My Application to CDIABU in Retrospect

I was searching through my email for something today, and I came across my application to CDIA where I wrote this in the Personal Objective section almost two years ago.

Why have you chosen to pursue an education in the field of Digital Imaging Arts?

Through achievement, motivation, and serendipity I've been fortunate to have earned an esteemed position as software quality assurance engineer at Adobe Systems. Within this vibrant, professional atmosphere my personal growth as a serious amateur photographer has accelerated significantly.

At this nexus, I wish to seize the opportunity to expand my skills horizontally by bridging my experience in rich internet development with the digital imaging arts and professional photography.

What do you hope to achieve by enrolling in the program at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts?

With the completion of a certificate in Professional Photography I will have formalized a long standing, deep, personal ambition which will allow me to thoroughly exercise my passion with technical excellence.

Further, I strive to achieve a role at Adobe where I can consult with, collaborate with, and guide Adobe customers towards their own creative endeavors and solutions. Knowledgeable in the diverse array of photography, digital imaging, and next generation web application development I will be able to translate my success into the success of my customers, my colleagues, and my company.

  Photography Certificate Complete Brings New Self Assignment

This week concludes my program at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts in Waltham. It's been an exciting year and half as I pursued the Certificate of Professional Photography, attending class two nights and every other Saturday for the entire duration. The end of my studies brings with it the start of a professional vocation as a photographer, albiet part-time for now. I feel that the program at CDIA fully prepared me for this new path, and I've emerged confident and skillful, and ready to take on new imaging challenges.

As I immersed myself in photography technique I owe additional thanks to some "virtual mentors", especially David Hobby ("The Strobist") for his extremely helpful blog entries and DVD tutorial, Joe McNally for his helpful blog and online training, and Zack Arias for his online tutorials as well. (I just started following Ryan Brenizer's blog as a valuable resource, too.)

For the graduation ceremony, to be held in January at CDIA, I will be able to submit 4 framed images for display among all the images from my class. Many students submit work done during their time as students, but I would like to use this opportunity to challenge myself with a new project, specifically for the graduation show.

In this project, I want to exercise the best of all the strengths that I've gained by producing a collection of 4 environmental portraits done in the style of photographers I wish to emulate such as Joel Grimes and Tim Tadder, such that the portraits have a coherent theme and lighting style to bind them together. I've decided to call this first self assignment: Alchemy: Series One, a series having portraits that integrate the four natural elements, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. More on this assignment later when its complete.

For now, I spent part of Thanksgiving in the garage practicing the technique and exercising all the moving parts.

  The One Light Workshop on DVD

Ever since I read about Zack Arias on The Strobist blog I've been a fan of his photographic style and I've enjoyed his generous lessons such as the 5-part White Seamless Tutorial. To the right is a photo I took after mastering the inverse square law of light in part 2 of Zack's tutorial. This was shot on white seamless believe it or not. Ok, this was one gridded main light at F22 and two bare bulb strobe heads behind him for rim light, but what the hell, that's my style.

When I learned that Zack has a DVD of his popular workshop for sale, I checked out the site and watched the promo video of the workshop. I'm always looking to learn new photography skills so I ordered the DVD set of One Light Workshop right away.

The DVD just arrived so I can't review it yet, but I have to say that Zack is one hell of a marketer! Included with the 2 Disc DVD set was a handy lighting field book to keep in the gear bag, and some One Light bumper stickers, and a One Light T-Shirt, and a music DVD produced by his wife. That's quite a package.

I'll be completing my photography work at CDIA by the end of this year and will launch a formal small photography business. The 10 hour Strobist DVD set was a treasure chest of speedlight skills which I devoured this past summer, and I expect to fully immerse myself in One Light Workshop (as well as the Joey Lawrence DVD tutorial) very soon.

"People are happier when they're lit" - Love that tag line Zack!

If you're in Boston tomorrow for the Photoshop CS4 for Photographers Tour, I'll see you there!

