Shiny

Yep, I want you to take a picture of something shiny!  It is really harder than it may sound.  I will put an instructional post here in a little bit, but for now, feel free to just think about some shiny things for your photos.

I want 2 photos.  One of something metallic and/or reflective, and one of something else shiny (either a light in the photo or something that just sparkles).

This assignment is due Sunday, August 14 by 12 noon.  I know that is a long way away, but that is because I will be out of town and can't do much with the photos before then.  If you want to send them earlier, feel free!

Slacking

I only got submissions on my last assignment from ONE person!  Come on slackers!  Well, you will have an extra long time for the next assignment because I will be out of town for a while and I don't want it to be due until after I get back.

Action/Motion

I'm late posting this, it was quite a long week for me working and stuff.

Motion/Action Photography

There are a few ways to photograph something that is in motion.  One way is to completely stop the movement.  The other is to creatively allow the motion to blur.  Both of these are equally useful, however they may need to be used in different ways.  Generally, with many things, it is best to stop the motion or else whatever you are looking at looks like a big blur, but if you are photographing something to show motion or speed specifically it can be nice to see it blurred.  Below are a few examples of both.

To stop motion you are going to need a very fast shutter speed and a decent amount of light.  Remember that the faster the shutter speed, the less light hits the film or the camera sensor.  This means that the action will be quick but also that you have to be in a well-lit area to get much onto your camera.  Or you have to use a flash!  A flash is very useful, but be careful.  Depending on the object that you are photographing, you may not capture the "motion" if you freeze it (think about a car.  If you stop it, it will look parked...).

To allow motion to blur a slow shutter speed is best.  Remember that a slow shutter speed is generally less than 60 or so when it comes to motion.  When I say 60, that means 1/60 of a second.  Yes that seems very fast, but not when you are photographing something in motion, particularly at a high speed.  A person running may be able to be "frozen" at 125 or 160.  A car driving will need to be at 250 or 300 probably to be completely frozen.

A lot of these settings may be difficult or impossible to access from some cameras.  In this case, you should just remember that on the regular settings, the brighter the light, the more frozen your photo will probably be.  If it is darker and you want a frozen photo you will need to use the flash.  Otherwise it will be blurrier.

Click on Photos to Enlarge

These two photos show how motion blur can be used in a good way.  In the photo on the left, the cars in the background are almost invisible in their blur while the headlights are still visible.  This shows a good amount of movement.  In the photo on the right, while the people are a little blurred, it works because you can see how much fun they are having jumping in the air!  The movement helps the image to give the best possible mood.

Click Photo to Enlarge

Above is an example of how motion blur is done incorrectly.  The people's faces are completely blurry and it is very difficult to see even what is going on.  Bad motion blur...

Click photos to Enlarge

Here are a few places where the motion has been completely frozen, but still show exceptional motion.  There is no question that each person is in motion when their photo is taken.  I used very quick shutter speeds and either lots of sunlight or a flash.  

Assignment 5

This week I think we will focus on movement and motion.  I will post shortly a small instructional on photographing movement.  Feel free to email me at info@pbkpix.com with any questions regarding camera settings and such.

Please submit 2 photos.  It is going to be up to you as to whether you want to stop the motion or allow it to blur.  I don't mean to turn in a blurry picture just because it is easier, but take both and turn in the one that you think shows motion the best!

This assignment is due July 17.  After this one, the assignments may take a short break because I will be out of town for almost 2 weeks, or I may just make one assignment that will have more time.  Either way I will let you know!

Note:  Although the photos here are all people, anything in motion works.  I just happen to take a lot of photos of people.  Animals, cars, bikes, pool balls or anything else you can think of can be in motion.

Assignment 4 Submissions

Full-Length

1. 

2. 

3. 

3/4 Length

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

Headshots

1. 

2. 

3. 

Assignment 4

I haven't posted my submissions for Assignment 4 yet.  There are a couple people who asked if they could turn them in late because of booking time with models, which, after 4 years of school in photography, I totally understand!  I have a few photos here and will post the rest this weekend when I have them all.

Consider this a "Free Week" because I won't post the next assignment until this coming Sunday to be due two weeks from that day.

Assignment 4 Again

I just wanted to post the official assignment, since I did a preview of it before.  Due June 26, 2011 at 12:00 noon.  Please submit 3 Portraits based on the 3 lessons I posted.  One should be a headshot, one a 3/4 length and one a full-length.  They may all be the same person and same location, but can't be simply different crops of the same photo.

