Mini lessons/exercises

During the semester I will assign a number of mini lessons/ exercises following tutorials in photoshop. Students will work out each lesson on their own in between projects or while you are finishing up shooting assignments. I will create several folders on the "N" Drive for you to turn your finals in. Please be sure to have your full name on the assignment and save as a jpeg into the folders. Photoshop files can only be opened on computers that have adobe photoshop. We will talk more about files and sizes in a class lecture. Remember to check out the digital tutorials page on my course site for more ideas.

Mini lesson #1

Displacement maps:

If you like the look of textures following the contours of an object then you are going to like this lesson. This tutorial helps make the texture look more realistic in the image.

Example of displacement mapping

Directions for how to create a displacement map in video below:

Mini Lesson #2:

Cinema Graphs (Gif)

Have you ever wondered how to create those images that are partially moving and partially still? Well this lesson is for you!

You will need a video recording option on your camera. I video taped a small portion of myself standing still with my hair blowing in the wind. There are lots of other examples the web. Below is an finished example and a tutorial to walk you through the process. You may need to convert your image from a quick time file to a movie file. Here is a link to multiple free online converters to down load. I may have to log into your computer to do this since you do not have administration rights.

Here is a tutorial to help you out on making your cinema graph.

Mini lesson #3

Creating Fractals and spirals in Photoshop

If you like the look of fractals or spirals in art then this next exercise might peak your interest, oh, and it includes math!

If you are wondering were fractals are found in nature, oh oh, here comes a little science, check out this images.

What are fractals?

A fractal is a never ending pattern that repeats it self over and over and over...you get the drift.

They are pictures of dynamic systems or a cool picture of Chaos! This site tells you more, but below you will find the links of how to create one in Photoshop.

Step by step tutorial on how to create fractals.

Here is the tutorial from the fractal image example you see above.

Mini Lesson #4:

Photo restoration

Maybe your family has some photos that have seen better days. They could be ripped or discolored, maybe full of dust? We can now fix all that and make them come back to life.

This site shows you several steps to take with photo that has been shredded into a couple of pieces and how to fix all the cracks.

Mini Lesson #5

Cool Text effects

Photoshop has a recently added 3-D option for text. There are many text design tutorials out there. If you find one you like better, go for it, however, here are a couple of options for you to look at.

Here are 55 of them to check out!

Here is the tutorial on how to create the above image. When you do this tutorial use your name for the word.

Mini Lesson #6

So what do you want to learn??

Go ahead, find a great effect and pull up the tutorial for it. Give it a try. This is an opportunity for you to learn whatever you want to try in Photoshop. BUT, make sure you are challenging yourself. Do not pick an easy tutorial just to get it done. Prove to yourself how smart you really are and pick one with several steps.

Here is a site to check out with lots of tutorial options.

http://design.tutsplus.com/articles/50-great-photoshop-tutorials-for-clever-beginners--psd-785

Mini Lesson #7

Insert yourself into another photograph and make it look like you belong.

http://www.boredpanda.com/imagine-finding-me-composite-childhood-photos-chino-otsuka/

Mini Lesson #8

Levitation

http://phlearn.com/product/beginners-guide-levitation

Mini Lesson #9

HDR

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/high-dynamic-range.htm