  Working with Models: A tough gig, but someone has to do it!

This month at Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts I'm learning to work with fashion models in studio photography. This course, DP206, teaches us the rhythm of working with models, how to direct them and engage them to turn the shots we visualize in our heads into beautiful prints in real life. It puts together everything we've learned so far about about camera operation, studio lighting, portraiture, concept, and posing. Additionally, as the program emphasizes the use of Lightroom for digital imaging workflow, and Photoshop for retouching and compositing, this course also puts our full range of beauty retouching skills to the test.

...not that we really need to, because they are -after all- models. ;-)

BOOM!, there it is in living color. I'm especially proud of this one, and I think its my best image to date. You can check it out on Adobe's new Photoshop Express Gallery.

The models are real, both male and female, and our best images will go into their portfolio as well. This means lots of exposure to the photographers because every ad agency they work with will see model's portfolio, and if we're lucky, they'll want to know more about the photographer behind that great model shot. From the CDIA website:

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  Introducing Flash Mini - Squeezing Flash on the iPhone

Just when all the news of porting Flash to the iPhone has died down, I stumbled across what appears to be an internal document diagramming how Steve Jobs intends to do just that with a product code named Flash Mini. Who knew!?

Read the full story for more...

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  CDIA Web Development: A mix of LAMP and RIA that lacks focus

The B.U. Center for Digital Imaging Arts has just added another core curriculum to their stable of information technology certificates by introducing the Web Development Certificate. As you may know, they completely won me over with their Digital Photography program, and one of my coworkers at Adobe has been raving about their Audio Production curriculum as well. As such, I have high expectations that they will deliver great instructors for the chosen curriculum.

Their Web Development certificate program, founded on more than 20 courses, emphasizes the use of PHP and MySQL as core technologies, including a Rich Media Web Development subtopic focusing on the use of Flash and ActionScript. Along the way there's a sprinkling of Javascript, XML related technologies, and AJAX, and the course is capped off with some Content Management and Web 2.0 social network topics.

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  A Continued Recommendation for The Center For Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University

Last summer I posted my initial thoughts on the Professional Digital Photography program at Boston University's Center for Digital Imaging Arts (CDIA), as well as some short video clips from the studios. While I've been attending the 18 month part time program I've received numerous inquiries requesting additional advice or insight about the program. I've decided to synthesize my email replies into a single blog entry for the benefit others who may be interested as well. Below you'll find an update on my experiences and some helpful advice.

I absolutely love the quality of instruction, facilities, and equipment available in the Professional Digital Photography program at Boston University's Center for Digital Imaging Arts. They have a well thought out curriculum, outstanding instructors, and state of the art facilities. They are so successful that they've purchased a large building across the street from their primary location in Waltham, MA to effectively double their capacity. They also operate a new campus in Georgetown, Washington D.C., and I've heard they are opening additional campuses in San Francisco, CA and Austin, TX.

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  CDIA: Split Shot - Integrating Photoshop in the Creative Studio

Integrating Photoshop Into the Creative Studio -- That's the snazzy title of the 8th course in CDIA's Professional Digital Photography program. Not too long ago, photographers that shot film could spend hours setting up perfect lighting in a shot using snoots, grids, reflectors, gobos, and other light modifiers to capture the perfect image with one shutter click. With the advent of digital photography its possible to achieve that perfect shot in far less time by shooting several versions of the set then combine the images in Photoshop using layer masks and blending. In the digital photographer's studio, the final image is often a composite that makes best use of time between setting up the lighting and post production editing.

The first exercise in this course is known as a split shot, a technique to control reflections in a set. Imagine an art director sets up a product shot in the studio composed of a couple books and some CDs, carefully placing each element in his or her preferred configuration. Then its the photographer's job to capture the image just as the art director composed it, even though the set may have elements of differing reflective surfaces or different contrasts. The CDs have prismatic reflections of the books behind them, and the books may have shadows or glossy reflections of the other books or CDs in front of them.

