Inspiration and Tutorials

CDA files conversion (taking audio files off a cd)

2010-12-01T12:54:00.000-08:00

When saving files from a CD they are often CDA files, a useless file type for any application. Using this link http://www.freerip.com/ you can convert your cda files to mp3, wma or wav for use in powerpoint or other audio applications

Download video from home

2010-12-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

You can't use this site from school but you can use it from home to save youtube videos
http://keepvid.com/

Power Point Troubleshooting

2010-06-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.pptworkbench.com/html/round_trip.htm

http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00526.htm

http://www.mcgimpsey.com/macoffice/office/troubleshooting.html

Another way to download Youtube movies on Mac

2010-06-03T08:24:00.001-07:00

Check out this Firefox plus in
http://www.downloadhelper.net/

Another conversion

2010-05-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Copy URL for video then go to http://www.zamzar.com/

Click on URL in Step 1 Convert area, then paste URL into box

In Step 2 choose wmv file format

In Step 3 enter an email address you can log into from school

In Step 4 click Convert

Check email in about 10 minutes and follow instructions

Getting You Tube videos for Power Point Mac/PC

2010-05-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to get videos from youtube to use in your power point. http://www.mediaconverter.org/

Copy the URL for the video
In Media Converter site hit enter link and paste link, hit ok
Then hit green arrow Go to next step
Choose WMV as the file format from the drop down menu
Hit ok
Then hit Start

You Tube videos less than 100MB for powerpoint

2010-05-18T10:51:00.001-07:00

Use http://www.zamzar.com/ to download movies less than 100MB for your powerpoint. Follow these instructions and only use the free version, no credit card required

Instructions

Compatible sound and movie file formats for Powerpoint PC

2010-03-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to a page that shows you what sound and movie files you can use, if your file is not in one of these formats you can't use it. No quicktime movie support on the pc so don't add movies or sound on your mac and then expect it to work on the pc http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA012303251033.aspx

Format Painter, makes copying styles easier

2010-02-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a link from Powerpoint's how to site on how to use format painter to apply formating you've done on a text or image to another text box or image http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA010548921033.aspx

Vector Brushes

2010-02-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

Vector Brushes for Illustrator, also remember to edit and pull points and you
can also create in Photoshop, Live trace/paint and then edit points in
Illustrator

http://speckyboy.com/2008/09/29/80-of-the-best-vector-and-illustrator-free-resources/

http://www.bittbox.com/freebies/35-free-abstract-illus...trator-brushes

http://...vector-art.blogspot.com/search/label/Brushes

http://vectips.com/tutorials/free-watercolor-brushes-and-tutorial/If

you look through them there is a lot of good stuff

http://www.aivault.com/?p=405http://thinkdesignblog.com/free-vectors-230-marker-illustrator-brushes.htm

http://thinkdesignblog.com/free-vectors-15-paint-brushstroke-illustrator-brushes.htm

http://www.vecteezy.com/

Keyboard Shortcuts for Special Characters

2010-01-25T12:16:00.000-08:00

To get special characters like © the most efficient way is to know the keyboard shortcut on the Mac or PC. So here's a page that has it all laid out for you Special Character Keyboard Shortcuts

Thornton videos

2009-12-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

Fellow AIPH instructor's cool art videos

Powerpoint from PC to Mac and older versions

2009-12-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

Please See this link if you will be using powerpoint in mac and pc or using the newest version and older versions

Sound Files for Powerpoint

2009-11-16T07:47:00.000-08:00

Download free sound files

Tutorials Adding Sound:
http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/workshops/biomed/ppt/sound.html
http://www.presentationmagazine.com/powerpoint_music.htm

Tutorial Adding Sound and Various Movie Clips
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA011593121033.aspx

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/CH101956281033.aspx

Another sound tutorial

http://www.pptfaq.com/FAQ00047.htm

Adding Fonts on PC

2009-11-09T08:28:00.001-08:00

Here are 2 websites you can choose free PC or MAC fonts from, you can always google "free pc fonts" or "free mac fonts" for more

http://www.1001freefonts.com/

http://www.fontfreak.com/

How to add new fonts? Install new font. How to add a new font? Adding fonts.

Windows XP

From the "Start" menu select "Control Panel" and then select the "Appearance and Themes" category.
Select "Fonts" from the "See Also" panel at the left of this screen.
On the "File" menu, select "Install New Font..."
Click the drive and folder that contain the fonts you want to add.
To select more than one font to add, press and hold down the CTRL key, click the fonts you want, then click on "OK"

Windows 95/98/2000 or NT4

Open the Windows Control Panel
(START > SETTINGS > CONTROL PANEL)
Double click on the "Fonts" icon in the Control Panel
(a new window should open and you should see all the installed fonts on your system)
Click on the "File" menu and select "Install New Fonts"
(a new window "Add Fonts" should pop up)
Locate the folder on your hard drive containing the fonts
Double Click on the font file you wish to install and click on the "OK" button

Creating your own background in PowerPoint

2009-11-09T08:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some links about adding your own background image in powerpoint

http://www.ehow.com/how_2069376_create-background-microsoft-powerpoint.htm l

http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=218

Adding Audio

2009-11-02T09:04:00.000-08:00

Don't worry about adding audio this week to your blog. I think it will be too complicated. Just do the screenshot element. Be sure to do it on a MAC.

