What is Digital Imaging?
Digital imaging is the creation of an image that is stored as a computer data file. The term is often assumed to imply the processing, compression, storage, printing, and display of such images.
A digital image may be acquired directly from a physical scene by a camera or similar capture device. It may also be obtained by an image scanner by capturing a photograph or something printed on paper. That being said, digital images are not always "acquired" from a source; they can be created by using specialized digital painting and design software. An image can also be computed from a geometric model or mathematical formula and visualized thourgh the process of "rendering" a 2D or 3D dataset. Generally speaking, these data can be stored in either raster or vector file formats.
The following images are various digital sketches, digital paintings and 3D renderings that I've created over the years.
What is Image Manipulation?
Simply put, image manipulation (or photo-editing) is the technique of modifying a photographic image.
Digital photo editing (also known as 'pixel-pushing') is the process where photographs are input into a computer and modified with special software. Photos can also be captured or obtained from stock photography sets or even created from scratch using computers, software, and drawing tablets.
Photo editing encompasses everything that can be done to a photo (either in a darkroom or on a computer). Edits may be subtle (e.g. alterations to color channels, brightness or contrast), but may also be explicit (e.g. removing the background from an image). Image editing software is be used to apply effects and change the image until the desired result is achieved. Sometimes the modified image has little or no resemblance to the original.
Assorted Projects
The Man In Black
Johnny Cash, born J. R. Cash, (February 26, 1932 - September 12, 2003) was a Grammy Award-winning American singer-songwriter and one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Primarily a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll (especially early in his career), as well as blues, folk and gospel.
View Images: Image 1 | Image 2
This "posterization" of Johnny Cash is an example of [2D] digital imagery. The image was created by "painting" or blocking in large areas of color in a computer paint program. Then the image was imported into a vector art program where the blocks were traced, manipulated and saved as vector shapes. Because the image was created using this method, it could be scaled up to any size without losing visual quality.
The final image was printed on a thin canvas material; size: 44" x 44".
Boulderama
A Panoramic Image of Boulder, Colorado
The idea for this project came from a baseline photographic study of the Flatirons (mountains near Boulder, CO) that I conducted in December 2006.
The final image was created from approximately twenty photos that were "stitched together" to give the impression of one extremely long, seamless image.
See also: Photography, Workshop