To achieve a well lit, final image begin by capturing the original set, then use light modifers such as cards or gobos to capture subsequent shots where one element of the set is lit properly. Weight down the tripod to completely avoid nudging the camera since later several captures will be layered and combined.

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  CDIA Sneak Peek: Videos of CDIA Photography Studio

Here's a few glimpses into Studio C at Boston University's Center for Digital Imaging Arts. About a fifth into the program, the Professional Digital Photography students move into the studio to learn flash photography using strobe kits, soft boxes, gels, and other creative equipment.

First here's a few of my shots from this weekend, followed by a couple quick videos around the studio to watch students at work and play.

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  CDIA Introduction to Lighting Theory, Its a wrap!

This week we wrapped up another great photography course at CDIA, Introduction to Lighting Theory DP114.

This module will explore and demonstrate the use of light so that students of light will be able to recognize the physical properties of light: direction and quality; hard vs. soft; and that they be able to modify light to suit the needs of their photography. Students will also learn how to identify and work with varying color temperatures.

Of most practical value to me was learning how to use a light meter to measure incident light (the actual light hitting a subject), whereas the camera's TTL metering measures reflected light (the brightness of light reflected off a subject). We also learned how to use light glass and metal and work with their reflective properties using diffusion screens, reflector discs, or gobos, and either natural ambient lighting or photoflood (constant) lighting indoors. Before moving on to indoor settings with artificial lighting, we initially honed our skills with portrait shooting outdoors using ambient lighting combined with the tools mentioned earlier. My favorite part of the course was learning how to do Black Line and White Line Photography with glass, also known as Bright Field and Dark Field.

The strength of the class was the actual instruction of lighting theory, lessons which I found highly valuable. The weakness was we were expected to peform all our shooting in groups of 3 or 4 during short bursts of time in class when we'd have to set up tables and lighting and later break them down, and I felt unable to achieve a satisfactory level of quality in my photography because I felt rushed.

Halfway through the course I realized I needed to set up a home studio where I could spend longer periods of time and have the freedom to play around and test various lighting scenarios. To that end, I spent a day running errands to Home Depot for clamps and extension cords, to JoAnn Fabrics for inexpensive black cloth to line the walls and velvet to shoot small objects on, to Staples for black and white foam boards, and finally to Hunts Photo and Video in Melrose to purchase a Smith-Victor 4 Light Photoflood Kit. Total cost for the whole basement studio was close to $600, not including the ping pong table already in the basement.

Next week we refine our lighting skills and learn to use strobe lighting or flash in course DP111 Introduction to the Studio.

www.flickr.com

  Faces of India - A Photography Project

As a student at Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts, my first photography assignment was given in the second class, Camera and Workflow II. The assignment was called The Faces Project, and the goal was to take at least 100 photographs of faces, to be narrowed down to 50 for sharing in class, and finally to 2 for large format printing. Ideally, the student would narrow down the project to a particular theme, such as people laughing, people over 60, people jumping, or even (yes) people blowing their noses. While one of the project lessons was to get students to become comfortable with the camera and to quickly navigate and make best use of the exposure controls, the underlying lesson was a social one rather than technological one. As future professional photographers, the ability to confidently interact with and among strangers should not be overlooked. In fact, many of the students expressed a feeling of dread when given the assignment because, like myself, many are introverts or not highly social, and the thought of blindly walking up to strangers to ask for their photo made many a butterfly spin around our stomachs.

As I travel to India for work on occasion, I decided to choose the theme of Faces of India, since I was to be in Bangalore for a short while. At first, I thought the Faces project would be an impossible one. At times I was overcome with fear when contemplating photographing people in a foreign land, but at the same time I knew that I could accomplish this task that the results would likely be fantastic because of the diversity of culture and people found there.

