Introduction to Digital Photography

Week 3  is all about lighting and portraits and how to get one that tells the viewer something about your sitter.

This week we reviewed ISO, Aperture, shutter speed, DOF, the rule of thirds and composition.

We also looked at your cameras mode dial and learned what those other letters mean.

• Auto = Fully auto the camera does all the work
• P = partial auto the camera allows you to set things like the ISO but controls the shutter speed and aperture
• AV or A (depending on camera model) = Aperture priority you set the aperture and the camera sets the shutter speed
• TV or S (depending on camera model) = Shutter priority you set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture
• M = fully manual you make all the decisions

We watched a slideshow about lighting and portraiture.

• Our main topic was the four M’s of lighting (main light, meter, mood, modify) & lighting for portraiture. For our activity we photographed each other during class outside and in the atrium. We also talked about bracketing your shots and use the technique of putting your subject just inside a doorway on a sunny day.
• Part of your assignment for this week is to shoot a portrait of a friend or family member (no pets) as well as a self-portrait. Don’t just set the camera up and take a snapshot. Use some of the lighting and composition techniques that we talked about. Create a mood and tell us something about your sitter as well as yourself with your photos. Think about using your sitters environment as part of their portrait.
• You were also asked to take a self portrait.
• The self portrait assignment requires that you learn how to use the self timer feature on your camera.
• For ease of focusing, think about putting your lens on maual focus mode
• Use your flashing highlight window to help with exposures in bright sunlight.
• Try using your zoom lens set on 50-55mm only. See if that makes a difference in how you view your subjects. The object is to get in close and interact with your subject.
• Play with your camera settings a bit and see where it takes you. Be creative.
• Shoot from slightly below your subject’s eye line – shooting from slightly below a person’s eye line is more flattering for most people.

You’ll need to pick out your favorite self portrait and portrait and have them printed so we can discuss them in class next week. Also, (day class only) pick out your favorite photo you took in class of your shooting partner and have it printed as well.

More on portraiture…

I love this expalnation by photographer Joey L about the way he shoots portraits. He describes it as “The Dignified Portrait”.

The Mentawai, Behind the Scenes Documentary from Joey L .

Try to think creatively when taking your homework portraits this week.

Take a look at the intuative portrait examples as well as the Intimate portrait examples.

Check out the portfolios of Joe McNally for some great examples of portraits.

Here’s a good explanation of environmental portraiture. These are some really interesting environmental portraits. Some more and some more.

If you get a chance, check out these self portraits on Flickr.

Also, check out these portraits on Flickr by David Hobby. David runs the Strobist website.

We watched this video over on the Strobist site about street portraiture by photographer Clay Enos.
Here is the link to the site of Kevyn Major Howard. He does headshots using natural light. Here is a link to the video featuring him shooting in his garage. Pretty cool setup.

If you’re interested in photographing children, Jinky Art is a great blog to check out. This photographer does some beautiful work.

William Coupon is an amazing  portrait photographer that you should study.

Check out these portraits by local photographer Glen McClure. Currently he has some work over at the Mariners Museum in Hampton/Newport News.

In this week’s class we reviewed ISO, F-stop and shutter speed. We also reviewed the ingredients to taking better photos. What is number one??? Practice, practice, practice! The more photos that you take and the more you practice the concepts that you learn in class the better you will get at taking good photos.

New things we looked at were:

• How to set seqential numbering of images
• Setting your focus mode and autofocus area mode (Please see this site for a good description of both)
• Formatting your memory card

For our lesson we looked at slideshow on composition, the rule of thirds and depth of field.

Composition: Things to consider…

• Horizontal or vertical
• Perspective
• Subject
• Simplify
• Negative space
• Lines
• Visual Weight
• Fill the frame
• Motion
• Depth of Field

We talked about the Rule of thirds (think of your viewfinder as a tic tac toe board) and how it affects the composition and feeling of a photograph. We also talked about shallow depth of field and how it is used to isolate a subject from it’s surroundings. Also, how there are a combination of things that are needed to achieve the correct effect.

