Contact sheet- Assignment #1

For our first assignment we had to work in Photoshop and the different functions in it. First thing ran in my mind, "uh oh I don't know how to use Photoshop". Luckily for me I pay attention and take notes in class so my anxiety went down. While Professor O'Connell was explaining the steps and doing everything with us I thought "hey piece of cake I can do it" , well, even with my notes by my side, I couldn't remember exactly how to do the steps (I also don't have the book). I had forgotten how to change the DPI and forgot that I had to save the original and constantly save off that. What should of been an hour work, turned into two hours in the library trying to fix my mistakes.

Row 1 (Resolution): In this row, we worked with resolution (dpi), of an image that we chose in four different frames. Each frame had an increasing resolution from 72 dpi, 300dpi, 600 dpi and 1200 dpi. The picture I chose was one I took from my friend's baby shower. It is a crib full of the gifts she received. I didn't have too much trouble with this row because I was able to refer back to my notes (even after forgetting the directions after class).

Row 2 (Format/Mode): The picture I used in row 2 was of a flower I took. We were able to learn about the different colors in Photoshop and how we use them. I first changed the original picture to RGB (red green blue) for web. I then changed it to CMYK (cyan magenta yellow black) for print. Third, the picture was changed to gray scale (black and white). Lastly, the picture was changed to Duotone. I used yellow and purple as my two colors. I think I preferred learning about the Duotone because I was able to change it how I wanted and my creativity came out.

Row 3 (Orientation): The picture I chose for row 3 is a picture of my cousin Kayleigh and my step brother David. Using the crop tool I was able to change the original picture to portrait (where the kids are the main focus),square (where there is a bit more land in the background) and landscape where both sides were equal in background). For landscape, the dimensions were 1" x "1.33", for square they were 1" x 1", and for portrait they were 1" x 0.75".

Row 4 (Framing): The framing row was about taking an image and making it start off with one focus object and "zoom out" until you get a wide angle shot. The picture I used was one I took of South Boston. I had begun the first box with a picture of a building in the background. As I worked my way out I brought in more street lights, tree branches and the sunset. I thought it came out beautifully once it was complete and it was my most enjoyed line.

Row 5 (Content): The picture I used for this row was of my 20th birthday cake. For the same basic process as row I took one piece and kept zooming out till I had the whole picture. The difference between row 4 and 5 was that instead of focusing on one object, I relied on abstract thinking rather than focus.

Row 6 (Purpose): I enjoyed this row very much because my creativity came out. The picture I chose was that of my step brother David at the children museum. I changed the pictures three different ways with three different filters. The filters I used were Artistic Palette Knife, Ink Outlines and Accented Edges. Journalistic was when the picture had no filters and that was the last box.

Over all the rows I enjoyed were format (row2), framing (row4), and purpose (row6). I worked very hard on every row but those three where the ones I worked on with ease and creativity.

Below is a close up of my favorite picture. It's my step baby brother at the RI children museum and the way I chose to edit this picture was through Accented Edges. I think the color really comes out and makes it very eye catching.