Autobiography in Four Images

First Assignment - due February 5

(Be sure to see the submission directions below, including the link to the drop folder)

In this first assignment, I'll ask you to introduce yourself by, first, collecting 10 images that are significant to you: snapshots of yourself, your family, pets, important places and objects, visual symbols of goals or ideas, etc.. You can obtain these images from photos you have, from magazines or books, from the Web, or elsewhere. All images should be in digital form (scanned if necessary) and saved on your Zip disk.

Then, from these 10 images, I'll ask you to use Photoshop and other resources to produce the following four images:

Edited/Corrected and Reduced Image. Begin with a scanned image or digital photo that is in need of correction, enhancement, repair, resizing and/or cropping. This is to learn how to scan and use Photoshop as an image correction tool to rescale graphics and repair scratches, imperfections, adjust contrast and color balance. Be sure to save and turn in the "before" version of the graphic as well as the finished product.
Composite Reality. From two or more images or scans, compose one image that constitutes a figurative reality-that is, a composite image that appears to represent a real view of something. This figurative reality can be seriously deceptive, can be humorously fake, or be a stylish fabrication. Again, this image should be part of your visual autobiography. See Cohen, pages. 46-47 for examples.
Collage. From two or more images or scans, compose one image that is clearly a collage that introduces some aspect(s) of your life, viewpoint, character, experience, etc. This composite image may also include words. See Cohen, pages 92-93 for some sophisticated examples using blended layers.
Non-Optically Acquired Image. This image should be entirely created inside Photoshop using lines, shapes, words, etc. produced by the software. It is possible, using Photoshop's layers, to "trace" an image that you've acquired optically, and then to eliminate the original.

All these prepared images should be submitted in a Web-ready file format (GIF or JPEG) and reduced in file size (see Weinman's Chapter 6 "Low Bandwidth Graphics" pg. 77).

An important part of this assignment is also writing a self commentary, which will be due at the same time as these four images.

Submission Directions

A. Save your images as the following file names. I would suggest saving a version of them on your disk with these names so you'll know which versions you submitted. You will also have the option to give the files these names when you upload them via the drop folder:

1a. Edited/Corrected and Reduced Image:
1ecr.jpg (or .gif)

1b. Original of the Edited/Corrected and Reduced Image:
1org.jpg (or .gif)

2. Composite Reality:
2cr.jpg (or .gif)

3. Collage:
3coll.jpg (or .gif)

4. Non-Optically Acquired Image:
4nonop.jpg (or .gif)

B. When you go to the drop folder, you will be asked for your UMD userid and password, which will enable you to upload your images, one at a time, to the drop folder. If you have questions or problems, please see the directions for using UMD's Web Drop folder.