Photography

Practice is an act of sincere devotion

Basic elements of photography

• Camera means room (from camera obscura)
• Photograph means light writing
• Vantage point: where is the camera
• Sensor: Full frame (36mm x 24mm), APS-C (25mm x 16mm)
  • Capture light using Red Green Blue sensors (in general Bayer Array 1R, 2G, 1B)
  • CCD (charge couple device): all cells exposed at same time
  • CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor): pixels exposed one at a time
• ISO (International Standards Organization): sensibility of sensor to light
  • Higher -> grainy
• Pixel: Tiny space where light can hit. Picture Element
• White balance: adjust dark/light. Average is grayish
• Crop factor: adjust size between different sizes of sensors (e.g. 1.6x between full frame and APS-C)
• Focal length: Distance between the lens and the sensor
• Normal focal length: Focal length comparable to what we see
• Angle of view for full frame:
  • 200mm -> 10° (super telephoto -> +zoom)
  • 70mm -> 29° (telephoto -> zoom)
  • 50mm -> 40° (normal angle -> similar to how humans perceive the scene)
  • 16mm -> 97° (wide angle -> smaller image)
• Focal plane: plane in which the light is focused (in general the sensor)
• Out of focus: light is concentrated out of focal plane
• Macro lens: designed for close-up, can achieve higher magnification than life size
• Shutter controls amount of time light will be exposed to the sensor
• Focal plane shutter: a set of two curtains that shield sensor from light
• Apperture (F.stop) : f = focal lenght/diameter of lens
  • In most digital cameras is wide open and closes at the time of exposure
  • LARGER f-stop -> smaller hole
  • Change depth of field (area focused): smaller hole -> bigger depth of field
• RAW file: includes all information captured by the sensors, not only the final image
• Modes of exposure: adjust colors based on environmental lights (shade, sun, lightbulb)
• EVF (electronic viewfinder): in mirrorless camera, mimic viewfinder
• Review time: the amount of time the picture will appear on the rear LCD screen after exposure

Techniques

• Flash farther from the lens solves red eye
• Adjust white balance on snow, remember average is set to gray
• AI servo -> moving subjects. AI focus AF -> Still then moves
• M-A-P-S, manual, aperture priority, program
• Continuous numbering: continuously number photos even after new folder
• Look for opportunities to have something unexpected
• Camerawork, composition, and concept
• Whenever you think you're really into something that you're looking straight ahead at, go and look at it from the other side
• Whenever you think you're really into something and it's really working well for you in front of you, look behind you

How to critique

Comments are most helpful when you can offer analysis that goes beyond “I like that”

• Focus on what you see: shapes, expression, color, texture, contrast
• Discuss the associations and connotations of an image: narrative, light/darkness
• What mood does the image convey?
• What is the style of the image?
• What the image suggests as a whole?
• How does color function?
• Is It denotative (show the essence of an object) or conotative (metaphorical representation)?
• Is It historical? why?
• Is It poetic? Why? Ambiguous (intentionally or not?)? Is It an imagemaking strategy? In what way?
• Color, Shape, Size, Position
• Interpretation based on personal experiences and expertise

Some points to analyse in photography

• Camerawork: depth of field; sharpness of focus; choice of focus point; time-based blur; lens-based blur (aka “bokah”); stop-action; compression of space resulting from telephoto lens; curvature of field, or barrel distortion, resulting from wide angle lens; vantage point choice; framing; first or second-curtain flash effect.

• Editing: monochrome (black & white); normal, pastel, or highly saturated colors; high or normal or low contrast; burning/darkening of an area of the picture; dodging/lightening of an area of the picture; cropping; frame proportions (square, panoramic, rectangle); graininess or pixilation resulting from low or high ISO choices.

• Composition: vertical; horizontal; symmetry; asymmetry; texture; tone; pattern; line; shape; form; perspective; Golden Mean; dominant feature; positive/negative space; figure/ground relationship; implied line; visual weight.

• Content: category names (such as landscape, still-life, portrait, tableau, documentary, personal symbolism; metaphorical, autobiographical, or others similarly broad); specific subject names that are important to the individual photograph or group of photographs.

Imagemaking

Photography is more than combining elements of exposure

For same colors, different configurations lead to different sentiments

Hierarchy: In front, foreground, size, group

• Relational and interpretative

• Creates order of importance

• Scale: Creates hierarchy and dynamic energy in a composition

• Space: Illusion of dimensional space, relationship of the elements to the edges of the screen

• Composition

  • Balanced composition: in which it appears that the entire scene has a purpose
  • Narrative: Linear, temporal, abstract, metaphoric, descriptions of the moment, action
  • Negative space/white space/unoccupied areas