Wiley Publishing Competition, Great Portfolio Builder!

2009-10-22T03:56:00.000-07:00

Here is their very informative facebook page with info from the author

Wiley is giving you the opportunity to have YOUR cover design be selected for the new edition of Robin Landa's Advertising by Design, which is due to publish in early fall 2010. This contest is only open to students enrolled in an accredited design program during the contest period, which is Oct. 12-Dec. 4, 2009. All submissions should be sent to landacontest@wiley.com - not this facebook page. Note that there is a limit of two (2) submissions per person. The book will be 8 1/2 x11 softcover, and we require that the cover include the following bolded copy:

Author: Robin Landa
Title: Advertising by Design
Subtitle: Creating Visual Communications with Graphic Impact
Edition: Second Edition

The contest will be judged by an internal panel of Wiley judges, including professionals from marketing, editorial, and creative services, as well as the author, Robin Landa. We have also brought on board a panel of external judges:

Mark Chamberlain, VP Associate Creative Director, Mullen
Drew Neisser, CEO of Renegade
Robynne Ray, Co-founder and Principal, Modern Dog Design
Nick Law, EVP, Chief Creative Officer, North America, R/GA

First Prize: Use of cover (read Official Rules for details) plus a $500 American Express Gift Certificate
Second Prize: $200 American Express Gift Certificate
Third Prize: $100 American Express Gift Certificate

GOOD LUCK! This is an opportunity to make your portfolio that much more stellar.

Here are some images of a cheap Halogen Light setup

2009-10-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some examples of using halogen lights, which can be found cheaply at Sears . You have to take the grate off and be very careful they get very hot. I use them on the dim setting. The diffuser must be hung pretty far from the lights, as they get very hot. Of course strobes are the best choice and there are some great hot lights out there but these offer lots of light to work with. To diffuse light anything that is relatively see through can work but of course a diffuser is easiest. But a clear shower curtain pulled tight, rag paper etc. could be used. But the lighs get hot so keep the diffuser a good distance

Intro into Studio Lights

2009-10-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

An Introduction to Studio Lighting Equipment

by Brooks Short and Gary Edwards

This is an attempt to answer (or anticipate) some of the questions that newcomers to studio lighting often ask. It isn't a technical article as such, just an introduction that we hope will be helpful to people just starting out in studio photography.

There are basically two forms of artificial lighting - continuous and flash.

Continuous lighting

Continuous lighting can be sub-divided into:

Tungsten - The term includes household lamps, security lights, theatre lighting and car headlights as well as lights designed specifically for photography.
Fluorescent
Metal discharge, e.g. HMI.

Continuous lighting is often seen by beginners as being ideal, possibly because, in its most basic form it seems to be cheaper, and possibly because of its WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) qualities. In fact, although the basic lights may be cheaper than flash the running costs are higher and the various light modifiers needed are both more expensive and less efficient than with flash.

Tungsten

Although there are exceptions, most tungsten light designed specifically for photography produces light of a colour around 3200 - 3400 deg K, which is much warmer in colour (less blue) than flash. Because of this the colour needs to be corrected by using filters, either in the form of gels fitted to the lamps themselves or to the camera lens. However, if the tungsten lights are the ONLY light source (i.e. all lights produce the same colour of light and there is no daylight or overhead room lighting) then filters are not needed with digital cameras, where the white balance can be adjusted instead of using filters.

We were trained on tungsten lighting and I (Garry) still use it today, if only very occasionally, if I am photographing still life subjects or room interiors when it's possible to use very long exposures, or when I deliberately want to include subject blur, for example blurred people in an architectural interior. But I would never use them for portrait or any other kind of people photography, for the following reasons, not in any particular order:

Disadvantages

Although they appear to be very bright, tungsten lights produce a very low level of actual light compared to studio flash and so they are less than ideal if short shutter speeds are needed, or if a small aperture is needed for depth of field.
They are known (in The States at least) as hotlights, and there is a very good reason for this - they produce far more heat than light and are both intimidating and very uncomfortable for the sitter. Think of them in terms of an electric heater - the function of the heater is to produce heat and it does so by passing electrical current through a thin wire - as a side effect, some light is also produced. This applies to tungsten lighting too because although the light is brighter and whiter there is still a lot more heat than light.
Because of the amount of heat they produce it is difficult and expensive to fit them with modifiers such as softboxes, they can melt lighting gels and scrims, polarising gels will be ruined by the heat and the lamps are liable to 'blow' if they are moved or adjusted when they are switched on or still hot.
They present a very real risk of fire.
They use a lot of electricity
They are not adjustable for power - dimmers can be fitted but this is for setup use only, because the use of a dimmer dramatically affects the colour of the light.
The colour of the light is inconsistent. With all forms of tungsten lighting, small changes of current will change the power output to some extent and will change the colour too, sometimes quite dramatically, so you'll get inconsistency between your shots. Quartz halogen lamps maintain their output power fairly well throughout their life but 'Photoflood' lamps (basically very short- life overrun domestic lamps) darken with use and change colour too.
Because the lights appear to be very bright, the pupils of live subjects are smaller than normal and look decidedly odd - very similar in effect to bright sunlight.

