Monday, March 28, 2011

Scavenger Hunt favorite taken by Allison Carter

photo with lines, also works for experimenting with light

This is a close up of a red silk used in worship at DP.

Scavenger Hunt favorites taken by Laura

photo with lines

Diagonal lines

making words with objects

interesting perspective of a person

Scavenger Hunt

Here is the list for the Scavenger Hunt. Feel free to post your favorites and label which one it best fits into for the hunt.

Scavenger Hunt
1. Something very small 10 pts ________

2. Bug or animal 10 pts ________

3. Photo involving lines 10 pts ________

4. An unusual perspective of a person 10 pts_________

5. Diagonal lines 10 pts_________

6. "I can't believe we all fit in here!" 10 pts_________

7. Make yourselves look small 10 pts_________

8. Spell something with objects 10 pts_________

9. Experiment with Light 10 pts_________

10. Reflection 10 pts_________

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

I like Pictures in Motion... - Josh Q

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 0.8" f8.0

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 0.6" f8.0

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/4 f8.0 ★

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/4 f8.0

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/100 f8.0

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/100 f8.0 ★

BCC -Basic Camera Class - Week #3 of 4 Shutter Speed- Allison's photos

Shutter speed 1/500

Shutter speed 1/1600

Shutter speed 1/500

Shutter speed 1/400

Shutter speed 1/320

Aperture Fun - Josh Q

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/1600 f3.4

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/1600 f3.4 ★

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 0.3" f3.4

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/250 f5.6

Canon PowerShot SX130 - 1/40 f4.5 ★

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Slow It Down! Shooting At 1/20th Of A Second (With 15 Examples)

Slow It Down! Shooting At 1/20th Of A Second (With 15 Examples)

Here is a good article on slowing down your shutter speed.

Laura

BCC -Basic Camera Class Week #3 of 4 Shutter Speed


by Leah shutter 1/160

by Leah shutter 1/160

by Liam shutter 1/100

by Ann Marie shutter 1/100

by Katie shutter 1/200

by Josh Q shutter 1/20


by Josh Q shutter 1/20

Shutter speed helps to show motion in a photograph. In slower shutter speeds, the action appears to slow down by being blurred some in the photo.In the photos above, the slow shutter speed is 1/20.
Faster shutter speeds stop or freeze action as in a racing car zooming by would be sharp with a fast shutter speed. A hummingbird's wings moving would appear sharp when they are moving very fast. Our example in class for fast shutter speed was 1/100 and 1/160 and 1/200.

It is fun to think before taking the photo, what action or movement do we want to show in our photos. Make a creative choice by shooting moving subjects with both fast and slow shutter speeds and see which result you find most pleasing. This is what we tried in class by changing the shutter, to see which effect we liked the best: to stop or freeze action or to purposely blur the action.

Playing with shutter speed

Had so much fun learning about shutter speed. So sad class is ending next week!
Took this picture during class and thought it was really pretty. You can see the motion in the flags.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Aperture

Aperture is the size of the shutter opening within the camera. This opening controls the Depth of field. Aperture readings are represented by numbers 30-1.2. The numbers depends on the camera and/or lens you are using. Aperture is part of the formula when using full manual.
Most cameras have an aperture priority this is the beginning of gaining more control as the photographer.

The Larger the opening (2.8 small number) the shallower the depth. This gives you a blurry out of focus background. You can even get things like only part of a subject in focus. This shallow
depth also allows to use the camera in lower light. Why would you want to do this?
To simplify a photography, To draw attached to what you want to be your focus
Small # Shallow depth...less in focus. Check out the picture above this paragraph for an example.

The smaller the opening think (22 larger number) the larger the depth. The larger depth give that crisp focus. Think about a landscape you want the whole photograph to be in focus. You would want to have a tripod to get the steady crisp picture. Less light in the camera means longer exposure. The photography of the landscape above is an example of a great depth of field. So more of the photography is in focus.

This large # sharp pictures wide(large)depth...more in focus
Ansel Adams used to sit for hours waiting on the right light and everything to line up to take his Photographs. Just a note.

