1	Digital Photography Paul D. Parisi
2	Who is Paul D. Parisi Paul lives in Boxford with his wife, Heidi of 18 years, his 3 year old son Danny and two dogs, Boston and Chelsea. He has been involved in the computer industry for over 18 years. Most recently he sold both of his companies, one a computer consulting firm and another a firm specializing in e-mail management software, and is working for the new company. Paul’s business activities have included computer consulting, electronic publishing and prepress management as well as software development. Originally a news photographer Paul had been waiting for the arrival of digital photography and has recently become active again with his camera. Paul has spoken on computers, technology and prepress all over the world including MacWorld, Seybold and Microsoft conferences. Originally a Nikon user Paul now uses Canon equipment.
3	Some of my images…
4	Inside the Digital Darkroom Today we are going to cover: Software for digital photography Workflow for processing digital photography Cataloging and storage of digital photography Histograms, what they are and why they are important Web-sites, books and other information sources Scanning and much, much more
5	Software Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop Elements Photoshop plug-ins ProCreate KnockOut Lizard Tech Genuine Fractals Extensis Nik Software
6	Demonstration Levels Layers Color Healing and Cloning
7	Workflow-from bits to images How do you get from camera to print or slide?
8	Cataloging and Storage Storage Backup CD-R, DVD+RW, DVD+R Hard disk drive Cataloging software
9	Where do I put it all? On CD-R disks or DVD+RW disks Recordable optical disks have an estimated life span of 70+ years Make multiple copies to be safe…
10	Storage Digital images consume large amounts of space. If you are keeping the only copy of your data on your computer’s hard disk it is not a matter of if you will lose your data, it is when!
11	Backup Your data is only as good as your last backup Veritas Backup MyPC Windows Backup (NT/2000/XP)
12	Removable Hard-Disk Option Given the low cost of hard disk drives, ~$70 for 40GB, you could connect one to your computer via USB or Firewire and use it as a backup device Remember to have more than one and to swap them periodically
13	Cataloging Software Extensis Portfolio 6 ACDsee 5.0 Cerious ThumbsPlus 5 Canto Cumulus Adobe Photoshop Album (jury is out)
14	And now for something completely different
15	So what is a pixel? A pixel can refer to a measuring (camera pixel) device and/or a measurement (image file pixel). A pixel is a light sensitive element. When light shines on it, it produces an electrical response proportional to the amount of light shining on it. Some might compare a pixel to a film grain. A pixel has a range of sensitivity.
16	What is a pixel, continued When a pixel has too little light to produce a response it is at its darkest point and the subsequent response would be undetectable When it is at the point at which adding more light will not create any additional response it is at its brightest point The difference in these limits are the range of luminosity values the pixel is capable of describing
17	Blow-Outs and Block Ups With film Highlights are blown out when too much light falls on a film grain. Blocking-up occurs when too little light falls on a film grain. The same occurs with digital, however digital has a much larger dynamic range then most film.
18	Bits (the numbers on the scale) One bit is either a One (1) or a Zero (0) If we use one bit to describe a pallet of values, how many values can we have? Two (2), one for the number 1 and one for the number 0 Using the two basic values--white 1 and black 0
19	More bits If we have 2 bits how many values can we describe? We have 00 = Color 1, 01 = Color 2, 10 = Color 3, 11 = Color 4
20	More and more bits If we have 3 bits 000 to 111 Since there are three bits the number of values we can have is 2³or 222=8 values 000, 001, 011, 100, 011, 111, 101, 110
21	4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 12 bits 2⁴=2222=16 values 2⁵=22222=32 values 2⁶=222222=64 values 2⁷=2222222=128 values 2⁸=2222222*2=256 values 2¹²=4,096 values
22	Color Imaging Sensors (Digital Film) Think of each pixel as a luminosity scale. Each pixel measures how much light is hitting it.
23	8 bit pixels Each pixel can have a value from binary 0000000 to 11111111 or from decimal 0 to 255, or 1 of 256 values Thus 256 (red possibilities) * 256 (green possibilities) * 256 (blue possibilities) = 256256256=16,777,216 potential values or colors Most digital cameras support 24-bit (8+8+8) color
24	12 bit pixels If we have a 12bit pixel we can have a value from 0 to 4,095 for each pixel for each of the three colors or Red, Green and Blue ~68 billion values/colors Some digital cameras support 36-bit color (12+12+12)
25	So how big are these files? 24 bits per pixel/8 bits per color 1,648 x 2,464 pixels =4,060,672 pixels (4 mega pixels) * 24 bits =97,456,128 bits/8 bits (per byte) =12,182,016 bytes or ~12 megabytes
26	So how big are these files? 36 bits per pixel/12 bits per color 1,648 x 2,464 pixels = 4,060,672 pixels (~4 mega pixels) 4,060,672 pixels * 36 bits =146,184,192 bits/8 bits (byte) = 18,273,024 bytes or ~18 megabytes
27	Better safe than sorry Since image files tend to consume large amounts of disk space… you will need to plan for your storage and backup requirements.
