Flowers and Toys

Flowers: Filling the frame

This assignment is great for practicing Depth of Field.

1. Do a quick Google image search of the artist Thomas Struth flowers and have a look at the fabulous photographs of flowers that he has taken. Note how he fills the frame with the flowers and the how the background is blurred (out of focus).

2. Read this website and this website to learn some top tips for taking photographs of flowers with your phone.

3. Take at least 10 pictures of flowers with the following criteria in mind:

• ZOOM IN and FILL YOUR FRAME. Focusing on only part of the flower can actually have a big impact or make it look abstract.

• don't put your subject in the middle of the frame, but use the grid lines on your screen to create a visually exciting composition

• have no distracting background. Either get rid of the stuff behind or move yourself so you don't see it.

• try shooting in portrait mode so the background goes blurry. This helps with distractions.

• shoot from an unexpected angle or get a part of the flower that isn't always seen.

• Bright light will create harsh shadows and create part of the photo to look overexposed. You can hold a white sheet of paper over it or to the side to block the sun.

• backlighting will make your flower glow and allow for the colors to pop.

• spray some water on the leaves or petals for a dewy sort of look

• edit your photos to make the colors pop.

• see what the photo looks like in black and white, and pump up the contrast (You can use your mobile phone or the free Snapseed app to edit)

4. Create a collage of your favourite shots using your phone or the PicCollage app. Watch these YouTube videos which show you how to do this: Phone collage, PicCollage app.

WAGOLL

Below is an example of the collage of photographs you will create following this lesson:

Toys: Practicing Depth of Field

In this tutorial you will further practice depth of field. Depth of field is when something in the scene is in focus, but t=things in front of it (foreground) and those behind it (background) are blurred (out of focus). It makes for a very interesting looking photograph and is a technique mastered by professional photographers. You will being to practice this technique in this lesson, and then in a few lessons time you will really hone this skill.

1. Check out the presentation to see some fabulously creative professional photographs of toys and read some of the top tips for doing it yourself.

2. Watch this YouTube video which shows you how you could set up your toy scene:

3. If you have portrait mode on your phone, this is a great time to use it. If you don't have the option, use the free app called FOCOS and change the aperture. If not, then blur out the background in Snapseed or Pixlr. In this tutorial you are going to try hard to give depth of field to your photograph (foreground or background will be out of focus).

4. Take at least 20 different photos, toggling between the different photo & portrait, and 1x and 2x options on your phone to get fun photos of toys. Check out the slide show for loads of examples.

5. You can use your mobile phone or the free Snapseed app to edit. You could turn into black and white or make the colours pop out.

6. Go back to Google classroom and turn in one EDITED photograph and be sure to wow us.

WAGOLL

Below is an example of the type of photographs you will be able to create following this lesson. Click on the 'student examples' button to see more.