In theory, if you're shooting on digital then changes of colour or even output may not seem to be important as long as all of the lights are the same - but even though nearly all my own shots are on digital I'm old-fashioned enough to believe that it's much better to get the shot right in camera and to keep avoidable computer work down to a minimum.

Advantages

They do have a couple of advantages over studio flash.

They are cheaper, at least initially.
They may be easier than flash for beginners because arguably they show a more accurate rendition of how the actual shot will look. Budget studio flash units tend to have pretty weak modelling lamps, which don't give an accurate indication of how the final shot will look. The reason for this is that although the modelling lamps contribute little or nothing to the actual shot (and neither does the ambient light in the studio) because the light is totally overwhelmed by the power of the flash, the ambient light does affect the photographers' perception. The ambient light effectively lowers the contrast created by the modelling lights, so the actual contrast of the shot is much higher than it appears to be.

All forms of continuous light, unlike flash, can be metered using the camera exposure meter but this has the disadvantage of measuring the reflected light, which is usually less precise than measuring with incident light. Continuous light will also work with any shutter speed as long as the power is sufficient, and doesn't need to be synchronised to the camera shutter. Other than that, we can think of no advantages at all.

Fluorescent

Professionals have used fluorescent lighting for years and it has also become almost the standard in TV studios. But let's not get confused here, because there's a world of difference between the pro fluorescent lighting and the cheaper stuff.

Flat panel fluorescent lights are available for the amateur market. These lights are claimed to produce daylight colour, removing the need for colour correcting filters. In fact, fluorescent light is deficient in magenta and so (on the lights I've tested) the manufacturers have added a magenta grid. Clever. Because they are fluorescent and not tungsten lights, they are cool running.

Personally, I do not feel that they can generate anywhere near enough power for any type of still photography of people, although it seems they're OK for video photography. I made this observation once before and a manufacturer got a little bit sniffy about it and told me that I was wrong. I responded by offering to test their products in my own studio but I heard no more from them...Since then I've carried out a quick & dirty test on a couple of lights owned by someone I know - 2 of these flat panel lights, each measuring 17"x13" at a distance of 72" from the subject. And the result? 100 ISO, 1/30th at f1.5, or 1 sec at f6.3. An incident light measurement with the sensor actually pressed against the screen, which is useful for measurement but which is not a practical test, produced a reading of only f22.8 at 1/30th... ! The manufacturers also claim that they produce soft light. Well, they will produce soft (if uneven) light at a lamp to subject distance of up to about 21", which produces a 100 ISO reading of f6.3 at 1/30th sec - so they may be usable for some tabletop still life applications I suppose. The tests I carried out were on one make of light only, perhaps there are other, better ones available too, I don't know.

HMI lights

HMI stands for Hydrargyrum Medium-Arc Iodide. Hydrargyrum is better known as Mercury (Hg) and Iodide indicates that Iodine (a halogen) is used in the lamp..

HMI lights are very widely used in the motion film industry - the lights are massive and very expensive but they are ideal for the purpose because

They have a consistent colour temperature of around 5,600 degrees ^[1]
They are flicker-free ^[2]
They are cool running ^[3]
The quantity of light produced is fairly high ^[4]

Notes
[1] The colour temperature is OK up to about 500 hours of use, after which they become progressively more green. There is usually an 'hours run' meter so that the lamps can be changed when necessary.
[2] They are available with either magnetic or electronic ballast, electronic is much more expensive but produces flicker- free, consistent lighting.
[3] They are not really cool running but are much cooler than their equivalents in tungsten lighting.
[4] They are efficient in that they produce a lot more light than their equivalents in tungsten lighting - this is not an authoritive statement (just my own finding based on limited personal experience) but a test on one of my own 70 watt HMI lights produced slightly more light than a 500 watt quartz halogen lamp, PAR (parabolic aluminized reflector) with no modifiers, 1 meter distance from a standard grey card. The result was 1/250th at f4.8, 100 ISO.

This shot shows, left to right, a 70 watt HMI, a 500 watt Quartz Halogen and a standard flash head, all positioned 2' from a cream wall. The aperture of f22 was set to suit the flash, which was dialled down to just 37J, and the shutter speed of 1/4 sec was set to suit the continuous lighting. As you can see, the level of light produced by both forms of continuous lighting were very low.

Used in a studio for people photography, HMI lights have basically the same advantages and the same disadvantages as tungsten lights, except that they don't run nearly as hot, the colour temperature approximates average daylight and the colour and output is very consistent. Because they don't run as hot as tungsten it's much easier to use modifiers such as softboxes, scrims and honeycomb grids, if they are available in the fittings needed. HMI lights are fairly popular with still life photographers and there is at least one brand that comes complete with a very good range of light modifiers specifically designed for very precise still life photography. The light output is very low however and I can't comment on the usefulness or otherwise of this particular setup because I have no personal experience of it. Personally I only use my 2 HMI lights for the occasional architectural interior, where I need to hide lights to fill in specific areas, adjusting the effective power by means of the shutter speed.

