice of set-up, you click ok and the software starts to process the images in to contact sheet pages, these pages are then saved or printed off ready for the selection process to begin. Once all of the contact sheets were printed I was able to start the selection process, what I was hoping to show in my final selection was an overview of a great day out.

marked-up contact sheets

The next part of the process was to reduce the days shots down to just 40 in total, once this had been done I produced a new set of contact sheets which were also printed off, with these new sheets I could look at how each individual images might be cropped and also work together as part of the final gallery.

Because I would be presenting the final images together in a printed portfolio, I had decided to present the images in a rectangular landscape format - one size to fill all, this decision would also have a bearing on my selection of images, some picture would work better in this format than others.

Once the final ten images had been selected they were processed within Photoshop, this is where I made slight adjustments to the image contrast and colour balance, once this had been done each individual image was worked on further, first I duplicated the image layer then I applied an unsharp filter mask to the new image layer, depending on the image and how the filter looked the top layers opacity is reduced, this reduction is individual to each separate image, the two layers are then merged, with the image layer still unlocked I resized the canvas to 250mm(w) X 210mm(h) at 240dpi, the image was then positioned, reduced or a combination of both to fit the canvas area giving the best composition for each individual shot, once I was happy with result the image was then cropped to size so that it fitted the canvas area exactly.

Note: Another way in which this process could have been undertaken was to use Layer Masks to crop the image, the benefit of this procedure is that the original image would still remain intact (full size), this option allows you to move the image within the mask area giving more flexibility if you thought that you might need to reposition the image at a later date. This layered option would be saved as a .psd file. This file can be used to produce alternative images and a good working method that allows you to return to the master file at a later date.

fig.3

 The canvas size was then increased to 270mm (w) X 230mm (h), by using the Magic Wand Tool (fig.3) I could make a selection of the empty area around the image, I then created a new layer and applied a black stroke to the selection (fig.4), a second layer was then created and a grey fill was applied to this layer this would be seen as a wide grey image border.

fig.4

Once I had carried out the above, I then highlighted the image layer ready for the next stage. Clicking on Image in the main menu heading bar, scrolling down to Adjustments and then in the sub-window to Black & White option a new window opens (fig.5), this option is where I would be able to alter the image colour from mono to sepia by clicking the Tint button and using just Hue and Saturation scroll bars to alter the colour, after looking at various options I decided on a selection of Hue 20° and Saturation of 12% (fig.6).

fig.5

fig.6

Each part of the above procedure would be followed and then applied to the other nine images individually, once this had been done for all of the images the final part of the process was to name the files and choose what format the images would be save in (fig.7).

fig.7

For this set of images I chose to save the files as JPGs, with JPGs the amount of compression can be adjusted, the trade-off is between storage file size and image quality, by using the scroll bar you can control the amount of compression - 1 being low quality and 12 giving very little perceptible loss in image quality, saving as JPGs would also make it easier for me to send the images to the printer later on due to the reduced file size (fig.8).

fig.8

The final part of the assignment will be to present the images together as a collection, this is going to be done as part of a printed portfolio presented at the end of the course. At the printing stage I will be looking at various types of paper stocks, I could choose a Hi-gloss paper very similar to photo paper or I might choice an uncoated stock “very arty” each type of paper will have an effect on the final images and how it looks to the viewer, the options are many and might be dictated by cost and available time.

An alternative way to present the final images could be to use an online gallery sources such as Flickr or Blogger, with both of these options the gallery would be ready to view worldwide as soon as the images had been uploaded and published for the public to view, this option would be very cost effective as it is free to most users at the moment, to support this option an email link could be mailed out to world wide contacts informing them of your new online image gallery.