Rules of Photography Part II -10/31/14-

Pattern

Background

Balance

Cropping

Depth

Framing

Leading Lines

Merger

Rule of Thirds

Point of View

Portraits -10/31/14-

Focus Upon One Body Part – Get Close Up

Get a lens with a long focal length attached to your camera – or get right in close so that you can just photograph a part of your subject. Photographing a person’s hands, eyes, mouth or even just their lower body… can leave a lot to the imagination of the viewer of an image.

Sometimes it’s what is left out of an image that says more than what is included.

Change the Format Framing

Horizontal and Vertical framings are not the only options when it comes to shooting portraits. While getting your images straight can be important in when shooting in these formats holding your camera on a more diagonal angle can also inject a little fun into your images.

This type of framing can add a sense of fun and energy into your shots. Just don’t ‘slightly’ do it or you’ll have people asking themselves if you might have mistakenly held your camera crooked.

Get Closer

The most common mistake made by photographers is that they are not physically close enough to their subjects. In some cases this means that the center of interest—the subject—is just a speck, too small to have any impact. Even when it is big enough to be decipherable, it usually carries little meaning. Viewers can sense when a subject is small because it was supposed to be and when it's small because the photographer was too shy to get close.

Don't be shy. If you approach people in the right way, they'll usually be happy to have their 
picture made. It's up to you to break the ice and get them to cooperate. Joke around with 
them. Tell them why you want to make the picture. Practice with people you know so that you are comfortable; people can sense when you aren't.

Environmental Portraits-

This photo caught my attention because of the odd angle and the way the photographer used the hoop to frame the player's face.

I like this portrait because you can see the mans environment around him, it's very visually interesting but you can still tell the man is the subject.

Self Portraits-

In this photo you can see the motion of the letters falling to the ground, they are a stark white against the browns and greens of the forest.

This photo makes interesting use of light, it seems like she is holding a tiny sun, and it plays with the shadows on her face.

Casual Portraits- 

This photo caught my attention because of the bright colors and the way the red of her dress and the gold of the paintings on the wall contrast.

I enjoyed this photo because of the couples surroundings, the colors blend well with the couple but the woman's dress still pops. I also like the angle of the photo on the right, you don't see many of the lower parts of peoples bodies.

In a photo shoot outside of class, I would take portraits of my sister when she was playing or doing homework. If inside I would make sure to have adequate lighting and I might use rule of thirds or line to get attention drawn to her. The dining room table she usually does her work at has some great lead lines I could use. If outside playing I would make sure to set my shutter speed correctly and I might use a hole in the net around our trampoline to frame her as she jumps.

DSLR Camera -10/27/14-

On this camera the aperture settings available are, 2.8 - 22
The shutter speed settings are, 1 second - 1/4000 second
The ISO settings are, 100 - 25600

http://www.canonoutsideofauto.ca/play/

ISO -10/27/14-

This photo was taken with a low ISO, 200

This photo has a high ISO, 6400

Shooting at a higher ISO can help capture fast-moving things in still photos, the higher the ISO  the shorter the amount of time to take the photo. Taking a photo with a high ISO can also add noise and make a photo grainy. The author suggested you use low ISO when ever possible but increase the ISO if there isn't enough light.

Aperture -10/27/14-

This photo was taken with a low f-stop,F2.8

This photo was taken with a higher f-stop, F16

When you think of aperture an eye should come to mind, the pupil is like the aperture in our eyes, letting in different amounts of light depending on a situation.

The smaller the Aperture diaphragm, the higher the Aperture f-stop.

The size of the aperture effects the depth of a photo, if the f-stop is large, say f/16, both the foreground and the back round will be in focus, but if you have a low f-stop, f/2.8, the background will be blurred and only the foreground will be focused, adding depth.

Love and Loss -10/23/14-

As I worked my way through these photos, I felt the sadness, despair, and, a few times, hope as though I knew the woman and her family. I felt this did a great job of capturing the emotions and the struggles of cancer.

"These Photographs do not define us, but they are us." -Angelo Merendino

I think this quote is very accurate and shows a good point, we may have bad things in our life, we may make mistakes and these things are a part of us, but they aren't the entire whole of who we are, there are better things that are also a part of us and they balance out each other.

