Digital Photography Lesson // Abstract Light Designs

Medium: Adobe Photoshop
Time: 1-2 days {One day dedicated to class demo and practice shooting} 
Grade: 9-12 
Objective: Develop a basic understanding of Shutter Priority Mode to light paint
Create an abstract design using Multiple light painting images
Materials: Digital camera/Photoshop

The focus of this lesson is to master the use of slow shutter speeds to create light pairing images.  
Using a dark room, students use their the students use their iPhones as a light source and work in pairs to generate abstract light images in a dark room. The images are then edited in photoshop and combined onto one NEW photoshop file.  This unit usually peaks the interest of most students and is a great warm up to the stop motion lesson.

Below is the Step by Step guide for creating on composite abstract design in Photoshop:
Post tutorial, I print out a copy of these directions for students to use while working at their own pace.

1. Edit your shutter images using: Brightness/Contrast and Hue and saturation.

 -->save edits as .JPGS or merge the adjustments


2. Make a new Photoshop Document:
           FILE NEW> 8.5 by 11, 300 resolution. BACKGROUND COLOR BLACK

3. Paint bucket the background of the new document black.

4. Select a soft edge brush and lower the opacity to less than 75%

5. Open edited shutter image. {Make sure it is .jpg} {Make sure they are merged command+E}

6. Click on Quick mask option in tool box

7. With your brush {soft edge-75% opacity} paint on your shutter image

6. Click BACK ON Quick mask option in tool box

7. Your selection should appear {marching ants}

8. GO TO TOOL BAR > SELECT INVERSE

9. Go to move tool, mouse over selection, click on it. Drag it and drop it to new black document.

10. To change the size of the shutter image on the new document: HIT command+T

11. Repeat steps 4-9.

      Teacher: Meredith Hudson
      Class: Digital Photo I
      Grade: 9-12
      State: NJ
      Teachers Blog: [Website]