Depth of (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance at a time, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on each side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.The DOF is determined by the camera-to-subject distance, the lens focal length, the lens f-number, and the format size or circle of confusion criterion.

Now its your turn to try out the aperture mode. Use it to change the depth of field. Try lining up something you have in your home like crayons, bottles, etc. Then do a photo were they are all in focus then use a smaller aperture setting like 2.8 and only get some of the items in focus. Don't forget to watch your shutter speed number if it is less than 1/60th( it may just say 60 on your readout) of a second secure your camera by using a tripod or setting it on a table.
As you change your aperture # your shutter # is moving at the same time to keep expose if you are using AP or AV mode. So remember to watch that shutter speed# as well. If your inside use the light of a window. Next week Shutter Speed.
Post your photos.

Monday, March 14, 2011

3/13 BCC

I enjoyed meeting everyone on Sunday. Thanks to Angie & Laura for explaining aperture, hopefully it will click with me soon. I've found that I really enjoy taking pictures of objects & landscapes more so than people. I'm thinking it's because objects set still & let me take 20 pics without getting frustrated with me. There is a photographer in Roanoke - Kevin Hurley, I like his pics titled Kevin's Fine Art (under Galleries). http://www.kevinhurleyphotography.com/index2.php There are a couple of pics from class I'll post, as soon as I figure out how. LOL

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Framing

In our first class, we learned about framing.

Framing is a technique used to focus the viewer’s attention on the subject.

Framing also helps bring depth to a photograph.

Many natural objects can be used for framing: branches, tunnels, windows, archways, bridges, doorways, etc.

Here's some examples I tried to do at home:

In the first two pics, I was using the neighbor's fence gate. I was unhappy when I saw how washed out Anna's face looked. But, as I'm typing I remember that Angela taught me in the 2nd class that it was better to take pictures in the shade or on a cloudy day. (I was taking the pictures in direct sunlight.) So, I am learning already!

In the third picture, I tried using the trees to frame the subject.

In the 4th picture, I tried using our garage doors.

And finally, I tried a window frame. I was having difficulty with the lighting. How could I have helped with the lighting?

I would love to hear any other suggestions on how I could have made the pictures better. Thanks!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Experimenting with light and shadow

Okay. Angie asked me to put up something experimental.

In my attempt to always try to see in new ways and try new things, I photographed a pregnant mom focusing on her beautiful pregnant shape in the shadow. Not certain at all if this meets any of our composition characteristics! I think it is interesting, but I am not sure why.

Comments?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Photography Guidelines

PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDELINES

Photography Guidelines are simple and extremely complex. What we went over just touched on the basic ideas of these guidelines. I recommend you study each guideline and check out the resource links below for each one.

Rule of Thirds

This is a way of breaking down your photography into sections to help you compose better photographs. Click the link below to learn about the Rule of Thirds in detail.

Rule of Thirds Lesson

Composition: Balance

Balance in photography can mean lots of different things. For example it could be the balance of light, the balance of shapes, of the balance of weight in the photography. I am sure you could think of others.

Here is a great link that goes into details on balance.
Lesson on Balance

COMPOSITION: LEADING LINES

photo by Angela Caldwell

Lines can help tell the story in the photography. Lines show our eyes were to go and what to look at.
Here is another great link that goes into details on lines.

Lesson on Leading lines

Composition: Viewpoint(Perspective)

Photo by Angela Caldwell

The point of view you choose will impact your photograph. I recommend you do a search for photography perspective or viewpoint to see what you can find. Here is a lesson that goes into depth on perspective.

Lesson on perspective

Composition: Simplicity

Photo by Angela Caldwell

We talked about using a simple background. I recommend searching photography guidelines simplicity and looking at images.

Here is a link that goes into more detail on simplicity.
Lesson on simplicity

Composition: Framing

I would like one of the students from sunday to add into this area.

Composition: Cropping

I would like one of the students from sunday to add into this area

Composition: Experimentation

Laura if you could add into this area. This seems to be a favorite of yours.