If I was faced with a situation like this, I truly do not know if I could shoot the deterioration and eventual death of a loved one. I hope and wish that I could but I know the probability is unlikely.

If I could write Angelo a letter I would commend him on his strength and on his talent and I might ask for his thoughts and emotions while his was taking the photos.

http://www.upworthy.com/a-husband-took-these-photos-of-his-wife-and-captured-love-and-loss-beautifully?g=2&c=upw1

Captions -10/23/14-

Rebecca Redfern, 67, swings gleefully at a park while her friends, Samantha Kerns and Alexis Goldmyer, chat on a near by bench. Redfern had tried to convince them to join her saying, "Why shouldn't we have some fun too?" but they refused on account of their arthritis. 

Christopher Taylor walks past a walker locked up on the street. The owner of the walker, Max Shillings,  was determined to ensure that, at least today, no one was going anywhere with his walker.

Ally Krabben, 74, stands proudly in her dining room, raccoon in hand. Krabben had shot the raccoon when her son-in-law had offered to go out shooting with her. "I won't stop hunting till the day I die!" Krabben said.

Mural Project Planning -10/23/14-

Themes here at school for the mural project could include:

• Athletes working out
• Plant life in the hidden corners of the campus
• Selfies people take in different places

I think that people should be able to use the camera phones or regular phones, depending on their needs. A good place to put one of the murals might be in the F hall display cases, on the walls of the cafeteria, or out in the courtyard, under the coverings.

Abandoned Theme Parks -10/23/14-

If I could go to one of the abandoned parks I would go to Koka Family Land in Shiga, Japan. I love how the park is overgrown, the trees and shrubs and vines are taking back the land. I think shows how, when humans are gone and gone, life will continue, take over, keep growing and evolving, and there's nothing we can do about it, eventually the earth will erase our foot print. The plants also give the park an almost spooky look, like the rides are trying to escape up the earth keeps pulling them down.

Here are five other unusual places I would love to go and document:

• A forest after a forest fire
• The internal works of a school, the ceiling, air vents, walls
• An old and abandoned school
• Old electric power plants
• Abandoned factories 

This photo, taken by Matthew Christopher of Abandoned America, is taken of the original Hershey's factory after it was closed down but before it was demolished.

I think it would be very interesting to takes photos of a place that was once busy and bustling and producing but now sits, still and silent, unnoticed. I think the photos take are eerie, like you could see where people have walked in the past and if you close your eyes you could imagine them, like ghosts.

In order to go and take photos of an abandoned factory, I would first have to find one, hopefully close to me. I would then need someone to drive me to the factory, though if I wait a few years I could drive myself, I would have to pay for gas a food and most likely a hotel depending on the distance. Lastly, I would need to be sure that I would be allowed to enter the factory without breaking any laws.



http://www.nileguide.com/blog/2010/08/28/8-abandoned-theme-parks-abroad-open-for-exploration/

http://www.nileguide.com/blog/2010/05/26/8-abandoned-american-theme-parks-open-for-exploration/

Africa -10/23/14-

This photo, taken by Nick Brant, shows a buffalo, caked in dirt and mud, lowering its head slightly, showing off it's huge, thick horns. This photo caught my attention because of how focused it is and because of the good use of simplicity. The background is almost blank and a light gray, without any background distractions the dark buffalo pops out and catches your attention.

He doesn't use zoom lenses and says that it helps him get the character and personality of the animals he photographs. He wishes to capture the majesty of these animals before they disappear forever. Another of his goals is to show the animal's beauty and to help raise awareness for their struggle to endure.




"I was trying to record a last testament to this Eden, this paradise. As part of that, I was hoping to show the animals' majesty. But obviously, that's changed." 

                                       -Nick Brandt 

Great Black and White Photographers Part 3 -10/14/14-

The first photo caught my attention because of the odd position the photo was taken from, it would have been much easier to take the photo from the ground but the height gives it an extra element that makes it interesting.

The second one caught my eye because I think of the violin as something that is always kept clean and neat and yet it is being played amongst the dirt and dust. It makes the photo interesting for me, though maybe not for some other people.

