Workflow and Kitchen Sink

Many thanks to Cheryl and Mike for their iColorama demonstrations last week. Took me awhile to find Help - under the Import Photo menu (but it is now missing after a little update). 

By now many of you have jumped into iColorama - with both feet. Because this is not for the timid or someone who wants to put a toe in the water. Did I equate iColorama with kitchen sink (in the old-timer reference of a deep catchall for many things)? 

Several of you have mentioned digging deeper and finding references on social media or YouTube and ... that is just the shallow end of the pool. (See how I am mixing metaphors here, it is a word salad that reflects my frustration with this enormously powerful app.) 

In previous semesters the workflow was described as "app stacking" where an image is stepped through several apps and saved/exported as a new image at each step. My linear lizard brain could grasp that process. But iColorama has such a different workflow ... 

Reflecting on features

• Photo editing 
• Filter effects 
• Styling 
• Blend modes
• Painting
• Masks 
• History
• Foreground / Background

Maybe jumping into Painting and Masks was my point of confusion. Or, maybe I've not set aside enough time to play and experiment with iColorama. 

New approach 

Open an image, use the photo editing features to adjust exposure, convert to B & W, etc

Open an image, use any menu and submenu and review the Presets looks

Practice the Apply (adds a Step) feature - aka History

Share > Save / Export (PNG for higher resolution ...?) 

Adopting any new app - thoughts on workflow

• Create an album of sample images including the original and several effects that show my favorite export images 
• Mark the images with Caption to report the app and features used 
• Download a new app 
• Play with the app - touch all the buttons
• Find the Help feature and the developer's website 
• Process sample images 
• Does the new app mimic previous apps - are the results better or the same? 
• Does the new app change the resolution of the image? 
• Compare to app with in-app gallery
• Compare to app with layers 

 

Tease Me Lessons

I hope this post doesn't jump the line too far, but the Tease Me activity will show the spotlight on editing possibilities. Maybe. 

We continue to take photographs to improve our eye for the scene and composition of the elements. Camera orientation, landscape or portrait, and position of the horizon change the story. Some of the lessons will encourage us to take more photographs at the moment or return when the light is different. Taking more photos using the various lenses and modes and using 3rd party apps with special features means more curating and deleting - but - better pictures in the long run. 

When we know what retouching can do, then that pole or tin can will not bother the composition. When we know how stylizing can push a drab day into an emotional scene then taking the photo is right. Now. 

Photos & Shared Albums - Pro and Con

Some thoughts .... will be updated from time 

What's to love about the Apple Photos app: 

• Photos are synced via iCloud to iPad and computer 
• Albums - created and curated by me
• Albums photos can be sequenced and arranged to tell a story 
• Search feature with Artificial Intelligence and metadata access 
• Caption field was introduced in iOS 14 

Struggling with Apple Photos 

• Interface for 3rd party editing apps is not standard 

What's to love about Photos Shared Albums 

• Not counted against the paid iCloud storage
• Keep photos online even when deleted from a device & iCloud
• Allow comments and likes from shared album subscribers

What is missing in Shared Albums 

• Search with A.I. image recognition and metadata 
• Export to Books with subscriber comments 

Tease Me - Animal Images

Day 3 - this will be "living things but not plants" are under this Animal unbrella. 

Process: 

Choose ONE or more of the posted originals to explore a new workflow (or refine a current workflow … where I started). You can use any of the apps we’ve used in class or another iOS/iPadOS app you have discovered. Your edits can use one app or a sequence of apps (called “app stacking”). 

Document your apps using the Captions feature in Photos. In iOS 15 Charlene and I discovered the Caption text will become the Comment text in a Shared Album when posting one photo at a time. But iOS 14 doesn’t transfer the Caption as Comment and it would be helpful to copy the Caption and paste in the Post to Shared Album process, or add as a Comment after posting using paste. 

You might be inspired by the animal and want to stylize the photo - you have probably seen many pet portraits. Maybe the animal you selected has a color that you want to transform into … something new. Also, sometimes the texture or details get our attention. Your final image does not have to be true to the animal. 

Play Process Review (until you all help me clarify …) 

1. Choose one animal photo to edit/stylize and view it at full screen 
2. Tap Share > Save Image (goes into your Library at the date of the original image) 
3. Return to Recents list of photos (current work appears here) 
4. Look at the photo full screen
5. Tap Share > Add to Album … under My Albums … tap Tease me (if you made this in class) 
6. Navigate to Tease Me album, look at photos there to see … no Captions 
7. Possible to use Retouch app as a Photos Extension to remove distractions … 
8. Open your edit/stylize app and navigate to the animal photo (interface is different with each app!) 
9. Make edit/style choices and Share > Save to Photos (or whatever the app says to export/save to Camera Roll/Library) 
10. Open another edit/stylize app and open the previous stylized image and process then save 
11. Open the original image and stylize in second app, stylize and save 
12. Open the edited image full screen in Photos app 
13. Tap ( i ) to access metadata and Caption field > add Teased 
14. In the Caption field append your workflow (i.e. Teased Waterlogue > Prisma > crop) 
15. Add this image to your Tease me album 

During class I will ask for edits on animals - when your animal comes up, be ready to Post to the 2021 Fall Studio Shared Album.

1. Look at your Tease me album photos in thumbnail view 
2. Tap Select > Share > Add to Shared Album 
3. Confirm name of shared album to be 2021 Fall Studio (if not, tap album name and tap to choose 2021 Fall Studio) 
4. Tap Post to upload 
5. Use the Comments feature to add additional workflow details as appropriate
6. Use the Comments feature to ask questions about the posted images 

When stylizing a photo, most apps let you try different effects before locking them into the image. It is not uncommon in my workflow to make five or more new images from a stylizing session. I also get inspired by a stylizing result and want to take a different image through the same process - let’s call this “inspired” and not “distracted.” 

Many apps access the camera and can stylize on the spot. However, there is no getting the original image back. So I recommend always taking photos with camera apps and editing and stylizing later - because you will have the option to export a new image or revert to the original photo. 

We will probably not have renderings of every animal posted. I hope that future photo selections will include an interpretation of the work shared from each participant. 

Thank you for giving us a chance to practice new skills and ways of seeing the world around us.  

Holiday Cards - Use Keynote to Create

Apple has launched their 2021 holiday recommendations and on the Today At Apple page you will find a link to this Keynote slide show with hints on how to add your photos to their designs and how to make new slides of your own design. 

This project goes well with the one page calendar project I’m using to highlight selected photos on my wall at home. The Keynote template document has been linked to the details page.