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Class 1: Intro to photography

Lesson: Basics of photography

Rule of thirds

Stronger points of placement are suggested by the rule of thirds, which recommends that you mentally divide the rectangular frame of your photograph into thirds both horizontally and vertically. This creates four points where the imaginary lines intersect. These points of intersection create strong areas where the image can be placed. They are called hot spots or power points in a composition. When the subject is located at one of these points, it creates a more pleasing composition. 

By positioning the subject so that there is more space in front of them, where they are looking will lead the viewer and give the subject room to move. This is called lead room or breathing space.

There will be times when you need to take a shot that places the person in the middle of the picture especially if it is a one-shot. Consideration should be taken regarding the amount of space above the person's head, called head room. If you leave too little, the person may look cramped in the frame and if you leave too much it will make the person look lost in the frame. There is no special formula— just good judgment.

In general positioning the subject's eyes one third of the way down the frame is a good start. This principle also works when there are more people. 

Three Kings

ISO, shutter speed, aperture

• • ISO - how sensitive the sensor is - allows more/less light but introduces noise the higher the ISO. Generally we keep ISO as low as possible, but increase it when we can no longer properly expose a shot using our shutter speed or aperture settings.

  • Shutter Speed - how long the “shutter is open”. Relevant in DSLR’s (how long the mirror has exposed the sensor) but in purely electronic cameras like cellphones, it is an artificial construct - it’s how long the sensor is active to allow light to hit it. Slower shutter speed, more light, but leads to blurring if there’s movement. Faster shutter speed, less light - less blurring, but in low light is a dark image.

    • Examples Shutter 1/1000th - good for sports photography, Shutter 1/5th blurring of a water in a waterfall

  • Aperture - how much of the lens is exposed. Bigger aperture value is LESS less exposed - leads to lower light, but longer focal length (scenery shots - more of the world is in focus). Smaller aperture value is MORE lens exposed and the shallower the depth of focus.

    • Examples F 22 - scenery shot with foreground and background both in focus, F 1.8 family portrait with faces in focus, but background blurred out.

White Balance

It is important to give you a bit of theory about the characteristics of light at this point. Our brains have an amazing ability to adapt to different conditions, so you might not have noticed that not all light sources are white. In fact most are not white at all. The sun gives off a blue cast and indoor lights generally reflect more yellow and orange. The camera is not quite as adaptable as our brains so there may be times when you will need to tell it what light situation you are shooting in. This is called white balance and most cameras will have the ability to manually choose a setting. If you have an SLR camera you might have slightly more control with an option that allows you to use a neutral grey card to calibrate the white balance. Typical settings that come pre-packaged on your camera for whitebalance are 

• fluorescent lights

• tungsten lights

• outdoor: sunny

• outdoor: cloudy

The images below demonstrates how using the wrong setting in the first example created a blue cast on this image shot outside. In the second image the setting was changed to outside lighting and looks much more natural. You should have noticed a yellow or orange tint to images shot inside with a daylight setting. This is clearly not what you want, so don't forget to check your white balance.

Copyright

Copyright laws protect the photographer from others using their images without consent, but what about the person being photographed?

There is a law called the right to privacy. This states that you as a citizen should have a reasonable expectation for privacy and that private facts about you should not be published. Images taken in public areas can be used without permission as long as they are not used to promote a product or service or would damage your reputation. That being said it is important that you use good judgment in the pictures that you take and post. Obviously images should never be taken in washrooms and change rooms where personal privacy is expected. You would not have much legal protection in a court of law if someone felt that the image damaged their reputation.

If the image is going to be used in a form of advertising you will need Model release forms (for minors). This is a legal contract that a model would sign giving the photographer the right to use their image according to the conditions identified in the contract. As a matter of course most schools will have students and guardians sign release forms in order to avoid any potential legal action. If you are unsure it is always best to ask for permission especially when tagging people in pictures that they may not want others to see.

If you take images on private property and intend to make money from them, even if there are no people in the picture, you will need to obtain a property release form from the owner. That includes their cute little dog that posed so sweetly for you.

The issue over whether a release form is required does tend to be a bit unclear. It is clear that if the intent of the publication is to persuade people to buy something then a release is needed. If the image is used for educational or information purposes you do not. It is not always easy to establish whether something would be considered an informational piece so it is best to be cautious and obtain a release form if possible.

Class 2: Practical shooting

Shutter priority (usually denoted as S on the mode dial of a Nikon), also called time value (abbreviated as Tv on a Canon), refers to a setting on some cameras that allows the user to choose a specific shutter speed while the camera adjusts the aperture to ensure correct exposure. Use shutter priority to grab shots of motion where you want to either freeze or blur the motion in the shot.

Activity: Go out with them and get them to shoot pictures of action. 

Aperture priority, often abbreviated A (Nikon) or Av (for aperture value - on Canon) on a camera mode dial, is a setting on some cameras that allows the user to set a specific aperture value (f-number) while the camera selects a shutter speed to match it that will result in proper exposure based on the lighting conditions as measured by the camera's light meter. This is different from manual mode, where the user must decide both values, shutter priority where the user picks a shutter speed with the camera selecting an appropriate aperture, or program mode where the camera selects both. Aperture priority is used when the photographer wants to control either depth of field, or the light hitting the sensor without adjusting ISO.

Activity: Go out with them and get them to shoot pictures of focal plane.

Class 3: Basic photographic manipulation

The Photoshop interface

Three Point Lighting

Class 7-10: Combing artwork and photography

Lesson:  Combining artwork with photography. Use of layer styles. Drawing and painting tools

Assignment: Students are to plan out, shoot and design a Netflix thumbnail like the one below.

Class 11-14: Graphic Design as art

Lesson: Gradients, typography, CRAP rules, use of pen tool and shapes