Flash

Firstly, a statement of the obvious: Photographic flash is nothing more than a brief, intense flash of light used by photographers to illuminate a subject. It is normally synchronised so that it fires during the brief period of time that the camera shutter is open. Used in a studio environment in which there is little existing (ambient) light, the presence of other light is normally insignificant and will not affect the exposure, so it doesn't really matter whether the shutter speed is, say, 1/125th or 1/15th sec - all that really matters is that the shutter is fully open at the time the flash is fired. The effective length of the exposure is determined by the duration of the flash, not by the shutter speed of the camera.

However, where there are high levels of ambient light, this needs to be taken into account when choosing the shutter speed.Given that the process itself is so simple, it can be confusing for people when they find that there are so many different brands, models and types of flash available - hopefully this article will help to address some of this confusion.

There are 2 very different types of flash, the type that fits onto a camera and the type that's used for studio lighting.

On-camera flash units are clever, and if they're dedicated to the camera they can communicate with it, focusing the camera even in the dark, setting themselves to the camera ISO setting, setting the zoom to suit the camera lens, calculating the exposure adjusting the power output accordingly.
Studio flash units are dumb, and don't have any of these features - but they're far easier to use in the studio, generally have far more power and can be used with modifiers.

The terms flash and strobe are interchangeable and don't refer to any specific type of unit.

There are 2 basic types of studio flash -

Generator (England) also known as Pack & Head (USA) flash basically consists of a box that sits on the floor (or, with professional units too heavy to lift, sits on wheels)
Monoblock (England) or Monolight (USA). Everything is contained in the head.

Generator/Pack and head lights contain all their 'works' in the box, and a high-voltage cable connects the box to the actual flash head.

Typically, the flash head contains just a flash tube, a modelling lamp and (usually) a cooling fan. Because the head itself is so simple it is light in weight and fairly small, so it's less unstable when perched at the top of a flimsy light stand or on a boom arm. And because the head doesn't include any complex electronics there is less risk of damage caused by overheating when using accessories such as honeycomb grids, which restrict ventilation and trap heat. I once had a mono head, fitted with a honeycomb grid, blow up - I had forgotten to switch off the modelling lamp! It was both dramatic and expensive, with a loud bang, a cloud of black acrid smoke and a terrified fashion model....

Most generator packs can power more than one lamphead at a time. If, for example, the pack generates 2,400 Joules and can power 2 heads, if only 1 head is fitted then the output is adjustable up to the full 2,400, with 2 heads fitted the output per head will be divided between them. Some generator packs are symmetrical, that is the distribution of power between however many heads are plugged in is equal, other (better) units are asymmetrical, allowing different heads to be set to different power levels. The adjustment may be infinitely variable, or the allocation of power may be fixed, or variable to only a limited degree - you need to check the spec. One of the many advantages of generator packs is that all the adjustments are carried out on the magic box, so there is no need to climb a stepladder to switch off a modeling lamp or alter the power. Some professional generator packs can also be adjusted from the computer. As with mono lights, some generator packs have infinitely variable (stepless) power adjustment, allowing literally any level of power to be set, others have simple 'click stop' dials, which are less versatile. In an attempt to make mono heads easier to adjust, some manufacturers have remote controls available, either wireless or hard-wired.

Personally, I'm a great believer in redundancy, so I normally have one generator pack for each light head, which means that I have extra packs available in case of breakdown - although breakdown is very rare.As you would expect, generator packs are more expensive than mono heads.

Monolights contain all their 'works' in the actual head, making them heavy and delicate. Because of their low(er) cost they are usually the tool of choice for occasional users, but cost saving is the only real advantage I can think of.

The power hype

Flash power is expressed as watt seconds (w/s) or Joules (effectively the same thing) or as effective watt seconds (IMO meaningless marketing hype) and about the only indication you can usefully glean from this kind of 'information' is that a higher figure should indicate the probability of higher power, the actual figure and the terminology used is less informative and can be downright misleading. To indicate the scale of the differences, I tested two makes with identical theoretical ratings, one produced almost twice the actual power of the other.

If you really want to know how much power a given flash will produce you need to look through all the manufacturers data and find the guide number, sometimes hidden away almost out of sight amongst the hype - the guide number is an indication of actual measured power, not of consumed energy, and so this information is actually useful.

Suppose, for example, that the guide number is stated to be 110 (feet). In Europe we measure in metres not feet, so the figures are different but the results are the same. What the guide number actually means is that if you divide the distance from flash to subject into the guide number the answer is the aperture you will use, assuming the use of 100 ISO film. So a flash with a guide number of 110 (ft) means an aperture of f11 when used at 10 feet.

Simple? Well... actually, no!

First of all you need to know the conditions under which the guide number was measured - which reflector was fitted to the head at the time? The choice of reflector makes an enormous difference - IMO manufacturers should conduct their tests using a standard reflector, but some reflectors can be up to 400% more efficient than standard reflectors, producing very misleading figures. 'Guide Number Inflation' seems to be especially common with the type of flashguns that fit into camera hotshoes, where manufacturers often quote guide numbers tested on the narrowest possible zoom. Going off at a bit of a tangent, a few years ago I tested a few hotshoe flashguns and in each case the actual guide number, tested in my own studio, was inflated by at least 30%. In one case it was inflated by 400%!

