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.

    

Leading Lines

Leading lines are really exactly what they sound like.  They are lines within your photo that lead toward your main focus.  These, when used correctly, can be used to help bring more focus to your main subject.  The lines can be literal, such as the lines within fabrics, brickwork or a path.  The lines can also come organically from a horizon line or water line for example.

 This one is pretty self-explanatory.  The lines in the path go directly into the house.

 Here is an example of the organic lines.  The lines in the grass, the water and the sand all lead into the subject from the right as well as the lines from the bench leading into the subject from the left.

 In this example the lines from the bricks lead directly into the subject, and there is one that leads directly to his eyes, which really makes you look into them.

  Here we have a path that leads right into the couple walking away.

 Here is another example of nature creating the lines with the water line on the other side of the river.  Notice how the subjects eyes are looking right along the lines as well.

Framing

Framing is one of the easier techniques to understand, even if it may not be the easiest to execute correctly. Basically, use objects within your photo to crate a frame.  These can be anything, but you want them to stay at the edges of the image to draw the eye in wherever the main focus is.  Usually it is best if these framing objects are either darker or less in focus than the main focal point so that they do not draw too much attention.  Frames can be only on the sides (like the photo of the house), only top/bottom (like the one with the grave marker) or all around (like the one with the pond.  Generally, frames are in the foreground (closer to you) and the main focus in in the middle ground or background.  The main point should be in focus, though, which is why this can be difficult to execute.

Here are a few examples.

  

Depth of Field

The depth of field is basically how far into the picture you can see and have it still be in focus.  This is changed by the aperture (or f-stop).  Depending on the camera and its age, it may be called either one.  This is the small ring around your lens with the numbers ranging anywhere from 1.2-16 or so.  Most automatic cameras and/or digital cameras control this function through the camera, so that little ring doesn't need to be turned.  When we are taking photos and trying to make a certain part the "Focal Point" of the photo, we need to make sure that part is in focus of course, but we also need to make sure the rest of the photo doesn't distract from that Focal Point.  This can be done in many ways, but depth of field (DOF) is usually the easiest way to do this.  This can take some work and some adjusting.  To attain this shallow depth of field the camera needs to be set at a low aperture/f-stop.  Those numbers correlate to the amount of light coming into the camera.

Remember when setting your camera:

Low F-Stop = Large Aperture = More light = Shallow DOF

High F-Stop = Small Aperture = Less Light = More DOF

My high school photography teacher explained it in a way that, it must be said, made him look like a crazy person, but it is completely accurate and easier to understand, so I'm going to try to show you.  This works especially well if you wear glasses and you take them off.

First, open your eye like this and try to fous on something.  Once you have found something that you can focus on (you can hold it close to your face if you need to)  look around and see what you can see.  This is an example of a "wide open" aperture.  This will be a large aperture and small f-stop (small number).  You can focus on one thing, but the rest of the room will be more difficult to see.

Second, relax your eye and just look around.  Focus on the same object and look around the rest of the room.  You should be able to focus on more things, but still not be able to see everything.  This is a medium aperture opening.

Finally, squint your eyes so you are looking through your lashes.  Your eyes should be very nearly closed.  If you look around the room you should be able to see most of it.  At the very least (if your eyesight isn't that good) you should be able to see more than you could with the other two.  This is a very small aperture, which would be a large f-stop (large number).

In the following images, we have very "shallow" depth of field.  This means that the plane of the photo that includes the main subject is in focus but everything that would be in front of it or behind it would not be in focus.