It can be hard to find models for portraits, so if you are having trouble try a trade.  If you know someone else who may want to participate in this assignment offer to model for them if they will for you.  Also, the model can be any age, so if you have a cousin/niece/nephew/child who will cooperate, that is perfectly fine too!  I'm sorry to say that FurKids (aka pets) don't count for this particular assignment, while I do agree that they can be people in certain senses.  :-)

Please remember to submit your photos via e-mail to info@pbkpix.com.  I have been getting some photos sent to my personal e-mail, which is fine, but they tend to get lost and mixed up with all the other stuff that comes to that address, and I don't want to miss some photos!

Portrait Lessons - Full-Length

A full-length portrait shows the full body of a person from head to toe.  The most important 2 things to remember when doing these is (1) be conscious of your angles as to not make the subject look larger than they are and (2) be aware of your crop.  You don't want to take a photo of a subject straight-on because this will flatten them out as well as making them appear wider.  You also don't want to crop too close to the head or feet so that you leave enough room that the subject isn't scrunched into your photo.  Here are a few examples.

The rule of thirds is very useful when it comes to full-length photos.  Leaving extra space in the photo makes the subject feel less scrunched into the frame, but you have to decide where to leave the space.  Place your subject's eyes according to the rule of thirds and the composition will look 100% better!

Although a full-length photo has to show the subject from head to toe, it does not have to have them standing up or fully stretched-out.  Sitting, crouching, kneeling and laying can still make for full-length photos.  

Portrait Lessons - 3/4 Length

A 3/4 length shot actually is less of a measurement of the amount of the person in the photo and more of a way of saying, "A photo of a person that is not full-length but is more than a headshot."  There are no 1/3 or 1/2 lengths, so anything between a full-length and a headshot is generally called a 3/4 shot.  Usually, to be the most flattering to a subject, 3/4 of the subject is shown, but this is not always the case.  Below are a few examples of 3/4 shots with some information on each one.

A general rule when cropping portraits, is to never cut off a person at the joint.  This can include directly at the knees, waist, ankles or neck.  As always, though, when you know why a rule is in place, it is easy to find ways to break it without it looking bad.  When you cut a person off at a natural joint, they tend to look "chopped."  It looks less like you meant to do it that way and more like it was an accident.  It can also make the person look shorter or more "squashed."  One time when it sort of works out is when the person's joints are bent (as in the above photo).  She is cut off at the knees, but since we can see that the leg just below the knee is bent, our eye can complete the leg with no problem.  If it is not obvious where the rest of the limb is going, it is hard to complete the photo in your head and it just looks like it was lazily cropped.

Angles can work in pretty much any photo, not just in headshots as seen here.  If you are going to angle a photo, make sure that you make it obvious that it is SUPPOSED to be that way and not just that you have one leg shorter than the other or that you can't hold your camera straight.  Whenever you do something that will break a normal mold, make sure that it is obvious that you are doing it on purpose.  If you can't take a straight photo, that's fine, but tilt it enough that people will think you wanted it angled and not that you just can't take a photo.

Remember that people don't have to be standing when you take their photo.  For some reason, when people start off with portraiture, they stand their subject in front of something they think is pretty and snap some photos.  The subject can stand, sit, lay or any combination!  When taking a 3/4 shot I would not recommend them sitting in a chair facing directly at you or something because you will be taking a straight-on shot and their thighs are going to look huge, I'm telling you now!  This is a good example of a good angle and crop for a 3/4 length sitting position.

Don't be afraid to use space when creating a portrait.  See the rule of thirds here for information on interesting negative space.   

Portrait Lessons - Headshots

When taking headshots, the subject should be cropped no lower than the shoulders.  This is pretty much the criteria that sets a "headshot," but there are a lot of ways to make them look better or worse.  Here are a couple of examples of headshots with some information about them.

The subject does not have to be facing the camera, but the close-up is what is focused on with the headshot.  The low DOF (see this older post for more information on DOF) helps to bring the subject out of the background and more into the main focus of the photo.

A "catch light" is there there is a small light in the eyes of the subject.  This helps to brighten the eyes and draw focus there, when done right.  If the catch light is too large or if there is more than one light (like from more than one light in the room combined with the light from a flash), it can just be distracting.

The angle of the shot also does not have to be right on.  With a headshot, especially with an unobtrusive background, you can angle it quite a bit to add interest.  When there is not a lot going on in a photo, you have to make what is there really stand out.