Here are 3 different flash heads - this one is one is one of the cheapest available, what you see here isn't normally visible because the reflector is fixed and built in to the flash and is normally hidden by a translucent cover.

The flash tube itself if tiny, probably about the same size as fitted to the average accessory flashgun and the mirror-like qualitites of the reflector exaggerate its performance, producing extremely harsh and barely usable lighting.

Next we have an Elinchrom head in a standard reflector, this produces directional but useful light of good quality.

And finally we have a Stobex flash head, massive by comparison, this head operates on very high voltage and is housed in a white-painted reflector that produces directional yet soft light.

This type of flash produces very long flash duration which can be useful sometimes (more of this later)

And what about the size and decoration of the studio used? If the test was carried out in a small room with white walls and a low white ceiling then the figure will be much higher than in a large studio with distant walls and a high ceiling, which won't bounce light back from their surfaces.

It's probably reasonable to assume that reputable manufacturers will measure their lights sensibly and fairly and may publish their testing conditions, but it may not be a good idea to assume that all lights are tested in the same way, especially those sold on auction sites?

How much power is enough?

This is a question without an answer! Visit any commercial studio and you'll find a wide range of very powerful lighting. This is often only normally needed for large sets (usually furniture) shot at small apertures on large cameras. And because image quality is paramount in commercial work, just about everything is shot at 100 ISO or less. If you shoot still life at f32 to get maximum depth of field, or use a 5" x 4" camera at f45 or a 10" x 8" at f90 you will need a LOT more power than if you use a 35mm at f16 or a cropped-sensor DSLR at f11. But if you want to shoot portrait heads in a small studio using a small camera and you want to shoot at f4 to get part of your subject out of focus then very little power will be needed and too much can be a problem. And if your studio photography is carried out on an occasional basis then you may find that the quality loss involved in using, say, 200 or even 400 ISO instead of 100 could be acceptable to you - a very cheap way of getting more effective power!

I don't really want to feature specific makes of lights but, just as an example, let's take a look at the power output of Alien Bees, which seem to be very popular...

Take their 'entry level' model, the B400, which they claim to be 160 WS. They say that, using their standard reflector, tested in what seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable test environment, the guide No. is 118. Now, this is a very low-powered unit, but 118 means an ISO 100 aperture of f11.8 at 10 feet, which seems to me to be very usable for most portrait use. Of course, guide numbers are just that, guides, and will be affected by light modifiers as well as by reflectors and the environment.

All modifiers will 'reduce' light to some extent (although, in theory, the light is not so much reduced as spread around by most modifiers) And a medium softbox might 'eat' perhaps 2 stops of light but, typically, the softbox would be used very close to the subject, say 2' away, so there will be plenty of power for most situations, most of the time.

Don't get the idea that low-powered flash will be fine for every type of studio, with every type of camera and every type of subject - it won't - we just feel that we need to point out that high power is not always needed and that there are other, equally important things to consider.

One important feature is the range of adjustment and the way in which the adjustment is made.

Now, there are some very basic flash heads that don't have any power adjustment at all, and the only ways in which the power can (effectively) be adjusted is to move the head closer or further from the subject, or to fit one or more neutral density gels in front of the light.Moving the flash closer or further away is no answer at all, because by doing so you will affect the quality and softness of the light and the size and softness of the shadows.

Next up in terms of sophistication are lamps with 'click stop' adjustment, e.g. full, half, quarter power etc. These often have a limited range of adjustment, and a 100% incremental 'click' doesn't allow for fine adjustment, so it's better if possible to go for infinite, or stepless adjustment, usually carried out by means of a slider. Typically, flash units with stepless adjustment will adjust by about 5 stops, a ratio of 32:1, with an even wider adjustment range possible on some units.

At least as important as the range of adjustment, is the range of accessories available.

Some of the very cheapest flash units (AKA auction site wonders) have built-in reflectors and may not take any accessories at all, but the better makes have a range of different reflectors available, from wideangle to almost parabolic, from highly reflective to matt surface, and in a range of different sizes. The reflectors can be used with umbrellas, or they can have a honeycomb grid fitted into the front of the reflector, or they can be removed to allow the lights to be used with softboxes, spotlight attachments etc. Softboxes are usually available from the lamp manufacturers, and come complete with the same fitting as their reflectors - or you can buy an independent make, together with a speedring that fits your lamp. This is often the better option.I've noticed a range of small softboxes sold on American Ebay that have a 'universal' fitting, simply a ring fitted with thumbscrews. These will fit onto many lights that cannot otherwise be fitted with softboxes - and at very low prices too! They are also offered for sale on British Ebay, but at several times the USA price.

What else?

Well, recycling speed may be important to you if you shoot fashion or any other kind of people photography or if, like me, nearly all your work is commercial, it will be unimportant. The recycling speed is usually quoted in the spec, but it can be a good idea to take the figure with a small pinch of salt, allowing perhaps double the quoted time for the flash to reach its full charge. Going off at a slight tangent, some flash units can be set to beep when ready to use, with others the modelling lamp switches off when fired, coming back on when recharging is (claimed to be) complete.

