Rules of Photography Part II

    Rule of Thirds

Balancing Elements

Leading Lines

Symmetry and Repetition

Viewpoint

Background

Create Depth

Framing

Cropping

Avoiding Mergers

Abandoned Theme Parks and Places

    I would visit Glen Echo because it is really old, you are allowed to go in, and there are sometimes people there, so its not as creepy. I would also really like to see the design of the old buildings and what rides they had. A foreign park I would visit would be Okpo Land, because all the rides and attractions are intact and left there. Also, there are people living nearby.

Glen Echo ^, Okpo Park -->

    Other 5 places you could document:

• Old Castles
• Old unused theaters, backstage where there are props
• Paris Catacombs
• Deserted towns/cities
• Abandoned Subways

    Bannerman Castle- New York

    I think it could be really interesting to document this location because I could see the castle walls and the doors from the time that this castle was made. I like castles because it would be fun to explore how life would be back then, and what was daily life back then. I could probably expect some photos of crumbling buildings and walls, and hopefully some intricate design inside of the actual castle.

    I would probably need to be prepared for a hike, as the castle is on a steep hill, and a durable camera with a strap so it wouldn't fall, and if it did it wouldn't be too damaged. I would also need to get a plane ticket to New York and buy food and the closest trip to the castle once I'm there. I may have to make sure that I am allowed to take pictures there and that I don't break anything once I'm there. I may need camp gear if the castle is really isolated.

Africa

    I am absolutely stunned towards the photos Brandt has taken. I dint think I could have ever waited weeks for one shot. The time he waits for the perfect photo shows how much he feels about that region and topic of poaching. I never thought that the poaching in Africa was so severe, and that the Chinese payed $6,000 for a kilo of ivory.

Favorite Photo:

    Lion Before Storm II

    This shows a lion facing into the wind as a storm approaches. I like this photo because you rarely see photos of a lion lie this, facing into the wind. I never knew there was such wind there, it never reached my mind. I also like this photo because I recognize how close this photographer must have gotten, only a few feet away from a lion. This photo just has that something else, that feeling that makes you feel as if you were there. This photo definitely has simplicity, as there is not much clutter in the photo, and the subject is clear. The photographer also frames the lion with the black edging on the sides and corners. 

   Nick Brandt uses a Pentax 67II with only 2 fixed lenses. This is important, as he shows in all of his photos the importance of being up close to the subject, and being able to feel as if you were in the photo.  He takes these photos to memorialize the diminishing grandeur of East Africa before it is destroyed by man. By taking these photos, he hopes that people will remember the land, animals, and overall nature of East Africa when it is gone. 

"There is something deeply, emotionally stirring and affecting about the plains of Africa—those vast, green rolling plains punctuated by graphically perfect acacia trees under the huge skies."-Nick Brandt

Funny Captions

Here, Joe, Madison, and Catherine seem to have forgotten what they were protesting at the Senior Creek Facility. They don't know that they were protesting confusion, so they would stop getting confused. So confusing!

Here, Bill is not surprised for his 100th birthday at all. He always had said that you should get as many candles as how old you are becoming. Now he had to blow them all out.

Here, Betty is looking at the camera after looking through binoculars, but the binocular's grease has made a rim around her eyes. She aced the cameraman to help her find the bird. Her husband Joseph is trying to hide his laugh behind the newspaper, as he told her there was a beautiful bird in the distance, even though there was none.

Great Black and White Photographers Part 3

    With Ansel Adams, I think what really captured my attention was the nature and how it was portrayed, in that position he was in to take the photo. I wonder how long it took to get him in that location, how did he choose that location, where was he, what were his surroundings. I love that he chooses those certain times to take the photos, and the view from where he was perched. I feel like normally the views look amazing, but with Ansel Adams, they look breathtaking. These photos are some in which I wonder such things, and admire the view:

    1st Photo: I see the landscape, with its river and mountains. I see the trees sway in the breeze. I see the river moving.
                     I smell the morning rain, with its sweetness. I smell the tree's almost bitter scent. I smell the mud near where i was sitting.
                     I hear the birds chirping. I hear the river flow, with its endless noise. I hear the crunch as his shoes crunch the grass, trying to take the perfect shot.
                     I taste the snow from the mountain. I taste the humidity in the air. I taste my trail mix, after a long hike here.
                     I feel the wind blowing against my face, lightly then strongly. I feel amazed and humbled by the scenery. I feel peace, inside and outside my body.

