Foundational Skills: Photo: Projects 21: Composition & Camera

  • What makes a photograph interesting?

What am I making?

  • (Example link) A Google Site portfolio page titled Photo Composition

  • with 8 to 12 photographs of different subjects;

  • Identify Photography Composition strategies in your photos:

    1. Rule of Thirds / Center Composition (Placement of Subject)

    2. Leading Lines

    3. Foreground Interest

    4. Placing a Person (Using Scale)

    5. Balancing Elements

    6. Symmetry and Patterns

    7. Viewpoint

    8. Background Selection

    9. Depth (what's Near, in the Middle, and Far is noticeable)

    10. Framing (using parts of the scene to outline your subject)

    11. Cropping

  • In a typed reflection, share what you learned about Photography

How do I make it?

  • Look for what captures your eye

  • Experiment with different positions and angles when you frame your subjects!

  • Photo Gotchas:

    • Blurry? Hold it steady, rest your camera / use some kind of holder or tripod; set focus or do "tap focus" on phone

    • Too dark or too light? Adjust your camera's exposure settings or add light (flash, use a reflector) or subtract light

  • Take more photos than you need, decide which ones you want to keep later. Have fun and play!

Steps

Video Tutorial for Steps #5-7

  1. Watch "Composition Most Important thing in PHOTOGRAPHY!" & Review 10 Top Photography Composition Rules

    • Make a sketch for each one in your sketchbook!

  2. Check out how-to videos about mobile photography! (See more below)

  3. Get to know your phone camera app - check out all the settings

    • download a better one if you like! (like Lightroom, and there are others - search for Camera in app store)

  4. Go get your photos

    • During golden hour maybe? It's about an hour before sunset / hour after sunrise

  5. Transfer photos from Phone to Computer

  6. Upload your photos to a Google Photo album (signed into es-cat.org)

  7. Create a Photo Composition page on your Google Site

    • Add 8 to 12 photos from your Google Photo album using the Insert Images tool (and Uncrop all of them)

    • Label your photos with the Photo Composition techniques you see

    • Explain what you learned about Photography

    • Publish the page, copy the link, turn that link in Google Classroom

  8. Bonus: Select one of a couple of your favorite photos and author a blog post with some of your thoughts about the images. You may also email me with any photos you would like put on our Instagram.

Career Connections

  • Endless... making your images compelling has many purposes and benefits!

Resources