Composition Shooting Assignment

DSLR:

 Home DSLR:

Elements and Principles of Photography

Leading Lines: lines that attract attention to something else in a picture

The road leads the viewers eye to the scenery in the background.

Vertical Lines: lines perpendicular to a surface

The lines are going up and down from the ground.

Horizontal Lines: lines running from left to right that create a calm, lazy feel

The clouds in the sky are forming lines from left to right.

Diagonal Lines: used to draw the viewer's eye through a photograph and create points of interest

The diagonal lines draw attention to the lines running in the other direction.

Curved Lines: used to isolate, frame, or cradle parts of an image

The curves in the tracks draw attention to the person.

Symmetrical Balance: even visual weight in a picture

If this picture were to be cut in half, both sides would look exactly the same.

Asymmetrical Balance: the picture is not balanced equally on both halves of the picture.

There isn't and equal number of pieces on each side of the picture.

Unity: all of the elements of a picture work together to create one complete picture

The apples are equally spaced and they are all similar size.

Variety: a way of combining elements to create relationships

All of the bright colors work together in this picture.

Movement/Rhythm: the way your eye is directed across a photograph

This picture shows a water drop at one exact point in time.

Emphasis: an area in the artwork that is meant to be the focus

The flower is the emphasis because it is in the center of the picture and it is the only thing colored.

Proportion/Scale: relationship of 2 or more elements in a photo

The proportion in this picture is the clip because it is oversized and the people in the background are normal sized.

Repetition/Pattern: using visual elements many times to strengthen the image

The same pattern is repeated in this picture.

Bird's Eye View: a picture that is taken from up above the subject

This picture is taken from up in the sky looking down on the ground.

Worm's Eye View: a picture taken with a view from below the subject

This picture was taken from below the dandelion looking up at the sky.

Horizon Line: a line drawn across a picture

There is a line going across the picture from where the water meets the sky.

Rule of Thirds: aligning a subject with grid lines and their intersecting points to create linear features in a photograph

There is a tree in only the left third of the picture.

Framing: a way of displaying or drawing attention to part of a photo

The scenery is framed by the cove that the photographer was in.

Simplicity: photos with simple backgrounds and not a lot of objects in it

This picture is in black and white and only has one main focus.

Texture: a photograph with a visual feel

The rocks in this picture have sharp edges which give it a visual texture.

What is Composition?

1.  Composition is the arrangements of visual elements within the frame of a photograph.
2.  It is important to understand and utilize composition in photography because there are many elements of composition that combine to achieve an effect in a picture.
3.  A snapshot is a casual record of some event or person or object; it is a memory.  They are taken simply by pointing the camera and clicking the shutter.
4.  A photograph is an artistic interpretation of an event or person or object.  Photographs are meant to tell the viewer something about the subject.  It is treated differently than a snapshot.  They are composed and all of the details must be planned out before the picture can be taken.
5.  Photography is the art of discovery.
  a.  Photography is interesting to me because it is a way that people from anywhere can communicate.  It is like a language that the whole world can speak.

Camera Basics Quiz

Quiz A:

To take these pictures, I had to use many different functions of the camera to achieve my desired results.  For my first shot, to have a small depth of field, I had to use a low fstop.  My second picture was a moving object that wasn't blurry.  To do this, I had to use a high shutter speed to freeze the movement in the picture.  My third shot was a picture without any grain.  To do this, I used a low ISO.  Finally, for my fourth picture, I had to take a blurred motion selfie.  To achieve this, I had to set a self timer and right before the camera took the picture, I had to move.  I got the blurred motion because I used a slow shutter speed.  During this unit, I have learned how to manually set a camera to get a lot of different types of pictures.  I learned about how to make pictures blurry or focused with the aperture, how to capture movement with the shutter speed, how to take clear and grainy pictures with the ISO, and how to take pictures and make the lighting look different with white balance.

Understanding ISO

High ISO

Low ISO

ISO is the measure of a digital camera sensor's sensitivity to light.  Visually, a picture taken with a lower ISO is brighter and doesn't look as grainy.  In a camera, the ISO is what takes in the light and forms the image.  This is related to the shutter speed and the aperture because the aperture is the size of the opening that lets light in and the shutter speed controls the amount of time the shutter is open.

Understanding Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter is open.  In the camera, when the shutter opens and closes quickly, the picture is clear and focused, and when the shutter opens and closes slowly, the camera catches more movement and the picture is not as focused.  Looking at a picture that was taken with a slow shutter speed, it is blurry and you can see movement, however looking at a picture that was taken with a fast shutter speed, it will be focused and there won't be any blurred movement.  The shutter speed works with the exposure triangle because it determines how much time the light has to pass through the camera.

Understanding Aperture

Shallow Depth:

Large Depth:

Aperture is the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken.  The wider the aperture, the brighter the picture will be because more light is being let in.  The aperture in a camera adjusts how big the opening to let light in is, which is why the brightness is different when the aperture is different.  The aperture is on the top of the triangle because if the aperture isn't right, it is difficult for the picture to turn out well.  It also works alongside the shutter speed, which is why they are next to each other on the triangle.  The focal length also changes how clear or blurry the picture is.

Photographic Themes

I enjoyed shooting the pictures for this project, however I thought some of the themes were difficult to take pictures of.  I had a hard time with truth, and memories.  My favorite picture is the one I took for 'Happy'.  I like this picture because it wasn't staged and he genuinely looks like he is having a good time.

My Best Photo

This is my best photograph because it has many good qualities.  It is a very clear picture with lots of different shades of blue.  In the background, about 2/3 of it have puffy clouds, and in the other 1/3, the coulds are more wispy.  This photo is important to me because I took it on my very first plane ride.