    2nd Photo: I see the mountains and ridges in the wood. I see the flower's beauty and intricate ridges. I see the flower balance itself on the wood, shifting.
                      I smell the flower decaying, with its sweet smell. I smell the driftwood's wet-ish smell, after how many hours in water. I smell
                      I hear the creaking of the wood. I hear the silence as he takes the shot, then the click. I can almost hear his satisfaction.
                      I taste the scent in my mouth. I taste the water dripping from the wood, then regret it. I taste impatience in my mouth, waiting to speak out.
                      I feel the engraving in the wood. I feel the wood's moisture, having been lifted out of the lake. I feel the flowers tenderness and softness.

    I would like to make either a PowerPoint or a little flyer to show people Ansel Adams. The Powerpoint could be shared online, and the flyer could be printed out and put on the walls of the school.

Mural Project

   
    We could make a club theme here around the school by going to known clubs and photographing what they are doing. I think we could put the mural on one of the walls of the library, maybe between F and E hall or A and B hall. We should take the photos mostly on iPhones, for I think that would be pretty interesting, but for the people who don't have phone cameras on the regular cameras.

Peer Review

    Blog Link: http://clarissalopez1d.blogspot.com

2 things I like about her photos is 1) that she got up close to her subjects, and 2) that her last photo has a lot to look at. One thing that could be improved is that she could have some more photos, or she could change her perspective a bit.

Academic Shoot Reflection and Critique

    The first challenge was which class would be interesting and which should I go to? Near the end of the shoot, the challenge was how many more photos I could fit in. When shooting, I thought about the focus by trying to stay still and half-pressing the shoot button. If I could do the shoot again, I would definitely try to get more classrooms, as well as trying to get the students perspective and getting more simplicity. I would definitely want to go to the guitar class and take those photos I took in there. I think the easiest rule to achieve is absolutely the rule of Thirds. I think the hardest rules to achieve are the balance and framing (in that order). I not still clear on the framing rule, as I don't know whether the framing has to be almost all around the subject. I could try and figure out what the rule is by looking at other photos and trying to put my subjects slightly framed by poles or trees.

Academics Photo Shoot

 In this photo, I followed the rule of Thirds by putting the guy in the bottom right. The subject in this photo is the guy studying on his laptop. I believe that to people it would be VERY clear who or what the subject was, as he was the only person in the picture.

In this photo, I tried to do the balance rule by making an obtuse triangle with the positions of the 4 people in the photo. The main subject here is the teacher, while the sub-subjects being the students. I think to people seeing this picture, it would be somewhat clear as to who I wanted them to see. I would definitely want to take another picture, to get rid of that annoying merger with the teacher's hand and the first student on the right's head.

In this photo, I attempted to follow the framing rule by framing the people studying with the chair and table in the bottom left. The subjects are the two groups studying, the one to the left more than the right. I don't think people would be as sure about the subjects on this photo. I could have tried to take a photo of one group instead of the two.

In this photo, I followed the rule of thirds by putting the teacher in the bottom right. The main subject here is the teacher, while the sub-subjects are again the students. I think it would be fairly clear to people that the main subject is the teacher, as he is closest to the camera and therefore "bigger". One thing I want to attempt is maybe making a student a main subject, and the teacher in the background as the sub-subject?

The 3 Pillars of Photography

Aperture

    You should closely relate aperture to the pupil in your eye, because they both control how much comes in your eye/lens. The smaller the aperture the more light let in, the larger the aperture the less light let in. That is what makes aperture confusing for so many people. A large f-number (f-number is a measurement of aperture) will make the foreground clear and the background blurry. A small f-number will make the foreground focused again but the background much clearer compared to a larger f-number.

Examples:

The left is at f2.8, the right at f14

Shutter Speed

    When the day has reasonable light:
a) high
b) low
c) high
d) high
e) low
f) high

    When the sun has gone down and you can't see one end of the courtyard to the other:
a) high
b) low
c) high
d) low
e) low
f) high

    In aperture priority mode, the camera chooses your shutter speed and you set the aperture. In Shutter priority mode, you set the shutter speed and the camera sets the aperture. In manual mode, you set both the aperture and shutter speed.

Picture with high shutter speed

Picture with slow shutter speed

ISO   

    The advantages of shooting at a higher ISO at a sports game is that it helps to freeze motion, which reduces the need for higher shutter speed. The author said to stick to a low ISO whenever possible, to keep the quality of the photo. Also, he said you might want to use lower ISO in dim and dark environments. You want to increase the ISO when there is not enough light to capture an image quickly, or when you want to get ultra-fast shots.

Example of ISO difference:

As you can see, the higher ISO is grainier, or has more "sound"