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1/8 sec. f22
1/250 sec @ f 4.0
Here is an example of a past student’s work showing a slow shutter speed and then a fast shutter speed but the EXPOSURE VALUE remains the same. Just because the shutter speed and aperture changed for creative content purposes, he still was able to dial in the correct ratio with aperture, shutter speed and iso to get these exposures. Two things you can notice - first the water has been frozen in movement BUT the dof has also been altered because of the need to stop down to an aperture size of 4.0. The amount of available light will affect the ability to accomplish this. Remember that standard shutter speeds are:
- 1/1000 s
- 1/500 s
- 1/250 s
- 1/125 s
- 1/60 s
- 1/30 s
- 1/15 s
- 1/8 s
- 1/4 s
- 1/2 s
- 1 s
Your digital cameras will have additional values found between each of these “sets”.
Creative Shutter Speed
For those looking for additional info read shutter speed. There will be terms we have not yet touched on so it may seem a bit confusing or complicated for right now but by next class the terms around shutter speed will be familiar.
After some discussions about file size and quality we moved on to an in class written test. I have marked the papers and overall they show a confidence in moving forward to produce the compositional and project based work which we will be pursuing in the remaining classes. See you Thursday with the marked exams!
PS. For those interested in what we will be covering this week - we will go over the exam in detail, answer any outstanding questions, and then move into composition.
OK. So now you are beginning to understand the visionary process and employ the shutter speed and aperture to create more visually interesting works. This is a good thing. But what we have discovered is that there are some still stuck on adjusting the shutter speed/ aperture to make certain that your EXPOSURE is correct in addition to settling the condition of your aesthetic vision. The things on your image check list should consist of:
- do you have the correct amount of ambient light to begin building your image?
- have you set the camera sensitivity (ISO) so that you can begin to build an exposure around the ambient light available and your potential image?
- have you evaluated if this is a shutter priority or aperture priority image?
- if the light is contrasty have you selected what part of the photograph you wish to expose for?
Class 5 we explored the use of the SPOT meter - or if you don’t have one use your lens - zoom in on the subject and use EVALUATIVE meter to calculate your subject’s exposure.
The thing to remember about SPOT is that it takes up only 1% - 3.5% of the total viewing screen. This means it is extremely accurate and you need to place the subject in the range of the “spot”. If your subject is outside of it you chance over or under exposing your image if the light is a considerable expsoure difference.
*** NOTE — that images which are not exposed exactly do have some flexibility later in post production phase. Through image processing software you can correct your images to a degree and “save” a work. ***
 HOMEWORK: Have for next class two photographs which show opposing results. First photo is to be a silhouette while the next you will have to expose the subject showing no silhouette. See you in two weeks.
As we approach Week 5 of the 10 week course, it is a good a time as any to review where we have come.
By now you have come to understand the mechanical layout of your individual cameras. You should know the whereabouts of all the following:
shutter button
focus - manual and automatic
focal length - zoom function
exposure compensentaion +/-
aperture location and control
shutter location and control
iso and its function
meters - spot/ center weighted, matrix, partial, evaluative
Automatic, Semi automatic (Tv, S, A, Av) and Manual modes
White balance and use
You have seen the difference in the performance of the dslr to the compact point and shoot, witnessed the difference in use of focal lengths and what you can visually achieve in employing them, and you have come to understand exposure creation in terms of automatic, semi auotomatic and the manual mode. Finally you have been introduced to the use of your camera meter and the variety of meter measuring techniques available within yours.
The last two classes we have moved away from simple exposure creation to exposure creation with a creative purpose. Those elements included - the creation of blur and/ or freezing an object for visual effect and most recently the use of wide and shallow depth of field for visual creative effect. Next week we will be examining those works and cast our crit on your work.
In the weeks ahead we will move towards the expecatations, use and compositional elements of a photograph.
Class 4/10 - Review practical situations with camera - introduce camera meters - spot/ matrix/ center weighted. — Homework due of capturing a silohuette.
We also had a great time going out and capturing blurred lights and panning effects in Clapham South using our meteres and slow shutter to create the effect.