This photo, taken by Robert Doisneau, was probably shot off the balcony or roof of another building. It allows me to see the cafe below and the old beauty of the building. It shows me the big buildings in the horizon and the surrounding community of smaller buildings.  I can see the people eating and the cars moving by and the flags suspended by the string that holds them up. And I can smell, I can smell the freshly cooked food from the cafe, smell the exhaust fumes from the cars, the dust of the dirt and rock below. I hear the chatter of the people below as they eat, talk, and laugh. I hear the cars as they go past, the chugging of the engines and the sighs of the wheels going over the cobblestones. I can taste the smell of the food and the dust on the air. I feel the small breeze blowing strands of hair into my face and I feel the the solidity of the building underfoot.

In this photo I see a man playing his violin while walking with two children. I see the dust rising off the ground, I can smell it, heavy in the back of my throat. I can hear the sweet sound of the violin and the laughs of the children. I taste the tang of the dirt as I inhale. I feel the rough material of the mans coat and the soft, silky, almost stick feel of the dust and dirt that cover the ground.

Robert Doisneau -9/9/14-

Robert Doisneau was born on April 14, 1912 in Gentilly, France and he died on April 1, 1994 in Montrouge, France. He went to École Estienne in Paris to learn the crafts involved in the book trade but, just as Modernist ideas were beginning to promote photography as the prime medium of advertisement, he decided to begin photography, this was in 1929. At first Doisneau worked for André Vigneau, an advertising photographer. In the 1930s durning the great depression he worked as a photographer for the Renault car company. He also regularly photographed the streets of London, hoping to sell the photos to magazines that were expanding to photography as a medium. 

-9/23/14-

I enjoyed this photo because you can see the angles  at which the tower comes in and you can see where the towers are going, but the area where they overlap is also very interesting.

I love the idea of these photos, it's a new way to look at things that have been over photographed a thousand times. To make this he probably took several photos at different places and then edited them together digitally. I would love to go out and try to do this, I would photograph the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio.

http://io9.com/5946581/multiple-exposure-photographs-of-international-landmarks-are-delightfully-trippy

Academic Shoot Reflection and Critique -10/7/14-

I think it was a bit difficult to get my brain into a 'take photo's that represent rules' frame but once I did it was fairly easy to find the photos, simplicity was the hardest for me and even my best example wasn't very good. From the technical aspects of photography I think I thought the most about focus, and a little framing, It's just something I do in all my photography. If I could do the assignment again I would find a better example for simplicity and focus a bit more on lighting, some of my photo's came out way too dark or way too light, I would however, continue to focus on focus. The rule that is the easiest for me to accomplish is rule of thirds, I was taught it last year and usually incorporate it without thinking. The hardest was simplicity and so I assume it will be in the future. I'm pretty sound in my understanding of all the rules, I like to think but if there was one to work on, and I guess is would be work not to do, is merging.

http://claudiaphotojournalish.blogspot.com/2014/10/simplicity-in-this-photo-subject-is.html?showComment=1412701500109#c5712586272024815536

Academic -10/3/14-

Balance

This photo follows the rule of Balance in photography fairly well,  the photo is almost symmetrical, excluding the subject. The subject is the girl washing her hands and being excluded from the balance of the photo draw attention to her.

Framing

Framing is shown well in this photo through the pillars on either side leading our eyes to the subject, a girl studying. 

Framing

This photo also shows framing fairly well. On either side of our subject, the boy in black, his classmates work, giving him a frame. To improve I think I could have centered it a bit better and made the subject a little more obvious.

Lines

Line is shown well in the lines of the storage cabinet, leading to the girl getting her work. The subject is shown well and is easy to find because of the lines. 

Rule of Thirds

If you drew the tic tac toe board over the photo the subject, the boy painting, falls on the bottom left x. The subject is easy to find and the rule is followed ok, though he could have been positioned so that he was a bit lower.

Simplicity

The subject, the girl center frame, is up against a blank background. This definitely not the best example of simplicity, if I could go back I might have positioned her so that more of the white in the background was visible.