Spread the legs out and make sure the tripod is stable. Use the height from the legs before using the neck of the tripod. Put one leg forward and the two legs on your side.
Put the plate on the camera and make sure that the lens arrow is pointing towards the lens. Insert the plate into the locking mechanism and make sure that the camera is secure.
Use the camera timer and DO NOT TOUCH the camera or the tripod during the exposure.
Considerations for painting with light:
1. Use a tripod
2. Use Manual as the shooting mode.
3. Set the ISO to 100
4. Set the aperture to f/11 as a starting point to get a wide range of depth of field.
5. Set the shutter speed to 2″ as a starting point.
6. Use manual focus. Make sure the subject is in focus. To do this shine a light on the subject and use auto focus. Then flip the lens back to MF. Remember that if the distance of the subject to the camera changes, you need to refocus!
Mixing Strobe Lights or Flash with Painting with Light
The aperture controls the exposure of whatever is lit by the strobe lights.
The shutter speed controls the illumination of the background.
On April 16th, if you have a flash light bring it in. You can also use your phone but you might want to have a charger so you aren’t left with a dead phone for the rest of the day.
The focal length of a lens is defined as the distance in mm from the optical center of the lens to the the sensor when the lens is focused on infinity. This varies on the camera and the lens.
Focal length controls: Magnification and angle of view
Focal length is described as short, normal ie close to human vision, or long.
When working with a crop-frame sensor, approximately 65 mm will be the most flattering to your subject.
Lights
There are three basic types of lights (these are the physical lights not portrait lighting styles):
The Main or Key Light-This light provides the brightest illumination and casts the shadows
2. The Fill Light-this light brightens the shadows. It can be a reflector or an actual light.
This video shows how to use a reflector as the fill light.
3. The Separation Light or Background Light-creates separation between the subject and the background. This light can be aimed at the background or it can be aimed at the subject. If the later, it would be called a hair light. If accenting the edge of the face or shoulders, this light would be called a rim light or a kicker.
3-point Lighting
– standard lighting for portraits, video and film, uses all three: a main light, a fill light and a background light.
There are a 5 basic lighting styles for portrait photography. Each style is defined by how light falls on the face.
When the subject’s whole face is towards the camera, there are three basic lighting styles.
Rembrandt Light – the model is face forward, main light is at 45 degrees and casts a light on the opposite side of the face to form a triangle on the cheek.
Michael B. Jordan. Photographer: Peggy Sirota
2. Butterfly Light, Clamshell or beauty or glamour light-model is face forward, front light.
Tyra Banks. Photographer: Matthew Jordan Smith
3. Split Light-model is face forward, the main light is at 90 degrees to the camera and falls on one side of the face.
Lewis Wickes Hine (U.S.A., 1874–1940), One of the spinners in Whitnel Cotton Mfg. Co. N.C. December 1908.
When the subject is in 3/4 view, there are two basic lighting styles.
4. Broad Light-light falls on the side of the face with the visible ear. Good for controlling the reflections on glasses.
Danny Devito. Photographer: Gregory Heisler.
5. Short Light-the light falls on the side of the face with the features. (Not on the side with the visible ear.)
Aretha Franklin. Photographer: Matthew Jordan Smith
Both of these are examples of short light. Here the light is slightly behind the subject.
Depth of Field-The distance between the nearest and farthest points that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. Depth of field can be shallow or extensive. While the term includes the word depth, depth of field refers to focus.
Photographer: Roy DecaravaPhotographer: Alex Baker
Shallow Depth of Field
Shallow depth of field is commonly used in portrait photography to separate the subject from the background and in food photography.
Photographer: Dawoud BeyPhotographer: Andrew Scrivani
Extensive Depth of Field
Extensive depth of field is often used in landscape photography and photojournalism.
Perspective-the representation of a 3-dimensional space on a 2-dimensional surface by converging lines, diminishing scale and/or atmospheric perspective.
Sometimes photos combine perspective and shallow depth of field.
Photographer: Michael Kenna
How to control depth of field (with a camera)
These four factors control depth of field:
lens aperture
focal length
camera-to-subject distance
sensor size.
Aperture
Aperture is the size of the opening that allows light to hit the camera’s sensor when the photograph is taken.