Modeling lamps don't normally contribute to the actual exposure, their function is simply to indicate the effect of the light. Even the best modelling lamps fall short of the ideal however, simply because the light isn't bright enough to show the true contrast that the flashhead produces. As a result, shadows are always much harsher than the modelling lamp indicates them to be.In general terms, the brighter the better as far as modelling lamps go; bright lamps provide more information to the photographer and make focussing easier. Turn the room lights out and block out any natural daylight to get the most accurate indication from the modelling lights, especially if you have budget-range lights with dim modelling lamps.

Some flash heads are fitted with proportional modelling lamps - what this means is that if the power of the flash is turned down then the brightness of the modelling lamp is reduced in proportion.

(Nearly) all flash heads have a built-in sensor, allowing the flash to 'see' the flash from another head and fire in perfect synch. On some models this can be switched off if required.

All flash units need to be synchronised to fire when the shutter is open. The manufacturers supply PC cords that run between the flash and the camera, most flash units have a standard jack socket, which is simple and reliable, but some have their own, very special fitting, for example Bron, Elinchrom and Strobex each have their own unique fitting. The Bron and Strobex ones are generally reliable. But whatever the fitting, I strongly advise you to get a radio transmitter set to trigger your flashes - much more reliable and no danger of damaging your camera if the trigger voltage of the flash is too high! The leading brands are Pocket Wizard and Pulsar, but cheapo ones are now available at far lower prices and most people seem to find them perfectly O.K. for normal home use.

Another factor is colour shift. Basically, flash heads are supposed to produce 'photographic daylight' colour, usually at around 5,500 deg.K The better makes hold this colour accuracy regardless of the power setting, but some of the cheaper makes don't, and the colour can change (usually to a warmer colour) as the power is reduced.

Another factor that may or may not be important to you is flash duration - the length of time that the flash actually fires for, and which determines the length of the exposure.Now, with on-camera flashguns the duration largely depends on the power setting (because on-camera flashguns produce a full-power flash but switch it off early when less power is needed) but studio flash works in a different way. Many studio flash lights have a longer flash duration when less than full power is used. With some makes of generator/pack flashes you can have a choice of slow or fast heads.Whether flash duration matters or not depends on the type of shots you want to produce ? with still life photography it doesn't usually matter, although it can be important for shots involving steam, pouring liquids or splashes.

For portrait photography just about any flash duration will be fine, for fashion photography or for the type of shot below, where fast movement can be involved, a long duration can cause subject blur, which may or may not be what you want..

Which make and why?

No, I'm not going to recommend any particular manufacturer, instead let's just recap on the things that should be important to you.

A wide range of adjustment
Stepless adjustment
The ability to change reflectors
The availability of a wide range of well-designed light modifiers (e.g. softboxes, honeycomb grids, spotlight accessories) (check the fitting - some cheap makes take the same fitting as expensive pro equipment so they can use top quality accessories)
Easy to adjust
Build quality
Adequate power

Right, that's ruled out all of the 'auction specials' that I've personally seen. Now the things that might be important to you

High power
Consistent colour, especially at lower power settings
Fast recycling
Short flash duration
The ability to control the flash units from your computer
Weight and portability
Will it stand up to 'all day every day' use?
Will you be able to hire in extra units if needed?

Generally, with lights as with everything else you get what you pay for - but although it's a false economy to get something that is less than suitable there's little point in spending hard earned money on top quality pro equipment if you don't need it. And, as you can see from the list above, different people have different needs anyway.

HDR Tutorial

2009-10-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

HDR should not be used as a crutch for your photos. It should be used to enhance and illustrate. Be sure your images don't have halos. It can create surrealist effects but be careful...do you want to be a one trick pony? HDR Tutorial

Student Contest

2009-10-14T14:17:00.000-07:00

Hey student's here is an interesting contest I.D. 2010 Design Contest
http://links.mkt230.com/servlet/MailView?ms=NDI1NDc2MwS2&r=MTM1OTM3NTY5OQS2&j=MTM5MjkzNjI2S0&mt=1&rt=0

Truly Amazing NASA Photograph

2009-10-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

http://gizmodo.com/5372241/this-insane-photo-destroyed-a-camera-lens

NASA photographer Ben Cooper interview answers some questions about his inspiration and the skill it took to get this shot. Here are some camera set up examples here is his website

Graphic Journal

2009-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

If you are required to complete a graphic journal in my class please see this example http://cs1833.aisites.com/graphic_journal.html . We will be using your school webspace. Be sure you have all your updated student hub log in information. I will be giving instructions in class and will post them on this blog as well. Web file naming is important. Each weekly image must be named gjimage_wk#.file format, for example gjimage_01.jpeg is graphic journal entry week 1. All file names should be lowercase, contain no weird symbols and have no spaces (underscores replace spaces). This is proper web file naming, without errors can occur.