You have a break next week as it is midterm but that does not mean that I have let you go without the homework!
Due for our return -
1. Photographs which show the background sharp but the moving lights blurred - remember to consider your location!
2. Photographs which show everything blurred in an abstract manner.
3. Photographs which freeze the object while its moving but the background looks blurred - panning.
4. Photographs of an object lit at night.
All these photos are to be taken in low light - dusk or evvening — dusk if you wish to get an indigo looking light source.
Have fun with it!
Howdy gang.
NO CLASS ON THURSDAY OCTOBER 9th!!!!
Well here we go … learning about what these amazingly complexed tools in our hands can do when we have them trained beyond the one command we have known till now — “automatic boy —– that’s it — just be automatic! ” .
We began in this course to introduce the terminology and concepts behind the following:
By the end of the class most of you were able to successfully produce your first manual exposure and understand what was technically happening between the subject matter and the available light and the combination of iso, shutterspeed, and aperture you chose and metered for.
You were given the task for the next class of trying to make your first manual exposure on your camera without guidance. This was a personal headshot. Please have that image placed in your Flickr account and ready for observation.
Today we will be reviewing shutter speed and then moving on to aperture and depth of field. We will be reviewing shutter speed and underexposure, normal exposure, overexposure and introducing lens quality and speaking about focal lengths, selective focus, plane of focus, hyperfocal distance and finally looking at aperture and depth of field.
plane of focus/ selective focus/ shallow depth of field
plane of focus/ selective focus/ shallow depth of field (excepth black and white - wide dof)
plane of focus/ selective focus/ shallow depth of field
wide depth of field
wide depth of field with hyperfocal use.
REMEMBER THAT NEXT WEEK THERE IS NO CLASS SO YOU HAVE THE WEEK NEXT WEEK TO PRODUCE THE FOLLOWING ASSIGNMENT.Â
DUE DATE Thursday October 16th.
Have the following images ready for observation witing your FLickr account.
1. one shot of an image purposefully underexposed.
2.one shot of the same image normal exposure.
3. one shot of the same image but overexposed.
4. select a subject which will benefit/ be enhanced by a WIDE focal length and take the picture in an Aperture Priority mode.
5. select a subject which will benefit/ be enhanced by a NORMAL focal length and take the picture in an Aperture Priority mode.
6. select a subject which will benefit/ be enhanced by a TELEPHOTO focal length and take the picture in an Shutter Priority mode.
7. select a subject and using selective focus (using the help of a telephoto focal length and a wide aperture) create an image.
8. select a subject and using selective focus (using the help of a telephoto focal length and a wide aperture) create an image but this time moving the plane of focus onto something else.
Have a great week and we’ll see see each other then.
Ciao.
We have to go through some admin stuff first — so that means checking all the following boxes:
1. Fire exits and procedure.
2. VERY IMPORTANT - toilets
3. Smoking
4. To break or not to break - now that is THE question.
5. Class start times and end times and importance of getting the homework done for your own learning.
6. If there is any one needing additional assistance in terms of learning to speak to me at the end of the class.
7. Oh yes — almost forgot — eating and drinking in the class — but please not around the computers.
8. Handout of student ID cards — if they are available.
9. MIDTERM Oct 27 - 31, 2008.
10. Passwords for computers/ set up/ class photo
( I think now will be a good time for everyone to introduce themselves ).
Done that — Ok.
Well here we go … learning about these amazingly complexed tools in our hands in the form of the camera.
Before we begin though thought you might like a look ahead to our weeks together.
W1. Introduction/ Exploration/ introduction of vocabulary/ registration to online gallery.
W2. Shutter speed explore/ lab 1.
W3. Shutter speed review/ lab 1 due/ Aperture explore/ lab 2.
W4. Aperture review/ lab 2 due/ Metering/lab 3.
W5. Lab 3 due/ Focal length/ white balance/ image type and file size.
W6. Composition - Line
W7. Review photos of line. Composition - Light, shade and shadow
W8. Light, shade and shadow due. Composition - Expression
W9. Expression assignment due.