Aperture values are expressed in numbers called f-stops. A smaller f-stop number means more light is coming into the camera and will create shallow depth of field. A larger f-stop number will let less light into the camera and create extensive depth of field.
The full stops for aperture are: F2, f28, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22, f3
Focal Length is the distance from where the light converges in the lens to the sensor. If it is a short distance then the lens is a wide angle lens and shows a lot of the scene. If it is a long distance, the lens is a telephoto lens and it magnifies the scene. Wide angle lenses create extensive depth of field while telephoto lenses create shallow depth of field.
Camera-to-subject distance is how far the subject is from the camera. If everything is far from the camera, it is easier to achieve extensive depth of field. If the main subject is very close to the camera and the background elements are far from the camera, it is easier to achieve shallow depth of field.
It is the small size of the sensor that makes cameraphones so good at achieving extensive depth of field. It is also the main reason it is so hard to get your cameraphone to achieve shallow depth of field.Sensor size-the smaller the sensor the easier it is to achieve extensive depth of field. Bigger sensors allow for shallow depth of field.
Bokeh-Bokeh comes from the Japanese word boke (ボケ), which means “blur” or “haze”, or boke-aji, the “blur quality.” Bokeh is pronounced BOH-Kə or BOH-kay.
— From http://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/article/h0ndz86v/bokeh-for-beginners.html
Shutter Speed is the length of time that the sensor is exposed to light to create the photograph. It is measured in seconds or fractions of a second.
The full stops for shutter speed are: 30”, 15”, 8”, 4”, 2”, 1”, . sec, ., 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000, 1/8000
Doubling the time, doubles the amount of light that reaches the sensor.
When shooting with a cameraphone and the Lightroom Photoshop app, you can set the shutter speed of your cameraphone between 1/10,000 and 1/4 sec.
A good rule of thumb when shooting with a camera is: Any shutter speeds slower then 1/60 require the use of a tripod. When shooting with a cameraphone, you will need a tripod to shoot at 1/15 or slower.
Resource
Capturing Motion
Your choice of shutter speed will change the way motion is captured in the photograph.
Frozen Motion-Motion is stopped and captured in the frame with a fast shutter speed.
AF Area Selection Mode: facial recognition, single point Spot AF, Single Point AF, AF Point Expansion, Zone AF, Large Zone AF.
One Shot is for still subjects. AI Servo is for moving subjects.
Timing
The exact moment that you take the picture is as important as how long the shutter speed is. This is often called:
The Decisive Moment: A term coined by Cartier Bresson- “the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.”
Respect the presenter. Give them your full attention.
Ask questions about your colleague’s photography. This is not the time to ask questions about your personal concerns.
Start with the positive when you comment on your colleague’s works. Use the terms below that we have learned this semester.
Be generous. Offer your thoughts. Your opinion and judgements are important. Do not leave the work of giving feedback to the others in the class.
Vocabulary
Framing: How the frame brings together the elements inside the rectangle juxtaposing them, creating relationships between them
Types of shots: how much information is in the frame
a long shot
a medium shot
a close up
an extreme close up.
Frame within a frame – use elements in the frame to enclose the main subject and draw attention to it. A frame within a frame can be a window or door or it can be items in the foreground such as branches.
Angle of View: describes the camera position in relationship to the subject. The angle of view may be:
a worm’s-eye view
a low-angle
eye-level
a high-angle
a bird’s-eye or aerial or overhead view
an oblique angle.
Rule of Thirds – Instead of placing the main subject in the center of the frame, divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically and place the main subject at one of these intersections.
Symmetry-fold the image in half and the two sides are equivalent
Fill the Frame – (get closer) – do not leave empty areas that do not add to the composition and plan to crop in later.
Diagonals – Sloping lines
Leading Lines – lines in the photograph that lead the eye to the main subject
Perspective-the creation of the feeling of a 3D space on a 2D surface usually with converging lines or diminishing scale
Patterns – repeated elements. Break the pattern for visual interest
Figure to Ground -the relationship between the subject and the background sometimes described as negative and positive space.
Diffused light – light that comes from many directions and creates soft shadows
Direct light– light that come from one direction and creates hard shadows
Contrast: The measure of difference between bright areas (highlights) and dark areas (shadows) in a photo
High contrast : Large difference between highlights and shadows. Mostly lights and darks without many mid tones
Low contrast : Little difference between lights and darks. Mostly mid tones.