Why am I torturing you with web? Do you want a job when you graduate? Enough said ;-)

Brainstorming Websites to help with Research and Prep

2009-09-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Fun way to "Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate."-Visuwords™ online graphical dictionary

Interesting way to brainstorm http://www.distractionbeast.com/brainstormer.swf

Excellent Conceptual Imagery Assignment 1 inspiration Wordit

Very cool idea site http://www.underconsideration.com/

Very Cool Roller Derby Photographs, Among Other Work

2009-09-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

Check out photographer Shelley Calton http://www.shelleycalton.com/

Time Lapse Video

2009-09-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

This is a really breathtaking site http://www.timescapes.org/

Free Online Books

2009-09-24T09:37:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone you can get free books online through our excellent school's library. Safari Books Online is one of our school's databases. Go to the site and click subscriber login at the top. The username and password can be found on my face book group or in the libraries section in your school account, under databases. You must log in in order to get it, it can not be found on the public library site below. You can find many amazing resources through our school library website http://rs185.aisites.com/

FALL 09 Office Hours

2009-09-18T05:49:00.000-07:00

Come visit me in my new office, which has recently been changed. I am now back by the elevators in the Annex the offices to the left, Edward Crawford, the GR dept. Assistant Director is there as well as Danielle Demooy and Diane Zatz. I share with Kirk Widra. Often you will see a sign saying I am on the Mezzanine in the Conference room, that is still where I will be working for this quarter. Any questions let me know. My office hours are 10-12:30 and 4:30-6 on Wednesdays. Join me for dinner or my lunch while I eat and talk to you in my cubicle ;-). See ya soon. The website for my courses is http://cs1833.aisites.com/, it will give you all contact info and instructions about absences

Negative Space Designs

2009-09-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Click for larger versions

This link Noma Bar: Negative Space has excellent examples of how negative space
can be utilized to create dynamic designs. Graphic Symbolism students should really practice this technique, it can lead to very interesting logos such as:
http://logofaves.com/
http://velvetant.net/blog/45-logos-that-utilize-negative-space-effectively/ http://jefffisherlogomotives.blogspot.com/
http://creativebits.org/logos_with_a_meaning

Photoshop Compositing Blog by Author of Creative Photoshop CS4 Digital Illustration and Art Techniques

2009-09-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

http://derekleasblog.blogspot.com/ Blog

http://www.dereklea.com/ Website

PowerPoint Presentation Tuorials

2009-08-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.fgcu.edu/support/office2007/ppt/index.asp

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpoint2007/ss/07soundclip.htm

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA011593121033.aspx

http://www.royaltyfreemusic.com/tutorials/slideshow-music-for-Powerpoint-2007.htm

Keyboard shortcuts PC powerpoint

2009-08-31T10:24:00.001-07:00

http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpoint101/ss/shortcuts.htm

Forgot your Flash Drive, Need to email a big file?

2009-08-31T09:39:00.001-07:00

http://www.dropsend.com/ Use Drop Send

Adding video to Power Point

2009-08-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to help you add videos to your power point presentation
Instructions for adding videos to Powerpoint

After step 14 view your power point as a slideshow and the video will show up after you esc from slideshow mode, you must be connected to the internet

Video about changing Blogger template/ Instructions Posting a Video

2009-08-04T16:51:00.000-07:00

To post a video find one on youtube that you like. In the upper right area of the you tube page you will see a box that is gray and has URL and EMBED. Click in the embed area and the text inside turns blue. Copy that type. Come to your blogger account. Create a new post. Title the post. Click on the Edit Html tab. Then paste the code, then do a happy dance and view your blog to make sure the video plays.

Creating Links

2009-07-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

To create a web link write the text in the box to the right in the Edit HTML tab

Paste your URL into the area that says "url" and change Link Text to something pertinent to the link.

Click this line to go to a link with more details

It should work like this Ron English

New Images from Burton's Alice in Wonderland

2009-07-26T07:17:00.001-07:00

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009599-alice_in_wonderland/pictures/slideshow/19.php

Microsoft Office Help

2009-07-16T13:30:00.001-07:00

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/FX100649251033.aspx?CTT=96&Origin=CL100636481033

Great Instructions on How to Protect Your Web Images

2009-07-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/10-ways-to-protect-images-from-being-stolen/

In this day and age it is important to protect your images from pirates. You don't want people downloading and using your images without your knowledge or permission.

Everything in Focus Tutorial from Howard Brunner, photographer and AIPH photo faculty

2009-07-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Example: http://www.heliconsoft.com/images/animation/rifle/index.html

As you may know......Photoshop CS4 (extended version) has this new ability to stack layers that are multiple shots of the same scene. Each shot being focused at a different point in space so that when you stack and BLEND these layers in Photoshop CS4, you can get everything in sharp focus in one image!

You need to shoot carefully, using a tripod, manual exposure, and of course moving subjects in the scene would invite disaster. It works best with still life, architecture, non-windy landscapes, or corpses. Problem is...I'm all out of corpses, and I have had to try it several times on humble abode scenes.

Each time I tried this at home, the Photoshop CS4 blending of the image layers made strange artifacts, and the results were virtually useless. Very disappointing due to numerous artifacts that would have been a nightmare to retouch (retouching well beyond my skill and patience level).

I read recently (on the Luminous Landscape web site) of a software program called Helicon Focus. It's apparently version 2 and works much better than version 1 and is way better than Photoshop CS4 (according to the author of the web site article).

