4 pts. Please put your answers in a text file, convert to PDF, and email it to me: rmichals@citytech.cuny.edu
Make sure to read each question carefully and answer it completely in full sentences.
Each question is worth 1 pt.
Berenice Abbott
Michael Kenna
Compare and contrast how angle of view is used in these two photos of the Manhattan Bridge. How does the choice of angle of view contribute to the mood of the photo?
Desert Road, Nevada. 1960.Ansel Adams
US.285, New Mexico, from The Americans (1958)Robert Frank
2. Define depth of field. What is the difference between depth of field and perspective? Compare and contrast how depth of field was used in these two photos of a road.
3. When does a photographer need to use a tripod?
4. Compare and contrast these two photographs in a paragraph essay. Four points of comparison using the four most relevant different terms from this list: rule of thirds, diagonal lines, leading lines, pattern, symmetry, figure to ground, contrast of light and dark, a frame within a frame, depth of field, angle of view.
Working with your stuffed animal, take a series of photos of it at each of the four stations. The goal is to create the most varied series of photos that you can on this one stuffed animal.
Continuing to work with the same stuffed animal and no other props, create two final photographs-one that illustrates the idea of a happy childhood and a second that illustrates the idea of a difficult childhood. Convey the difference in emotion between the two photos with the lighting. Consider the angle of view and framing as well.
No stereotypes. Keep it fresh.
Post a minimum of 20 photos of your stuffed animal to Flickr from the first part of the exercise and your two final shots. Send these two images to the class group and one or two others that represent your best work.
10 pts. The midterm assignment is to create a photograph that addresses a social issue by quoting a famous painting or photograph, inspired by Gordon Parks’ American Gothic.
1 pt. Write a post of 300 words on OpenLab that answers the following questions:
In your opinion, what is a social issue that doesn’t get enough attention? It can be any issue you care about and that is relevant to your life. State the issue and three reasons it is important. Include one link to an article or web resource that gives background information about the issue you selected.
2. Then select a famous painting or photograph that you will quote to make the statement of your final image clear and meaningful to your audience.
What image did you select?
Why did you select that image?
What aspects of the image will you quote?
How will it enhance your message?
Use the category: Midterm Project Statement
Then shoot a minimum of 20 images to explore your idea.
You might try to quote different images, experiment with different locations, models, props, ways of shooting including angle of view, depth of field, motion, lighting
Post these to an album on Flickr.
Project Deliverables
Week 1 – Due October 12th
Midterm Project Statement
an album of a minimum of 20 images that show your exploration of your idea. You might try to quote different images, experiment with different locations, models, props, ways of shooting including angle of view, depth of field, motion, lighting to explore your idea.
Week 2 – Due October 19th
Pick a one direction. Explore it further. Post an album on Flickr of a minimum of 20 images that shows your thought process and how you got to your final image. For each image add a caption that explains what you did.
Here is an example from my own work.
These are examples from a series I am doing on household chemicals. I shot 217 frames to get to the final image.
I started with an image in my mind of a line of glasses of orange juice broken by a glass with Windex.
The line of equal sized glasses was boring so I started to move the glasses so that they were at varying distances from the camera.
I realized the orange juice while an appealing complimentary color as distracting.
I had this accident with a piece of red paper and I realized holding a piece of paper above the scene could reflect that color into it.
I placed a blue paper on one side to get the blue to reflect on the left side of the photo. this represents how the chemicals do not stay in their container.
I added blue paper to the other side.
I moved things around to reduce extraneous reflections and checked the focus.
Due Oct 26th
a short presentation of the image you are quoting and your final image. Be prepared to show the original image and your final image. You can do this by putting them in one file or Lightroom Classic or Bridge. Your presentation should include: a. Some background on your issue b. Why you chose the reference image you did c. Anything interesting about your process d. The meaning and success of your final image
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 sec.
The general rule for getting a sharp image is that the shutter speed should be 1/focal length. So a sports photographer using a 500 mm lens should use a shutter speed of 1/500.
Image Stabilization can reduce blurriness when photographing a still subject in low light.
Turn off IS when mounting the camera on a tripod or photographing a moving subject..
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.
Strobe Lights
Strobes
Strobes have two bulbs:
the modeling light which helps you see where the light will fall
the flash that fires when you press the shutter release
A trigger on the camera uses radio waves to tell the receiver to fire the light. The power pack stores the power used to make the exposure.
Strobe Lights or Flash-The exposure triangle does not hold because the shutter speed is effectively replaced by the flash duration. We adjust the exposure primarily with the aperture or the ISO.
Flash duration
Flash duration is how long the flash of light is that takes the picture. It is the amount of time that the flash head goes from on to off.
If you want to freeze motion with available light, it is the shutter speed that will do it.
If you want to freeze motion with flash or studio strobes it is the flash duration that counts.
The higher the power that you use, the slower the flash duration.
With our Dynalight strobes this is about 1/700th of a second at full power.
Sync Speed
Sync Speed-is the fastest shutter speed for which the shutter curtains are completely open at the time of exposure (or when the flash fires). For shutter speeds above sync speed, the shutter curtains are no longer fully open and so you will see the shutter itself in the photo as a black area. the sync speed for our class cameras is 1/200 sec.
Blurring motion
Blurred motion-moving elements blur with a longer shutter speed.
Matthew Pillsbury
Matthew Pillsbury
Matthew Pillsbury
Duane Michals
Duane Michals
Duane Michals
How to blur motion:
Use a tripod.
Use a slower shutter speed – 1/4 sec to 30″ or even longer
Direction-if the subject moves parallel to the picture plane there is more visible movement than if the subject moves toward or away from the camera.
Focal length-a subject will appear blurrier when photographed with a telephoto lens than when photographed with a wide-angle lens.
Quiz Questions
Define shutter speed.
Set shutter speed to freeze motion in a photograph
Set shutter speed to blur motion in a photograph.
Define flash duration and understand its importance to capturing motion.
Oct 12 – Lighting Direction – Please bring in a small stuffed animal to work with. Try to bring in a toy that is made out of cloth and not plastic as it will be less reflective. So a stuffed animal rather than an action figure.
Quiz 1 – 4 pts. – Review weeks 1 – 5, Composition and framing, depth of field, motion, tripod use, strobes basics. There will be 3 technical questions with a right or wrong answer and a compare and contrast of two photos graded on correct use of vocabulary.
Oct 19th – class will be online.
Class topic: Digital Darkroom with Lightroom. Everyone should check that you have access to Lightroom from home this week.
Guest Speaker: Malik Dupree
Oct 26th – Class will be online. Midterm presentations.
Shooting with strobes, experiment and create some magic with frozen motion.
Shoot at least 20 examples and put them in an album on Flickr. Send the best one to the class group.
In a series of long exposure photographs, use motion blur to tell a story, a ghost story if you will. Contrast something sharp, still and in focus with motion blur to create a narrative or show an inner state or emotion. Shoot at least 20 examples and put them in an album on Flickr. Send the 3 photos that tell your story to the class group.
Technical Requirements
Use a tripod. The camera cannot move during the exposure.
2. Use the timer so that you do not shake the camera.
3. Use the strobes’ modeling light for the exposure. It will be warmer than the flash so if AWB is not cutting it, adjust the WB.
4. Use a long exposure such as 10″ with ISO 100 and a narrow aperture such as f11. This should give you enough time to create the blur you want.
5. You can create multiple exposures by popping the flash during the exposure.
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