6.4.6 Slide Design Tips

 7 Tips for Slide Design in PowerPoint

1. Utilize the entire space of the slideshow by maximizing your footprint of the graphic or text you are using.
2. Use correct font size and color if presenting from a projector.
   
3. Use high quality images.
4. Avoid too many special effects.
5. Less is More.
6. Don't face the screen and read the slide.
7. Speak to the entire audience.

 

The Final 7

The final 7 images of my PHO 101 portfolio are here. This assignment covers the major design elements of photography: Balance, Emphasis, Contrast, Unity, Pattern, Movement, and Rhythm. There were many pictures that did not make the cut. Even after this semester finishes up I still have many thousands of hours to practice with this camera. I intend to take more photography courses at CSN or UNLV later on in life because I like this new hobby. Now here are the top 7 photos that are printed and mounted ready to be hung on a wall.

Movement

Contrast

 

Balance

Pattern

Rhythm

Unity

Emphasis

Reflecting

This semester is coming to an end along with the world enjoying the last remaining weeks of 2022. As I am finishing up the final few assignments in my five classes before I make the great journey to University of Las Vegas, I look back at what I started at. I started this year at College of Southern Nevada with very little idea of what I wanted out of college. After finishing the majority of my general electives I decided to major in business accounting because I want a complete career swap into a more stable career. 

I have conquered the challenge of working 40 hours a week while doing 12+ college credits.

I have destroyed my sleep schedule keeping up with the workload.

I have acquired virtuosity in photography as a new hobby.

Photo by Kevin Galbert

Photo by Kevin Galbert

Photo by Kevin Galbert

Christmas Already?

It is 11:30 PM the day after Thanksgiving and the infamous opening jingle of Mariah Carey's 1994 hit "All I want for Christmas Is You" is all ready playing on infinite loop until years end. I don't hate the song until its on the 5th loop then I will need hearing protection. I snuck out the house for another improv shot for my final portfolio and I tried my hand at Bellagio again. The results were quite good. I am definitely going to use the nutcracker photo in the portfolio I just need to get a better angle. All of the photos were taken at the Bellagio Gardens for this Christmas themed event.

Is anyone who celebrates Christmas ready for the gift giving?

The polar bears bring back nostalgic memories of the 1990s when I first remembered the first few Coca Cola commercials involving the polar bears

Future Endeavors

 As this week winds down and the population is getting ready for the big family event of the year Thanksgiving. We need to be thankful for the things we have and what they will lead too.

• I am thankful for my unwavering dedication to college while maintaining a full time job. 
• I am thankful for my service to this country USN Veteran (2011-2016).
• I am thankful for this class providing the edification I needed to achieve the MOS certifications.

At points I wanted to stop college because of the immense college level workload plus the job made for some 18 hours days into another full 8 hours of work put a enormous strain on my mental ability. I kept preserving at my endeavors at CSN and the fruits of my labours have resulted in being accepted into UNLV. 

Now, What are you thankful for this holiday season?

Portfolio Work Critique

We are approaching the last few weeks of this Fall 2022 semester and final assignments are right on the horizon. Subtracting thanksgiving week and the subsequent weeklong resting period after all of that food. If your a major procrastinator then finals assignments are right around the corner. I have to make professional portfolio quality work and I need honest critiques on my shots. 

What do you like about the image?

What could be improved on?

Should I reshoot this from another angle?

Would you buy this and hang it up on a wall?

Composition - Clarity - Contrast

If the image needs additional post processing provide feedback.

 

I want feedback on my photos because I am actuslly going to print a 7-10 of them for the Photography 101 Final assignment.

The Strat during the total  lunar eclipse. "Next total lunar eclipse is 2025 March 14"

 

Las Vegas city scape taken from Los Feliz St

Las Vegas City Hall

Fall Bokeh

Las Vegas Sign The Strat

ISO

ISO stands for "International Organization for Standardization"

This term generally gets shorted to ISO which applies the sensitivity of the cameras sensor to light. On most professional cameras ISO can be low as 50 with an upper expanded limit of 204,800. The camera I have the Sony Alpha 7 IV has an ISO range of 100-51,200, with an expanded range of ISO 50-204,800. On most newer model phones the smaller camera sensor has a ISO range of 50-3200 which is more than enough.

Referring to my previous post the exposure triangle is very relevant in exposing an image. Light is measured in stops A stop of light is not a fundamental unit, but a method of measuring the increase or decrease of light in a photographic exposure. 

When you increase the ISO value by one step (e.g. 100 to 200, or 800 to 1600) you make the camera’s sensor twice as sensitive to light. To keep the exposure balanced the camera needs to halve the amount of light reaching the sensor. It does this by increasing the shutter speed by one stop (e.g. increasing from 1/400 to 1/800), or decreasing the aperture size by one f-stop (e.g. changing from f/8 to f/11).