High Key– most tones are light
Low Key – most tones are dark
Frozen Motion-Motion is stopped and captured in the frame with a fast shutter speed.
Blurred motion-moving elements blur with a longer shutter speed.
The Decisive Moment: A term coined by Cartier Bresson- “the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.”
Aspect Ratio-the proportion of the width of the image to the height of a 2D image
Clipping-the intensity of the light falls outside of what can be recorded by the camera and there is a loss of detail.
Color Profile-the data for a digital device, such as a printer or monitor, which describes its gamut, or range of colors. Used to match the gamut from one device to another.
Exif Data-information stored by the camera in the file.
Gamut-range of colors
Histogram- a graphic representation of the tones in an image. A spike of data on the left side indicates underexposure, on the right overexposure.
Neutral Value-RGB values are equal or gray
Non-destructive Editing-adjust the image without overwriting the original image data. Instructions are written to a sidecar file that tells the software how to interpret the image.
White Balance-the setting that adjusts for the color temperature of the light and that will make a white object appear white or a gray object a neutral value
Global Corrections
Global corrections adjust the entire file. In the Lightroom CC, it includes the controls under Light, Color and Effects. In Lightroom classic, this includes everything in the basic panel: White balance, Tone and Presence.
Exposure Choices
Photographer: Sandra TanPhotographer: Eric Humala
Both exposures are “right.” It depends on the feeling and mood you want to create.
When to Use Auto
Photographer: Marilyn GayossoPhotographer: Jimmy Cajas
Auto is a great feature of Lightroom. If the tones in an image will more or less average out to a medium gray, Auto will give you a good result. If the tones in the image do not average out to a medium gray, Auto is useless.
Using the Histogram
Example file:
The histogram is a graphic representation of the tones in the photograph. It is a guide to exposure decisions. Most images look best when there is a full range of tones from black to white in the image. But there are no iron clad rules.
To access the histogram in Lightroom, from the keyboard select: Command 0
Or get it from the three dots on the right menu bar.
From the top of the histogram, there is a triangular button. Toggle it to turn on/off show clipping.
To maximize the the tonal range, adjust a photo to have some tones that are totally black and totally white but only a few so that you don’t lose detail in either the shadows or the highlights.
Looking at the histogram, we can see that there is not a true black or white. To raise the contrast of the image and use the full tonal range, use the following adjustments:
Select show clipping on the top left of the histogram. Adjust the blacks slider to the left until you see bright blue flecks on your image.
Select show clipping on the top right of the histogram. Adjust the whites slider to the right until you see bright red flecks on your image.
Most images improve with:
shadows slider to +50 add detail to the dark areas
the highlights slider brought to the left to bring detail into the highlights.
In this photo of the pier in Coney Island, the histogram shows that is underexposed. But we also know that it is an evening scene and that there is nothing in the photo that should be bright white.
Lightroom Workflow:
Optics: enable lens correction. If there is architecture or a strong horizon line, geometry>upright>auto
Crop.
Color. Adjust the white balance if necessary.
Light a. Exposure slider-use to adjust the overall tonality b. Set black point using show clipping c. Set white point using show clipping d. Use shadows slider to brighten mid tones.
Effects – Adjust clarity (mid tone contrast)
App: color – Adjust vibrance and or saturation
Detail panel – Sharpen-amount at least 50
Lightroom CC Resource
Lightroom Classic Resource
A few tips for Lightroom Mobile:
To access the histogram, tap on the image with two fingers. If you can’t really see the histogram background, brighten the display.
To see the image before your corrections, press on the image.
Submit today to the CUNY Photo Challenge. Send me the screen shot from your submission for 1 pt of extra credit.
Quiz 1
Next week, March 5th, the class will start with a quiz. it will have three questions on the following topics all from the OpenLab topics pages: Exposure, Light-quality and direction, contrast, studio basics: continuous lights vs strobes, Flood lights vs spot lights, composition including angles of view, framing, rule of thirds, leading lines, a frame within a frame, symmetry, figure to ground and a compare and contrast of two photos that will be graded on your use of the vocabulary from the class.
Review
Light Quality
Light is either direct or diffused.
Direct light: the light strikes the subject from one angle and creates sharp shadows. Sunlight is an example of direct light.
