Littleton Photography Class - Session 6

In our final class we practiced taking pictures of people.  Before going out to photograph, we checked our batteries, memory cards and camera settings.  We took  normal and telephoto lenses, and tripods.

 Lenses sometimes called portrait lenses are usually around 85 mm.  They have enough magnification so that the photographer doesn't have to stand too close to the subject.  Using a wide angle lens and standing close to the subject causes distortion.  You don't want to make your subject's nose bigger and out of proportion to the rest of their face.

Outside we looked for open shade, an area out of direct sunlight but with lots of diffuse light bouncing around.  We talked about bouncing light back into the shadow areas with reflectors.  Commercial reflectors are very handy, but when you don't have one, a white wall, a piece of posterboard, or even a white diaper changing pad can do.

An accessory flash connected to your camera's hot shoe can add more light when necessary.  We also looked for our camera's flash controls, including flash output compensation and fill flash settings.  A great resource for information on taking your flash off of the camera and using it as a portable studio strobe is the website strobist.com.

We talked a little about basic posing and trying to make your subject look as good as possible.  Having your subject face the camera with face and shoulders squarely toward the front has its place, but it's not flattering for most people.  Angling shoulders and heads is usually more pleasing.  If possible, have arms coming away from the body so that there is not one giant mass of arms and torso.

There is a difference between a portrait, where the photographer thinks about things like posing and lighting, and a candid shot, which is usually taken quickly and without much control of the conditions.  Candids are often a part of photojournalism, or of a photojournalistic style of portraiture.  When I was a high school yearbook advisor, I taught my students to capture the actions and reactions of what was happening, and not to take snapshots of people grinning at the camera.

Littleton Photography Class - Session 5

We went outside to take landscape photographs.  Before leaving, we checked our battery, memory card capacity, and any settings that might have been changed during our last photography session.

Since we were planning to take both landscape and close-up photos, we took both wide angle and telephoto or macro lenses.  A tripod would be helpful.  Also some basic filters.

 polarizing filter - reduces or eliminates glare by only allowing light that comes from a certain direction.  Polarizing filters make the sky look bluer by reducing the glare off of the many droplets of moisture in the sky.
neutral density filter - reduces the amount of light entering the lens, and is a neutral gray color.
split neutral density filter - has a gradation from a neutral gray to clear.  By turning the gray portion of the filter toward the top, you can slightly darken a too-light sky.  Put the gray portion of the filter towards the bottom, and you can tame a too-bright land mass or body of water.  Most often used for landscape photography.

We discussed the effect aperture will have on depth of field.  The larger the aperture (smaller number), the more shallow the depth of field.  Depth of field is also affected by the focal length of the lens and by the distance to the subject.

 A telephoto lens causes an apparent condensing of the visual space.  You can see far away because of the magnification, but it all looks kind of squashed together.  A wide angle lens ( with a smaller focal length) increases depth of field.

As you move farther away from the subject, depth of field increases.  As you move closer, depth of field decreases.  Taking close-ups of plants and shots of far away landscapes is a good time to see these principles in action.

We discussed composition concepts like putting the horizon along one of the rule of thirds lines.  Framing is another composition technique often used in landscape photography.  Framing is shooting through an element to create a kind of frame for the main subject.  Tree branches or architectural elements are often useful for framing.  It also gives a feeling of depth and dimension. We also tried to look for leading lines in the landscape.

Homework for this week is to shoot at least 30 shots of urban and rural landscapes, including some close-ups.

This image from Yorkshire, England is an example of framing with tree branches.  The photo at the beginning of this post is also from Yorkshire. It was taken in Valley Gardens in Harrogate.

A close-up of a blooming crabapple tree in Denver.  A combination of the aperture and a small distance from the camera to the subject created the shallow depth of field.

Histograms

This is an example of a histogram.  Getting into the habit of checking your histogram as you shoot will help you see when you need to do a shot over again.  It is usually good to have some pixels all the way to both ends, and to have a majority of pixels somewhere in the middle.  But this is art, so whatever effect you're going for may look different from what I've just described.

High key images (mostly light values) will have the highest spikes toward the white end of the graph.  Low key (mostly dark values) will have the biggest spikes toward the black end.

Littleton Photography Class - Session 2

Your camera:  set different apertures in manual or aperture priority mode
Take a series of photographs where the aperture changes and other variables stay the same.  Do you see the difference that changing the aperture makes?  Remember that the largest number (like f/22) is actually the smallest hole.

Set your camera for different ISO's.  The lower  numbers (like an ISO of 100) are for situations where there is lots of light.  The higher numbers are for lower light situations.  Newer and more expensive cameras do a great job even with very high ISO's.  See what your camera will do.

Terms:     focus - which part of your picture is sharp and clear.  If you're interested in understanding the technical details about how light is focused through a camera lens, Google "circles of confusion".
depth of field - the part of the image that is acceptably sharp. Depth of field is affected by 3 main variables, one of which is the aperture.  A large aperture (small number, like f/2.8) will create shallow depth of field.  Things in front of or behind the center of interest that you focused on will appear blurry and out of focus.  A small aperture (big number, like f/16) will have a greater depth of field.  Objects all the way back through your image may be acceptably sharp.

Blurriness caused by depth of field will affect only part of your image.  If your whole picture is blurry, you may have a problem caused by camera shake.  With slower shutter speeds and/or longer lenses, your breathing and heart beating can cause the camera to shake enough to blur your pictures.  Use a tripod.  Brace yourself against a stationary object.  If that is not possible, let all the air out of your lungs, then hold your breath, brace your arms against your side, and be sure to squeeze the shutter release button.  If you punch down on the top of your camera, you may be shaking the camera!

Seeing:  This week look for shapes - angular, geometric shapes and circles and ovals.  Try to notice the shapes of negative spaces, and objects and their shadows.  Look for framing as a compositional element. Take a silhouette.  Look for a repetition of shapes that forms an interesting pattern.  Try to use the rule of thirds.  Practice placing the horizon one third from the top, and one third from the bottom.

student photograph by Sean Palizza

Littleton Photography Class - Session 1

Welcome Photography students!  If you missed a class, or just want a review, you can find a shorter version of our class notes here.

On week 1 we looked at our cameras and instruction books to find our memory cards and battery compartments.  We found out how to format the memory card and recharge the  battery.  Everyone discovered whether or not their camera would allow manual settings or had an aperture priority or shutter priority mode.

Four important terms:
exposure - the amount of light in your picture
aperture - the size of the opening through which the light enters
shutter speed - the amount of time the light enters
ISO - in digital photography, a measure of the amplification of the information hitting your sensor
Aperture and shutter speed are the two most important factors determining your exposure.  ISO is next.

Seeing:  The most important factor in photography is not the equipment; it is the photographer.  Your eye, your heart, your mind are more important than anything else.  Yes, some people are gifted with a natural aptitude for seeing great photographs, but you can train your eye and your mind and become a better photographer.

Week 1 we looked for lines and perspective.  Lines are the easiest visual element to find, because they are everywhere!  Look for straight, curvy, and diagonal lines, lines that create direction, and lines that create structure.  Find some converging lines, linear patterns, and an example of aerial perspective as well as linear perspective.

If you don't have your instruction book, go to the manufacturer's web site and download one.

The photograph above is by Casey Etie.