28	Now we are going to discuss historgrams… Histograms are one of the most useful tools we have while taking photos. One of the most important concepts to understanding digital imaging.
29	Histograms how many samples of a particular value by means of a vertical bar graph, whose widths represent the number of possible values and whose height are proportional to the corresponding totals
30	Lets discuss a more practical example: Emptying a bag of colored marbles we see we have the following: 3 blue, 5 red, 3 yellow, 4 black, 6 white, 1 purple and 2 orange marbles
31	Marbles
32	What if they were all dark colors? Emptying a bag of colored marbles we see we have the following: 3 blue, 5 black, 2 gray and 4 brown marbles
33	Marbles
34	Now that we have lost our marbles… What does all this mean with digital photos? We cannot tell anything about the accuracy of an image based solely on its histogram. We can only characterize the image. When we can remember the scene, or compare the histogram to the scene in real-time, a histogram is very useful.
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37	Histograms and Zones We can roughly map the Zone System to a histogram. Generally digital medium can render more zones than traditional media.
38	Histograms In the field, histograms are invaluable in determining if you got the shot.
39	Now lets talk a little bit about computers
40	What Computer do I use… IBM IntelliStation M-Pro P4 Xeon 1.7GHz dual processor 2 GB RAM 180 GB of disk storage (RAID) Matrox G450 Dual Head Video Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 20” monitor Sony W900 24” monitor HP DVD+RW 200i Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer Wireless
41	Peripherals Epson 1280 Photo Printer with CIS HP 4050 Laser Printer Nikon CoolScan 2000 HP Flatbed Scanner (6000 Series) Epson Perfection 2400 Scanner ColorCal Monitor Spyder Intuos 2 (6x8) Graphics Tablet
42	Media Software Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Genuine Fractals 2.5 Extensis ACDsee 5.0 / FotoSlate 2.0 Procreate Knockout 2.0 Cerious ThumbsPlus 5.0 Nero Burning ROM 5.5 BreezeBrowser 2.x Nik Color Efex Plus plug-ins AutoFX plug-ins
43	Operating System Best - Windows XP Professional Good - Windows XP Home Good - Windows 2000 Acceptable - Windows ME or 98SE
44	Recommendations You can start with just about any computer! You do not need the latest Epson Photo printers Epson Flat Bed Scanners
45	Other Software Norton Anti-Virus Norton Personal Firewall Norton SystemWorks WinZip 8.1
46	The Digital Camera Paul D. Parisi
47	Digital Cameras I have known… SLR’s Olympus D-600L -- $1300 1.3 MP Canon D30 -- $2300 3.2 MP Canon 1D -- $5100 4.3 MP Point & Shoot Canon S300 -- $400 2.1 MP
48	Critical factors in choosing a digital camera Resolution (Mega-Pixels) Sensor Size Power Film Type (cards) Speeds Lenses General Features Price
49	Pixels, Resolution & Sensor Size Not all pixels are created equal. A mega-pixel is roughly 1 million pixels… The bigger the sensor the better not just the larger the number of pixels Pixels have a “quality” just like film does.
50	Comparing Imaging Sensors
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52	Resolution vs. Sensor Size Is it better to take a photo on Kodachrome 25 with a 35 mm image area or use Fuji Provia 100 with a 6 x 7 cm image area? Typical fine grained film has a pixel size in the 10 micron range. However film grains vary greatly in size. Sensors have uniform, equally sized pixels.
53	Rules of thumb The more pixels the better The bigger the pixel the better (bigger pixels have better dynamic range). Ideal size is approximately 10 microns. The smaller the pixel the more noise.
54	Power (Batteries) Original digital cameras voraciously ate batteries. Newer cameras typically allow between 200 and 500 shots per charge. Batteries do not perform as well in the cold! Be sure to bring an extra battery and a charger too.