Exposure is the amount of light that comes into the camera to create the photograph.
Exposure is made up of three components:
ISO-Sensitivity to light.
Shutter Speed-the length of time that the camera’s shutter is open during the exposure.
Aperture-how wide the cameras lens opens to allow the light to come in.
All three are measured in stops. the different between one full stop and the next is it either doubles or reduces by 1/2 the amount of light. This is true of ISO, shutter speed and aperture.
How your Camera Meter Works
Acronym: TTL – Through the Lens
The meter in your camera is a reflected-light meter.
A reflected light meter averages the tones in the scene and selects the aperture and shutter speed values that will make the whole scene medium gray.
Watch from :45 to 1:34 for an explanation of how your camera meter works.
What your camera meter “sees” From Photography, 10th Edition, Stone, London, Upton, P. 70
Challenges
There are certain predictable situations that will fool your meter.
Backlight – a common example is a person against a window or against the sky. Add exposure to get the right exposure for the main subject and allow the background to be overexposed.
Photographer: Lindsey Perez f/20, 1/400, ISO 1600Photographer: Lindsey Perez f/6.3, 1/400, ISO 1600
2. Landscapes with sky. The sky is brighter than the ground and to get a good exposure of the land portion of your photo, often you need to over expose the sky.
Photographer: Kalia Cruz f/6.3, 1/160, ISO 250Photographer: Kalia Cruz f/16, 1/160, ISO 250
3. Snow
A quick way to control exposure
With a camera: Use Exposure Compensation set to plus to increase the light and set to minus to decrease the light.
Exposure compensation scale set here to minus 1.3
Exposure Compensation-a way to force the camera to make an exposure either lighter or darker than the meter reading. Good for backlight or extremes of light and dark.
With a cameraphone: Touch the area where the main subject is and then drag the little sun icon up or down to increase or decrease the overall exposure.
Using Exposure for Creative Effect
Sometimes, you don’t want the tones in your image to average out to a medium gray. You want to tones to be low key-mostly dark or high key-mostly light.
Direct light or hard light – the rays of light are nearly parallel and strike the subject from one direction creating hard edged dark shadows with little detail. Examples: a spotlight, sun on a clear day, or a bare flash
Diffused light or soft light– the rays of light are scattered and coming from many directions. It appears even and produces indistinct shadows. Examples: overcast daylight, a light covered with tracing paper or other translucent material.
Photographer: Marilyn Gayosso
Direct Light and Direction
Front light comes from in front of subject from the camera position and the shadows fall behind the subject not concealing any details.
Side Light comes from 90 degrees to the camera. it adds dimension and texture to the subject.
Backlight comes from behind the subject towards the camera.
Photographer: Roderick Chen
Inspiration
Photographer: Manual Alvarez Bravo Photographer: Ray Metzker Photographer: Ray MetzkerPhotographer: Vivian MaierPhotographer: Ray MetzkerPhotographer: Roy De CaravaPhotographer: Ray MetzkerPhotographer: Larry sultan
Toktogul Reservoir, Kyrgyzstan. 2021. Photographer: Anush Babajanyan
a medium shot
Photographer: Ralph Pace
a close up
Fashion Week, New York. 2023. Photographer: Dina Livitsky
an extreme close up
Photographer: Aaron Siskind
Angle of View: describes the camera position in relationship to the subject. The angle of view may be:
a worm’s-eye view
Photographer: Lindsey Perez
a low-angle
Berenice Abbott.
eye-level
Photo by Mel D. Cole
a high-angle
Edward Weston. 1931.
a bird’s-eye or aerial or overhead view
George Steinmetz.
oblique angle
Tram on Sukharevsky Boulevard, 1928. Alexander Rodchenko.
Angle of View Examples By Alexander Rodchenko
Fire Escape, from the series Building on Miasnitskaia Street, 1926Pioneer Girl, 1930 Pioneer, 1930City Street, Moscow, 1927Courier Girl, 1928Steps, 1930Girl with Leica, 1934
Bring a shoe to photograph. it can be anything from an old flip flop to the latest Jordans.
Compositional Principals
Rule of Thirds – Instead of placing the main subject in the center of the frame, divide the frame into thirds horizontally and vertically and place the main subject at one of these intersections.