I down loaded the most potent form of this software available for Mac's. It's a 30 day free trial. The image I've attached is a composite of five DNG files. Yes, it can blend/stitch RAW files. I simply loaded the 5 images, kept everything at the default settings, and told it to do the job. It took all of about 1 minute to make the attached image. You can then export it as a TIFF or JPEG (16bit too).It's AMAZING! It is virtually flawless. 1000% better than my attempts with Photoshop.I'm sold.

The shots were made with a Canon 5-D Sigma 50mm Macro lens, at F8 on a tripod and using the self timer (mirror lockup and remote release would be better). "Flaws" I see? The teapot handle is a little soft on the left side, but this may be my fault. I probably should have made an extra shot in that area so that all parts of the handle were available in sharp focus in one, or more of the images. It's possible that none of the 5 images I shot contained that part of the teapot handle in sharp focus. I haven't checked to see if that's true. The stuff outside on the deck.... the plants etc. These were shot through a (dirty) double pain insulated glass window, so that stuff isn't quite as crisp as the stuff inside, but I attribute that to the window itself.

It isn't cheap, the fastest version of this software, but I am really impressed.It can also stitch Panoramas, and has 3-D retouching ability if you find problems (artifacts) in initial blend. You can retouch in Helicon prior to exporting the image. I haven't explored any of these capabilities yet. So... in certain circumstances.... like no moving stuff.... you can achieve infinite depth of field, with a normal (or even a telephoto) lens. The lens can be set to a prime aperture for optimum quality.

No need to stop your lens down to the point of losing sharpness just to get more depth of field. Had I shot this teapot scene at F32 (my Sigma lens can go F45) there's no way I would have gotten all that stuff in focus, and this lens is at it's best around f5.6 - f8. This Sigma at f22 it eats it, and at f32 it's horrible due to diffraction.

Best to download the jpg so you can zoom in a see.
Image editing software: Helicon Focus

The image info was written by Howard Brunner, a little about Howard's work can be seen at Fleisher Gallery

Saving Images from Internet

2009-07-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

To save an image from the internet you can right click on the image for both Mac and PC, this requires a 2 button mouse, or on a mac with a one button mouse you can hold down the Control key and click on the image. The choose Save Image As

Here is a video tutorial for Macs http://www.woopid.com/video/758/Save-Internet-Images

Here is a tutorial for PCs http://www.tips4pc.com/Computer_tips_and_tricks/How%20to%20save%C2%AD_%20picture_from_internet_to_your_my_pictures.htm

Screenshots

2009-07-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Here's how to do screenshots ( a screenshot copies whatever you have on your screen)

PC : http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows

MAC: http://guides.macrumors.com/Taking_Screenshots_in_Mac_OS_X

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2006/01/01/mac-os-x-screenshot-secrets.html

Illustratrion and Art Resources

2009-07-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

http://www.juxtapoz.com/
Great source of surreal and innovative images

http://www.markryden.com/paintings/index.html
One of my favorite painters

http://www.elizabethmcgrath.com/
Amazing Taxidermy and Art

http://www.carrieannbaade.com/
A friend of mine, excellent Surrealist painter steeped in Art History

http://beinart.org/artists/
Surreal Painters

Graphic Design Resources

2009-07-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.howdesign.com/GeneralMenu/

http://www.stepinsidedesign.com/

http://www.cmykmag.com/site.cfm?CFID=597774&CFTOKEN=19425521

http://www.juxtapoz.com/

New Tim Burton Alice In Wonderland photos

2009-07-16T07:17:00.001-07:00

Here are some teaser photos from the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie by Tim Burton

Blogger Templates Comp Sci

2009-07-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

http://btemplates.com/

Here are some templates you can use to further change your blog, this is what we'll change in class week 2

Below are instructions to help you change your blog template using the templates from the website above

How to install a Template?

1. Download a template and unzip (depending on your computer this may happen automatically during download) an unziped file will show a folder.
2. Go to the Layout section in your blog (Dashboard → Layout tab → Edit HTML ).
3. Click Browse and Find your template, navigate to the folder and choose the .xml file. Then click the upload button to upload it.
4. Then Confirm and Save
5. Click View Blog to enjoy your new blog design.

Cool Tutorial Sites for Adobe Software

2009-07-14T17:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.good-tutorials.com/

http://www.adobetutorialz.com/

Mac Lab Computers are iMac, Need Adapter for firewire 400

2009-07-14T17:45:00.001-07:00

If you have an older FireWire hard drive/device, FireWire 400, then you will need an adapter since this computer only has FireWire 800.

Mac Guy Justin Long

2009-07-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

How to Dress like a Mac

Mac Guy Justin Long is a very funny comedic actor. He's been in some of my favorite films such as Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Idiocracy, The Sasquatch Gang, and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He was also one of the stars of Jeepers Creepers, a good schlock horror movie

Comp Sci Helpul Mac links

2009-07-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

http://forums.macosxhints.com/

http://www.uwec.edu/help/macosx/mac-basics.htm

http://switchtoamac.com/guides/mac-os-x/mac-os-x-basics/