6 098 Digital and Computational Photography 6 882 Advanced Computational Photography How to Take Make Better Pictures Bill Freeman Fr do Durand MIT EECS Poisson image editing Two aspects When the new gradient is conservative Just membrane interpolation to ensure boundary condition Otherwise allows you to work with non conservative vector fields and Why is it good More weight on high frequencies Membrane tries to use low frequencies to match boundaries conditions Manipulation of the gradient can be cool e g max of the two gradients Manipulate local features edge gradient and worry about global consistency later Smart thing to do work in log domain Limitations Color shift contrast shift depends strongly on the difference between the two respective backgrounds Other functionals I lied some people have used smarted energy functions Todor Georgiev s initial implementation of the Photoshop healing brush Plan How can you improve Critique Look at good pictures Be critiqued Missions Find something you like 20 tricks Composition Viewpoint Rule of thirds Harmonic analysis Background clutter Gaze saliency Gestalt Photos that pop Portrait Lighting Makeup Digital makeup What do I know about good pictures Not much amateur photographer mostly birds and candid portraits Is there a science of aesthetic Well that s an interesting question Are there rules of aesthetic Well that s an other interesting question View it as a vocabulary to talk about pictures It s like wine you describe taste with lots of poetic and metaphorical words It does not matter if they re meaningful It gives you a support to think about it If you don t need it good for you ignore what I say Computational photography When studying good photography principles techniques you might want to wonder Can we automate Can we facilitate Provide easier manipulation tools What are the dimensions of variation what aspects or components of images are important How to improve Take pictures critique your pictures And get them critiqued Look at good pictures Copy photographs Check out the web Missions Give yourself a theme constraints Look at contests online http www dpchallenge com http www fredmiranda com http www nyip com sub idx pgs contestidx wrldwi de php Work with friends critique Tips Technical points Know your equipment Understand the parameters Shutter speed aperture focal length depth of field Debrief your photos look at the EXIF metadata See Lecture 2 Eric Chan s slides http people csail mit edu ericchan tmp photo 2005 11 11 ec pdf Check your exposure Histogram blinking highlights Unless you shoot HDR Sharpness matters Choose the right shutter speed Use a tripod Image stabilization rocks Focus on the appropriate thing Optics matters Use a good lens Put the hood on 42 advice Collected from random books Just guideline When you do an effect exaggerate No middle ground In particular if you break one of the advice after do it frankly Don t just take photos edit them study what went well what s wrong Composition Find a center of interest Don t center everything e g rule of the thirds Careful with autofocus Change your viewpoint move your feet Get close if you can t get it good get it big John Shaw Try unusual viewpoints Try different focal lengths Telephoto wide angle Focal length allows you to control the relative size of elements at different depth moon in particular Careful what you cut off Sweep edges of frame Build on lines and curves But careful with near parallelism Careful with converging perspective Include framing elements Framing Don t center Rule of the thirds National Geographic Photography field guide Photo John Shaw Don t center Crop Don t center especially for motion Sweep the frame to check for trouble Cropped element distracting object non parallel line Careful with frame edges Photoshop Frame your subject http www fotofinish com resources centers photo takingpictures htm Use natural frames Tighten the composition Photoshop Viewpoint perspective focal length Get close Our eyes tend to zoom and forget how small the subject is or crop but then you lose resolution http www fotofinish com resources centers photo takingpictures htm Viewpoint High viewpoint Use unusual viewpoints Photo National Geographic Avoid accidental alignment http www fotofinish com resources centers photo takingpictures htm Avoid accidental alignment Unless you mean it Special effects In general accidental alignments are bad Lenses National Geographic Photography field guide Perspective vs viewpoint Focal lens does NOT ONLY change subject size Same size by moving the viewpoint Different perspective e g background Snapshot Perspective Speed aperture Filter Lighting Processing Print Make up Retouching Focal length composition With the focal length you control the relatvie size of objects at different depths Try unusual focal length Wide angle for portrait Telephoto for landscape architecture Isolate detail crop Isolate detail boost colors with curves Detail pattern Play with reflections From Digital Photographer s Handbook A little bit of geometry Build on lines curves convergence and repetition Build on lines Build on lines and curves From Digital Photographer s Handbook Build on lines and curves Build on lines and curves Warning near parallelsim In particular keep horizon level Use crop with rotation to fix this http www fotofinish com resources centers photo takingpictures htm Try unusual angles http www fotofinish com resources centers photo takingpictures htm Unusual angles Avoid near parallel lines Unless you mean it Correct perspective perspective crop you control reflection and perspective independently Look for patterns Look for patterns Background clutter Pay attention to negative spaces Accidental alignments Cluttered background Sweep the edges of your frame Manage depth of field Simplify composition Negative space The ground defines the negative space Usually overlooked Fundamental for balance Also for typography picture figure negative space Avoid cluttered background Again move your feet Photoshop Photoshop Negative spaces Bokeh Photo Moose Peterson Distracting background Get rid of exit signs Isolate using blur Don t over do it Simplify crop clone healing brush From Digital Photographer s Handbook Light color Avoid harsh light unless you want to play with shadows Sunrise sunset are best Avoid direct flash Cloudy days are great as long as the sky is not in the picture For sunny days shade areas are best Use polarizers to reduce highlights
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