MONTHLY CHALLENGES
This month’s and all past Challenge images can be seen at Amersham Beyond Group on Flickr.
For APS Members only, the images are also available for viewing and commenting on Facebook here.
The current Challenges are;
#40 SURREALISM
#41 PHOTO HAIKU
… and the latest Challenge,
#42 FILM NOIR
Film Noir is a specific style, originating from the American detective genre of the 1940’s and 50’s. It encompasses, lighting, situations and compositional elements. It should be dark, both tonally and emotionally. I said last month that this would be challenging – perhaps too challenging and indeed around half of the images received could not really be classified as film noir. Yes, mostly monochromatic, dark and contrasty, but too upbeat with everyday subjects and situations.
Lighting is a key aspect with high contrast, dramatic shadows and I showed a video of how to set up suitable lighting See here.
In reality, it’s not necessary to buy dedicated studio lights - streetlights, torches or window light can suffice. For occasional shoots, inexpensive studio lighting is available online. In the past, I have purchased two adequate softboxes with tripods, LED bulbs and removable diffusers for just £50 on Amazon. Shortcomings in equipment and technique can often be fixed in post-processing.
The story in the image can be given some help by a suggestive title that alludes to dark deeds or dodgy situations. Conversely, a promising image can be killed by a bland title.
For more inspiration there are lists of recommended Film Noir films available online. Over Christmas we watched the Bogart & Bacall classic The Big Sleep on the BBC iPlayer.
The next Challenge will be;
#43 OIL AND WATER
To create an image by mixing oil and water – liquids, gels, paints etc. Light from above or below and post-process for a bright, punchy sharp image.
Additional colour and interest can be added by placing an image under the container of water and oil. This could be from an iPad a display screen or a lit print. Alternatively the image could be arranged as a reflection from above.
There are numerous tutorials and examples available online.
NEXT MEETING
There will be no meeting in February as I will be indisposed.
The next meeting will be on Thursday 7th March in the Drake Hall, Amersham Community Centre. Our usual venue.
There's an opportunity to take onboard what we are learning about Film Noir and have another try in January and then tackle Oil and Water in February.
BACK OF BEYOND DIARIES
Adobe AI
Subscribers to Adobe Creative Cloud and Photoshop now have access to some genuinely helpful AI tools. I have used three;
- Generative Fill is more powerful than Content-Aware Fill as it can not only utilise material from the surrounding image but by default, it will also extrapolate this to suit the area to be filled. Furthermore, an optional text prompt can be used to add something not in the existing image. Of course this may, or may not, work but you can keep trying for an unlimited number of attempts.
- Generative Expand works with the Crop tool (drag the crop border outside the boundary of the image) to seamlessly extend the edges of the image. I have used this to great effect to change the aspect ratio of an image. Again, it may not work perfectly the first time but can be totally believable.
- Adobe Firefly has a separate interface and is Adobe’s contribution to Text-to-Image generation and can come up with wildly creative photographic or artistic images, depending upon the prompt provided.
Adobe claim that other features are powered by AI such as Camera Raw denoise and Lightroom sharpening but I don’t have any experience of these. They are clearly the future and will further increase the quality of images from too-small sensors such as those in our phones.
Obviously if this AI-generated imagery forms a significant part of your image you should not be using it in competitions as your own work.
Cheers, Steve