Hats are something that a lot of people have to deal with when taking photos.  Use a fill-flash or change your exposure to make sure that the shadowed part of the face is still very visible.  Also, make sure to take the photo from a low enough angle that the eyes are visible under the brim of the hat.

An important part of a headshot is sharpness or focus.  Because the photo is going to be so close to the subject, there is little to no room for error here.  Even of nothing else, the eyes should be sharp.  That is a good way to decide if your subject is in perfect focus.  

Assignment 3 Submissions

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2. 

3. 

Assignment 4

I am posting this assignment early so you can start making any preparations you may need to make.  This, to some, will be a more difficult assignment than some of the others.  It is very easy to take a picture of a random thing in your room, yard or nearby, but it is much more difficult to take a portrait.  I am not looking for anything crazy, I just want 3 examples of a portrait.  I will post the actual criteria on Sunday when the current assignment is due, but I just want you to be thinking about who you can take a portrait of and making any plans necessary to meet with them.  This isn't something that should be too difficult, but want to see that you take the instructions that I post and use them when taking the portraits.  If you can do that, then you did it right!  This one will be due July 3.

Mess-Up

I just realized that I put the due date as June 12th and said it would be Father's Day.  I was obviously sleepy when I wrote that.  I meant it to be due on the 19th (even though it was more than 2 weeks away) so that it could be due on Father's Day.  Thanks to those of you who have submitted photos already, but I will just keep them on file until next Sunday when they will all be due!

Critiques

Don't forget to comment on the submissions on the last assignment!!!

Assignment 3 Submissions

Framing:

1. 

2. 

3. 

Leading Lines:

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

Depth of Field:

1.

2. 

Perspective:

1. 

2. 

3. 

Rule of Thirds:

1. 

 2. 

3. 

Instructional Assignment

I've gotten the pictures that have been sent to me, I have just been working a LOT so I haven't had a chance to post them.  I will have them up here in the next day or two, don't forget to critique once you see them!

New Assignment for June 12

Since this assignment is going to be due on Father's Day I thought we could try to do something with that.  So instead of making this a literal photo of your father, I want you to photograph an object, item or place that makes you think of your father.  This can be taken literally (like a picture of a favorite shirt or of a gift he gave you) or it can be translated a little more loosely (like a place that gives you the same feelings you felt when you were around him).  If you want to include your father in the photograph, that is fine, but his actual person should not be the main subject of the photo.  With this I want you to really think about how places and things can give you the same feelings and memories as the actual person, maybe even more.

I know that not everyone has a father around for various reasons, but that doesn't mean it won't be a nice exercise to think of them.  If you are absolutely not feeling like you can do this assignment, I do understand that it really hits close to home for some.  You are welcome to take the same assignment and base it around someone in your life who has either been like a father to you or someone who may not be a father-figure to you, but is a great father to their own children.  Mostly what I want you to get out of this assignment is being able to find a place or object that can evoke the same feelings and emotions that you may have experienced with this actual person.

Have fun and good luck!

Time's up!

Your photos are due NOW!!!!  Make sure you have emailed me all of your photos at info@pbkpix.com so that I can post them!  Come back soon to see the new assignment for next time!

Assignment Due

Your assignments are due TOMORROW!!!!  I know it hasn't been a huge amount of time for the amount of photos you need to take but this is mostly an exercise so that everyone can learn from the tutorials.  Please email me your pictures asap!!!

Perspective

Perspective is a work that pretty much everyone has heard and knows a definition of.  The version I am going for is a new perspective.  For this we really need to look at a subject from an angle that not everyone might see.  To really do this well, the best thing to do is take 20 or so photos of the SAME THING.  This will force you to move around.  Maybe you will lay on the ground to take the picture?  Maybe you can get a stool and stand up higher than the subject.  If this is a subject that is usually viewed from a certain level, move until you see it from a different angle.  This is a skill that will help tremendously if you are taking photos of pets or small children.  Most photos of children and pets come from an adult perspective, and this will help you, and anyone viewing your photos, to see them a little differently.

Notice the difference between these two sets of photos.  The only change I made with them was going from a regular standing position to sitting on the ground.  It really makes a difference of what you see.

In the cases of both of the above image sets, the photo from the regular standing height is far less interesting than the one where I changed my angle.  Below are a few other images showing a perspective that would be different than the angle you would normally view the subject.