Graduation, 1949. Harlem, NY. Photographer: Roy De Carava
Dehli, India. Photographer: Rohit Vohra
2. Leading Lines – lines in the photograph that lead the eye to the main subject
Whitnel Cotton Mfg. Co. N.C. December 1908. Photographer: Lewis Hine
3. Diagonals – Sloping lines
Thailand, Bangkok. 2005. Photographer: Steve McCurry
4. Frame within a frame
Photographer: Eugene Smith
5. Figure to Ground -the relationship between the subject and the background sometimes described as negative and positive space.
Delhi, India. Photographer: Rohit Vohra
6. Fill the Frame – get closer. Never plan to crop later.
Mother. 1924. Photographer: Alexander Rodchenko
7. Patterns – repeated elements. Break the pattern for visual interest
Bed-Stuy. Photographer: George Steinmetz
8. Symmetry – If you fold the image in half the two haves are very similar and have equal visual weight.
From “A House is not a Home”, Photographer: Laila Annmarie Stevens
For my final project, I plan to attend various events in New York, specifically night markets. These markets are places where people can celebrate and share diverse food, music, and other cultural activities found in NYC. My goal is to capture the lively atmosphere of these events as people enjoy the various activities happening throughout the night. I plan to take photographs of the performers, food vendors, and other visitors to showcase the vibrant culture of New York City. I will use different techniques such as shallow and extensive depth of field, blurred motion, and other earlier techniques to capture the essence of the event. I have already decided to attend two-night markets – the Queens Night Market in Flushing Meadows Park and the one at Industry City in Brooklyn. I am still deciding which other night markets to visit as there are a few more happening in May before my project is due. I will also be on the lookout for any other events that might pique my interest.
photo by Vernon Raineil Cenzonphoto by Lisanto photo by Gillian Toddphoto by Sharon Medinaphoto by Kevin Hagen
20 pts. The goal of the Final Project is to create a series of 10 related images on a theme. The images should show your range as a photographer. Depending on the project, each image should be visually engaging and contribute to your story in a unique way.
You may choose to do either:
A series of portraits (not 10 pictures of 1 person but 10 pictures of 10 people) OR
A portrait of a neighborhood
OR another theme that you are passionate about: dogs, skateboarders, basketball players, street fashion to name a few possibilities.
Grading Criteria:
Deliverables and dates:
Due May 7: Shoot 1 – minimum of 40 images in an album on Flickr
Due May 16: Shoot 2 – minimum of 40 images in an album on Flickr
Due May 21: Shoot 3 -minimum of 40 images in an album on Flickr PLUS
final 10 images selected, adjusted in Lightroom, and posted to an album on Flickr
a presentation to the class of the final images.
Total = 4 albums: 1 for each of three shoots, 1 with the final edited images
All late coursework must be submitted by no later than 11:59 pm on Tuesday, May 14th, 2023.
Working with a light or lights, draw an image over time in the frame. Experiment with thin and thick lines, abstraction, words, and images.
Using a speedlite or a monolight, add a person to your shot. fire the flash and then with a long exposure keep drawing into the shot. The more the subject and the light painting interact, the more successful your photos will be.
Upload a minimum of 20 images to Flickr. Send your best two to the class group.
I plan to capture the different street photography for my final project. that involves capturing candid moments of everyday life in public places, typically in urban environments. It often focuses on people, architecture, and the details of city life. Times Square in New York City is one of the most diverse tourist destinations in the world. Visitors from all walks of life, ethnicities, and cultures can be found exploring the bustling streets, enjoying the vibrant lights, and taking in the multitude of attractions. The diversity of tourists in Times Square reflects the global appeal of the city itself, drawing people from every corner of the globe. You can encounter tourists from Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and beyond, each bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to the iconic location. This diversity adds to the richness of the Times Square experience, making it a truly global melting pot of cultures and backgrounds.
During my spring break, I am going to spend some time shooting photos around the area of Times Square. I will try to spend more time shooting photos in the city while at the same time doing videography as my current hobby, where I shoot videos of my dance crew friends covering a song. I mostly shoot videography almost every week in my life and we do this for fun the videos that I shoot are uploaded onto YouTube.
New York, USA – May 11, 2013: Times Square with tourists. Iconified as “The Crossroads of the World” it’s the brightly illuminated hub of the Broadway Theater District.
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