55	Digital Film SmartMedia Thin and Fragile Memory Stick Sony propriety Secure Digital new, not widely adopted Compact Flash (Type I, Type II) current format of choice. Speed? Transcend @ www.mydigitaldiscount.com Digital Wallets
56	Lenses Interchangeable Slide on Fixed Optical Zoom (never use digital zoom)
57	General Features Modes Manual settings Filters File Format Flash Sync Terminal
58	Speed of Operation Questions to ask / Things to try… How fast does the camera focus? How fast does the camera take the picture? How fast does the camera save the picture?
59	Price Use www.pricegrabber.com. Typically you get what you pay for. That is that the more you spend the better camera you will end up getting. Try to understand why one camera costs more than another. Do your research. Ask people!
60	Example Cameras Fuji FinePix 1400 Zoom Canon S300 Digital Elph Minolta DiMAGE 7i Nikon D100 Canon D30, D60/10D, 1D and 1Ds
61	Lets look at some cameras… Lets see how to judge a few different cameras.
62	Fuji FinePix 1400 Zoom Range finder / Live LCD 1.31 MP Lag .2-.4 (.9) seconds 1280 x 960 Max Resolution ISO 125 38-114mm (3X) /F3.5-F9.5 lens JPEG No Sync Connector Built-in flash Sensor Size: .37” SmartMedia Battery: 4 x AA List $399, Street $279
63	Canon S300 Digital Elph Range finder / Live LCD Lag .1 (.7-1.5) seconds 1.92 MP 1600 x 1200 Max Resolution ISO 100-150 auto 35-105mm (3x) /F2.7/4.7- lens JPEG No Sync connector Built-in flash Sensor Size: .37” CF Type I Custom Battery List $600, Street $459
64	Minolta DiMAGE 7i Electronic Viewfinder / Live LCD 4.92 MP Lag .1 (.8 -1.2) seconds 2560 x 1920 Max Resolution ISO 100, 200, 400, 800 28-200mm (7x)/F2.8/3.5-F9.5 lens RAW/TIFF/JPEG No Sync connector Built-in flash Sensor Size: .667” CF Type I or II 4 x AA NiMH Battery List $999, Street $869
65	Nikon D100 SLR 6.3 MP Lag: fast 3002 x 2016 Max Resolution (7.8 µm) ISO 200-6400 Interchangeable lenses (1.5x) RAW/TIFF/JPEG PC Sync & Hot shoe Built-in flash Sensor Size: 1.258” CF Type I & II Custom Battery List $1,999, Street $1,559
66	Canon EOS-D30 SLR 3.11 MP Lag: fast 2160 x 1440 Max Resolution (10.1 µm) ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 Interchangeable lenses (1.6x) RAW/JPEG PC Sync & Hot shoe Built-in flash Sensor Size: 1.178” CF Type I & II Custom Battery List $2,990, Street (used) $1,100 Very nice images
67	Canon EOS-D60/10D SLR 6.3 MP Lag: fast 3152 x 2068 Max Resolution (7.4 µm) ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000 Interchangeable lenses (1.6x) RAW/JPEG PC Sync & Hot shoe Built-in flash Sensor Size: 1.366” CF Type I & II Custom Battery D60 List $2,199, Street $1,789 10D List $1,499
68	Canon EOS-D60 Sample
69	Canon EOS-1D SLR 4.15 MP Lag: very fast 2464 x 1648 Max Resolution (10.8 µm) ISO 200, 400, 800, 1600 Interchangeable lenses (1.3x) RAW/JPEG PC Sync & Hot shoe Sensor Size: 1.435” CF Type I & II Custom Battery List $4,499, Street $3,469
70	Canon EOS-1Ds SLR 11 MP Lag: very fast 4064 x 2704 Max Resolution (8.8 µm) ISO 100-1250 Interchangeable lenses (1.0x) RAW/JPEG PC Sync & Hot shoe Sensor Size: full 35 mm frame (1.72”) CF Type I & II Custom Battery List $8,000, Street $7,599
71	Books Photoshop 7 Artistry Mastering the Digital Image by Barry Haynes & Wendy Crumpler Real World Photoshop by David Blatner and Bruce Fraser Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers by Martin Evening Real World Scanning and Halftones by David Blatner, Glenn Fleishman, Stephen F. Roth, Steve Roth
72	Website & E-mail Address www.paulparisi.com Questions and comments me@paulparisi.com
73	Now on to some sample slides…
74	Questions?
75	Thank you for coming!