Faces of India Project

The project got off with a few fits and starts, and I warmed up by photographying those with whom I work in the Adobe office in Bangalore. I'm very grateful for their cooperativeness while I fumbled around with positioning them, taking shots, and retaking more shots. They had a lot of patience with me. Soon a few key concepts emerged that I would quickly adapt to which would progressively help make the Faces of India project more successful. I didn't learn them all at the same time or in this order, but here's a few important ideas that became very useful:

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  Professional Digital Photography at CDIA

This year I've taken a big step towards turning a long time personal interest into a professional skill. In May I enrolled in the Professional Digital Photography program at Boston University's Center for Digital Imaging Arts, or BU CDIA for short. The curriculum spans 24 classes over nearly 18 months, and requires the commitment of 2 nights per week and every other Saturday.

First class at CDIA

Over the years I've been able to study at various local universities to build web technology skills, including Bentley College, Brandeis University, Harvard Extension School, and BUTrain (Boston University's corporate education). Compared to CDIA, I would be hard pressed to describe a curriculum or facility that was more current and state of the art, or better staffed with highly qualified instructors. CDIA's facility, conveniently located on Moody Street in Waltham, can hardly be called a campus, although it occupies three floors of a huge building converted into classrooms and studios, and will soon expand into an adjacent building that formerly housed a Jordan's Furniture store. In retrospect, only Harvard's Extension School rivals CDIA in quality of equipment and facilities as well as teaching ability of instructors.

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  Total Training is Going Online

As a very satisfied owner of Total Training DVD video tutorials on Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, and Flex, I literally recommend their training to everyone I speak with that might have an interest... really, and half the time I chew their ear off because I won't shut up about how great their tutorials are.

Now they're launching online training as well, in HD and available 24/7. Here's some quotes from their website:

Premium Training Goes Online
Total Training is a pioneer in innovative video-based training for creative design, digital video, and office productivity software programs. Our mission is to deliver premium training to our users enabling them to quickly learn new software applications. Now, for the first time, our award-winning videos are available online.

• Access award-winning training 24/7
• High-quality content produced in HD
• Explore the customized interface

• Customized Controls
• Search Content Within Lessons
• Lesson Progression Tracking
• Ability to Bookmark Lessons

Get the Entire Total Training Online: Adobe Library for FREE!
In celebration of our upcoming Total Training Online release, we're offering this once in a lifetime opportunity. For every purchase of $150* or more, you will receive the Total Training Online Adobe Library absolutely free for 1 year — that's over $1,000 worth of DVDs accessible online! View our Adobe Library below.

Hurry! Offer expires June 15, 2007.

Dear Total Training:

Please add ColdFusion 8 training as a part of your web technology stable of training products.

Thanks!

  New Course: Total Training for Adobe Flex 2 Advanced Visual Programming

If you were happy with Total Training's Rich Internet Applications with Flex 2 hosted by Adobe's James Talbot, then you should have a look at Advanced Visual Programming in Flex 2, hosted by Leo Schuman, just released today.

Total Training for Adobe Flex 2 Advanced Visual Programming
You will learn how to work with embedded images and fonts, implement transitions and easing effects, apply filters and blends, and programmatically interact with mouse position and actions like dragging and dropping. In addition, you will learn how to extend and skin Flex UI components using both images and shapes drawn with the ActionScript Drawing API. (9 hours)

Total Training for Adobe Flex 2 Rich Internet Applications
Learn how the Adobe Flex 2 product line delivers a standards-based programming methodology to combine the richness of the desktop with the reach of the web. Discover best practices for architecting a Flex application. Learn how to connect a Flex application to server side data including web services and remote methods. Understand how to customize a Flex application to give it a unique look and feel. (8 hours)

  My Recommendation for the Best Massachusetts Home Inspector

Our recent home buying experience was one filled with lots of research, paperwork, planning, and conversing. At times it seemed overwhelming, and my wife did a great job of managing things, especially during times that wore me down. However, among all my interactions with attorneys, real estate agents, insurance agents and such, my experience with the home inspector was the best. If you're in the market to purchase a house in Massachusetts, I highly recommend Paul Rogoshewski of Harmony Home Inspection.

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