This week we are going to explore digital photography using whatever digital camera you have available. Hopefully, you at least have a phone equipped with a camera which will do just fine, but if you have something nicer you may also use that. I want you to do some reading and reflection on digital photography.

1. (Just for fun) Experiment with this online DSLR simulator to see what the controls are like on a digital SLR camera.
2. Recommended Reading Assignments:
   • Check out some of National Geographic’s tips on iPhone photography.
   • Also, take a look at Scott Kelby’s book on “iPhone Photography” available for free to K-State students online.
3. Look at some great photographs in Masters of Photography to see all of the great masters: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/index.html
4. Make some photographs
   • Make several photographs using some of the photography tips you have been reading about.
   • After spending time reading about photography and experimenting with some of the techniques you have learned about. Write a reflection essay about the experience. Include your photographs you are discussing. Which photographic techniques did you try? Be specific. Mention the reference articles or chapters that you read about and tried. Include the photographs in the essay. Did it work well for you or not? Why or why not? (Submit on Canvas as a MS Word .docx file).
5. Familiarize yourself with photo editing software such as Photoshop, Pixlr or Gimp.
   • You might have to watch some online videos or read some articles that are beginner tutorials for digital photo editing software. Scott Kelby has some fun tutorials on Photoshop you can watch. If you don’t have access to Photoshop, you will need another digital photo editor. Two popular ones that are free are Gimp and Pixlr. Gimp is widely used but it has a steep learning curve. Pixlr is like a no-frills Photoshop, but it is free and works in most web browsers so you don’t even have to download anything to use it. You should be able to do the same basic photo edits in any of the editing programs.
   • Adobe and others have some great mobile apps you can try. Some Photoshop-like editing is becoming trivial on some mobile apps. You are welcome to try these as well.
   • There is no requirement to use any particular type of camera or software, only that you experiment with manipulating digital images outside of the camera.
   • Create a composite (more than one source photo in the same picture) image. (Submit it to Canvas as a .jpg file).
6. Read one or two of the below articles that tell stories about using photo editing software for various purposes. You can also do your own searching on this topic.
   • Photoshopped Travel Adventure (that never happened)
   • Family Photo Appears in Advertisement
   • Women Photoshopped as Female Superheroes
   • Photoshop the Sun Between My Fingers
   • Artist Recreates Real Estate Advertisements
   • Comparing How Different Countries Define Beauty
7. Write a reflective blog post about how the widespread access to photo manipulation tools is impacting our view of the world around us. (Submit to Canvas as a .docx file).

***Note*** Going forward for the remainder of the semester, we will not be using Miro. Please just submit your completed work to Canvas.