Professional photographers use depth of field (DOF) to isolate their subjects and throw a distracting background out of focus. To do this you’ll need to use a combination of any of the following…

• Use a long Lens (85 mm and up)
• Have a wide aperture/f-stop (1.4, 1.8, 2.0, 2.8, 3.5)
• Get close to the subject
• Keep your subject away from the background

Here is a link to a page with a list of articles on composition and The Rule of Thirds, also known as “The Golden Mean”.

For your homework …

Please read the chapter titled Aperture in your book. It will help with understanding how aperture works.

*** Morning class please note. We did not have time to go over the mode dial. By setting the mode dial to A (Nikon) or AV (Canon) instead of M, you will be able to control the aperture and the camera will control the shutter speed. This is called aperture priority. It is a semi auto mode. Using this setting will be helpful in part two of your assignment.

Assignment Part One:

Pick one of your every day objects and, using what you learned about composition and depth of field in in class, make it look interesting. Take a bunch of shots from different angles and different lighting. I also want you to see how you can use depth of field (DOF) to enhance your subject. Pick out your best shot and have it printed in 5″x7″ format for class next week.

Part Two:

Depth of field: I want you to pick an object, a stuffed animal, potted plant, etc. It must be between 15″ and 24″ in size. No miniature objects, no people or pets, and set it up outside on a stool or table in front of something like a bush, wall or tree.

• Try not to shoot in bright midday sun. Early morning or late afternoon light is good as well as bright open shade (**see definition below).
• If you have one, use your longer zoom lens for this assignment and set it at 85mm. If not, use your 18-55 set at 35 mm and get in close.
• A tripod to set your camera on can be very useful for this assignment.
• Set your object up about 3 feet away from your background. Get close to your object making sure you can see what is in the background. Focus on the object.
• Set your ISO for the lighting conditions. 200 for a sunny day. 400 an overcast day or a shadey area.
• Set your camera’s mode dial to A or AV for aperture priority. This way you do not have to worry about the shutter speed for this assignment. The camera will take care of it. (***Morning class please see note above)
• Set your aperture/f-stop to to your widest aperture for your zoom setting. It should be about 4 or 4.5. Take the shot.
• Without moving your camera position, set your aperture/f-stop to 8. Take another shot.
• Set your aperture/f-stop to 16 and repeat as above.
• Now move your object about 6 feet away from your background. Recompose your shot making sure you can see a little of what is in the background behind your object. Focus on the object.
• Set your aperture/f-stop to to your widest aperture for your zoom setting. It should be about 4 or 4.5. Take the shot.
• Without moving your camera position, set your aperture/f-stop to 8. Take another shot.
• Set your aperture/f-stop to 16 and take a shot.
• You should now have two sets of 3 shots. One with your object 3′ from the background and one with it 6′ from the background. Carefully look at the background of each shot. You should be able to see a difference between each. Especially the first and last of each set.
• Print the set of 3 shots where your object was 6′ from the background and bring them to class next week along with your reshot everyday item.

Here are examples of each setup. These were all shot a 35 mm on the lens. You can click on each picture and it will open up larger.

DOF Assignment 3 feet

 

DOF Assignment 6 feet

Please note: I want you to start recording the meta data (ISO, aperture and shutter speed settings) for each photo that you bring in. You can write it on the back of each print. We’ll talk about keeping a notebook in class next week.

Check out this video where Jen Leman talks and what inspires her to become a better photographer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-B62Jo39jo

In the spirit of getting you all to look at the world through your lens from different view points…check out all these wonderful shots taken from low angles in the Flickr Low Perspective group pool.

I want you to go here and read the blog post by David DuChemin.

Week 2 class documents: (Right click on the link and select “Save As” to save the files to your hard drive)

• Class slide show
• Words of wisdom

Got a question? Just shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to answer it for you.

**Definition for “open shade”: This term is used to refer to large shades caused by things such as large buildings, trees, hills, etc. However, these shades allow a large light source to illuminate the subject. It is good for photography because you avoid harsh highlights produced by strong sources such as the sun.