Once you begin to increase the ISO past "3200" on most professional cameras you introduce noise to an image. Now this noise is not referring to sound so your photo will not have a music track playing but it will display grainy spots to the image. Some photographers like this grainy noise on their images and keep it visible while others use Adobe Lightroom to remove it. Don't be afraid of pumping the ISO for those low light shots because the shutter speed and aperture will adjust to compensate.

Aperture

 

Aperture is the opening of a lens also known as F-Stop it is a very important part of the exposure triangle (ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed). My lens the Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 has a range f/1.4 to f/16 which is amazing for low light scenes and capturing fast motion. Typically lenses are designed at f/2.8 or higher for more budget friendly prices. This is the exposure triangle it consists of the tree variables that adjust how a camera captures light: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Together, these three elements properly expose a shot. The three variables of the exposure triangle are all dependent on each other.

When the F-stop is wide open at f/1.4 the background is entirely out of focus while the subject is tack sharp. These wide open F-stop's are typically reserved for very low light situations when you really need to capture as much of the light you can without cranking the ISO function which produces more image noise. I will cover the ISO topic at a later date.

When the F-stop is narrow it reduces the amount of light entering the lens to the sensor. This also bring the rest of the background into focus.

One interesting effect that happens when the f-stop becomes smaller is lights begin to "burst" which can greatly improve an images quality if your shooting professional.

Typically on most dedicated camera systems you can set the mode to aperture priority where you manually set the aperture and the camera compensates the ISO/Shutter speed to acquire a quality image. A-mode is essentially set-it-and-forget it mode which most photos will be shot in. Other modes I have not covered are M-mode for manual settings where you have complete control of all three settings for a more personal touch because the software is only guessing at what your doing depending on what's in focus. S-mode is for changing shutter speed to capture high speed action.

5.5.8 Cell Formatting Tips

     When using Excel text colors should really be limited to two colors black text is always in style. Using the banding function of alternating colors increases readability. The best way to display titles is by using the merge and center command located in the Excel ribbon. Using the wrap text function allows for a lengthy amount of text to be formatted to the cell to increase readability. 

As for dates Excel recognizes them in different styles and has many formats for display. 

When displaying numbers excel can format the numbers to have the dollar sign $ up to including decimal points for displaying cents. Excel has several formats for numbers ranging from general, number, currency, accounting, date, time, percentage, fractions, scientific, text, special, even custom if you feel that the aforementioned list does not suit your needs.

Speed

 Speed is defined as. The rate of change of position of an object in any direction.

Shutter speed is defined as the speed the mechanical shutter on a digital single reflex lens / mirrorless camera as it closes this can be from 30 seconds to 1/8000th of a second. This speed needs to be adjusted depending on what object you are intending to capture in your photo.

In this shot I focused on the busker and set the shutter speed to a full fraction (1/8,1/6,1/4,/1/3) of a second. Notice how he is mostly in focus, the background is clear, and the people in the background are blurry.

When slowing the shutter speed to 10 second exposure while focused on water it becomes misty almost foggy

Here using a shutter speed of 1/40 I captured the Metro cruiser running code 3 (lights+sirens) on Las Vegas Blvd. Notice they are in focus but the background is blurry because I was panning the camera during this shot.

Here is another long exposure over 5 seconds

A 30 second exposure from east of Hollywood on the east side of Las Vegas. That light trail is not a meteor but a helicopter. This gives me an idea for long exposure shots with flying objects.

4.13.1 Macros

Macros are a computer rule or pattern that the user "records" short sequences of keystrokes and mouse actions to transform a normally boring repetitive task into a one button solution. Remapping a button on a keyboard is also considered a macro for example a keyboard that has had liquid spilled on it so a few keys no longer work. Using a macro a user can also remap a key to another key.

Computer users who have to do repetitive tasks such as data entry, resizing images, or spamming the same skill in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) have come to use the macro function to make their task easier. When I was playing the MMORPG Ragnarok Online in 2004 a tool named AutoHotKey was given to me by a guildmate to help spam damaging spells at blistering speeds as some spells stack on top of each other. This simple tool can also be configured to use a healing potion if your health points (HP) dropped below a certain hex color value. Which gives an unfair advantage against the unaware.

Currently due to the game breaking nature of automated hotkeys many online games have banned the use of third party software in their terms of service (TOS).

Ice Cream, Ramen, Jesus, Fitness Girls, and Mario.

As the semester chugs along I continue to pull extended hours on the computer tolling away at my other 4 courses I still manage to find time to head out in town for photos. I am still going to attempt the Bellagio Gardens I just need to be up to speed with my other courses. Every time I go to Fremont street I catch something new this time I found "Jesus" who knows what I will find next time. In my Photography 101 course we had our first round of critics for photos and one of my top photos "one directly below" got a solid praise from the teacher and almost half the class. So far what I have learned is the quality of lens really makes the camera.

Ramen is from Shokku Ramen called the Millennium Bowl inspired by Yu-Gi-Oh

And to cool things off Ice Cream at the Palazzo

Mario on vacation in Las Vegas?