Photography

April 3rd, 2013

Photography Collectives

• http://luceoimages.com/
• http://www.razoncollective.com/
• http://www.aevumphoto.com/
• http://www.primecollective.com/
• http://wearemjr.com/
• http://www.borealcollective.com/

March 27, 2013

Photographic Composition

Heading out into the field, you need to take a 'portfolio' of photos that create examples of the following. As you go along, the rule of thirds should be considered and followed for all pictures.

NOTE: All group members should be responsible for taking some of the photos. Each member should have captured at least two pictures. Copy and paste the following list into a word document, and then document as you go along which member took which photo. I need to see this as you finish.

2 photos that include the same elements/subjects in a shot, where you use distance to alter the scale of the two.

2 shots of the same subject, but using different viewing angles to show different features/create different impressions of the subject.

1 shot that uses implied/leading lines to guide eyes through a photo, but is something OTHER THAN the walls/hallway.

Framing – using something other than “strategically placed” humans/ objects (having two people stand in place, or sitting some objects in place to create a frame; find/use objects that are in their natural settings/locations. You cannot use the monitors.)

3 Photos with the same objects, but varying the depth of field.

- Shallow depth of field with foreground subject in focus

- Shallow depth of field with background subject in focus

- Deeper depth of field with both in focus (USE TRIPOD)

March 18, 2013

Photographic Composition

Using the following sites, create TWO SEPARATE 8.5x11" documents using Photoshop that provide not only some basic information about two different composition concepts (one per document), but uses photos OTHER THAN THE ONES on the site to illustrate the examples. Before using the photographs in your composition, you must be able to identify and describe how they illustrate the concepts. As such, there should be a caption on, near, or below the photo example, describing how it illustrates that point. There must also be one BAD example of at least one of the two concepts illustrated via photograph. Don't simply go to google images, search for your concept, and pick any image that shows up. Rule of Thirds and Framing are not allowed; you must find other principles. "Filling the frame," however, is allowed.

• 10 Composition Rules
• Image Composition for Beginners
• Photography Composition for the Web
• Digital Photography Composition Tips
• http://www.photographymad.com/
• Secondpicture - Photography Composition

March 4, 2013

The Exposure Triangle: Shutter Speed and ISO

Now that we've talked about Aperture, it's time to move on to the other sides of the exposure triangle: Shutter Speed and ISO.

Go back to the following website: The Ultimate Beginner's Introduction to Exposure - and scroll down to the following section: Shutter Speed (imagine that!). You will use the remainder of the web page (all sections) to answer the following form.

February 25, 2013

The Exposure Triangle: Aperture

The "Exposure Triangle" consists of three elements/sides (bet you couldn't guess that!): Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO. We will break these down one at a time, both in how they work and how they affect your photos.

Go to the following website: The Ultimate Beginner's Introduction to Exposure - and read the following sections: The Triangle of Exposure, Aperture, Depth of Field, and Shooting in Low Light. When you are finished, go to this form and answer the following questions. I might recommend reading the questions and answering them in a Word document first, just in case you do not finish by the end of the day.

(DIM, Your Photography lessons end here)

October 17, 2012

Hands-on with the Cameras: Day 1

We've looked at the technical aspects of the cameras, gone over the exposure triangle, and we've even briefly examined composition. Let's do some shooting! For this mini-project, your subject is the Bushland Board Gaming Federation. You need to do the following:

• Compose and capture a series of at least 15 photographs. Of these,
  • at least 6 shots need to create an emphasis using a shallow depth of field (remember: large aperture!)
  • at least 4 need to create emphasis using contrast in a way other than shallow depth of field (examples include old/new, light/dark, big/small, close/far)
  • at least 3 shots need to use framing of the subject/focal point
  • at least 4 shots need to be taken from angles other than eye level; no more than 1 can be taken from a birds-eye view or top-down perspective.
  • at least 2 shots need to create some kind of illusion using tricks of scale. Use a small aperture to ensure both objects are in focus. However, you will need a higher ISO and/or slower shutter speed to compensate!
• Photos may very easily meet 2 or 3 of these criteria at the same time. You can easily have good visual contrast with depth of field while also using lightness and darkness.
• As you go along, you might create a checklist in a Word document to keep track of how many photos have met the above criteria.
• Adhere to the rule of thirds in all of your shots: are major horizontal/vertical lines along the imaginary thirds lines? Is the most dominant focal point in your image found at an intersection of lines?
• Your photos may be just of game pieces, people playing games, or people interacting with the game pieces/boards in other ways, as long as it's school appropriate.

When you are done, you need to copy those specific photos to your USB drive and save them a project folder within a photography folder within your GDI folder. For example:

• Removable Disk E:
  • GDI
    • Photography
      • Board Gaming Photoshoot

October 15, 2012

Youtube Camera Tutorials (with the handsome Australian guy)

At this point you should know the 3 parts of the exposure triangle, and have a basic idea of how they affect your photographs:

• Aperture:
  • Size of the opening through which camera receives light
  • Measured in F-stops
  • The larger the f-number, the smaller the actual aperture
  • The larger the aperture, the smaller the depth of field (amount of distance in a photo in focus)
    • Shallow Depth of Field is considered a good effect when trying to emphasize the focal point over the background and/or foreground
• ISO Speed:
  • Sensitivity of image sensor (or film in traditional cameras) to light
  • Higher ISO causes more digital noise (graininess) in shots
  • Sometimes the only choice for low-light situations
  • ISO 100-200 for outdoors; 400-1600 for indoors
• Shutter Speed:
  • Amount of time (measured in seconds or fractions of a second) that shutter is open, allowing light to get to sensor
  • The longer the shutter speed, the more continual action is captured in a still image
  • Slow shutter speeds create 'motion blur' in a photo; think streaky headlights or swinging arms
  • Slower shutter speeds = more light, and faster shutter speeds = less light

Today we will work with white balancing and light temperature, so we can easily fix those nasty yellow-tinted photos that appear in our gym and other places. This link will help explain the importance of using white balancing (and by that, I DO NOT mean auto white balancing) in your photos.

October 11, 2012

Youtube Camera Tutorials (with the handsome Australian guy)

I have uncovered many more tutorials by Chris Bray of Canon Australia. These explanations are clear, concise, and super useful/relevant to the photographic composition and technical features of cameras that we will work on in class over the coming weeks. Go to my youtube playlist HERE.

October 9, 2012

Introduction to Photography

Graphic Design Class: Here is a link to the short video we watched today on how digital cameras work.