W10. Light lab due/Class reviews and comments/Exhibition.
jayhead.jpg
We begin the course by introducing the terminology and concepts behind the following:
* ambient light
* meters
* focal length
* aperture
* depth of field
* shutterspeed
* iso
* white balance
By the end of the class most of you will able to successfully produce your first manual exposure and understand what was technically happening between the subject matter and the available light and the combination of iso, shutterspeed, and aperture you chose and metered for.
Your homework over the next week is to set up a photographic account to view your images in places like Flickr or something similar.
Have a great week!
SFX Intro to Digital Photography OPEN
It is that time of year when school exhibitions are up, galleries are opening their doors and wall space to the developing artist, and the general public get to see who is doing what and are introduced to the latest aesthetic from the young graduates pouring out the doors of the nation’s colleges and universities.
Not one to miss a party, we are going to have our own Summer 2008 Grad Show. You are going to be both participant and guest.
The brief for next week is to produce one personal piece. That work can be of any genre – documentary, portraiture, still life, abstract, nude, architecture, cityscape, landscape… you choose. REMEMBER- this is a personal piece.
The minimum size dimension is 5×7 inches and they are to be presented in PRINT format – you will be posting these up on a wall for viewing. The amount of images you wish to show are maximum of 12. But if it is 2 or 12 you are showing — all must be consistent around a theme or idea that you are visually inspecting, documenting or manipulating.
The image/s will be graded by your following class colleagues on the basis of:
• technical accuracy – sharpness, exposure, depth of field. (if the artist decides to push the boundaries with these it will be marked on how well it was executed in ordr to support the theme).
• composition – colour, layout, light, line, shape, balance, perspective, layering
• originality – how well thought out and produced was the idea.
• content – connection between intent of idea and the visual
• “wow†factor – its emotional impact.
You will need to provide a written examination – called “concept statement†along with the work so that colleagues can understand what the connection is to your photograph/s. Examples can be found on www.karlgrupe.com (Project 1 – “ Home as a Metaphor†and Project 5 – “Art of Noiseâ€).
There will be an award given to Best in Show so put your competitive caps and go for it.
Good Luck.
CHASING LIGHT
Your next and final assignment will be one which is inspired by the greatest contributor to the “wow” factor of photography - LIGHT. This assignment will have you chasing light - looking only at light and its qualities and photographing it — what it falls onto or illuminates is secondary - the key point here is to shoot images of light.
The two images below were shot simply on a camera phone. Nothing else was done to them. So you don’t need to make the assignment hard on yourself by forcing to find things - just look and see and respond. Look at light and how it works itself around a subject - either artificial or natural light — open yourself up to being drawn into the light first.
For this final assignment please have images in your Flickr portfolio - a minimum of ten light inspired images. ENJOY!
Great class tonight folks! Hope you enjoyed seeing what is capable when you begin pushing the limits of the camera and begin superimposing the abstract onto a subject so that it oozes with new life and excitement.
Your next task is to focus on colour as a means to create emotion or perk an interest in a subject. This exercise is all about hunting out colour and looking how colour can work both compositionally and emotively. BUT DON”T FORGET all of what you have learned up until now. Think as the photographer you are becoming. Think about all the tricks of the trade that you have used up till now and employ them in exposing for colour. You can still go for the abstract loook but as long as it is about colour then you have answered the brief.
For next week we are looking for 10 examples which show colour in all its glory. It can be minimal, primary, subtle or loud and obnoxious — but let it be about colour.
Please find below a variety of colour photos I shot in different landscapes. Beneath each photo is a description of how colour can be used.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Overall cast of colour.
Balance of complimentary colours.
Spot colour.
And to get you in the mood and all colorific — get charged up by either of these videos — clic the pic and watch.
Hope to see you all there next week. Any questions leave a comment here and I’ll get back to you.
Ciao.
Leaving the study of LINE behind, having recognised its power to direct and set up an architectural structure to a photograph we are now going to go another direction where we are going to make the viewer grasp a bit in order to get a foothold on what they are looking at.
Compositional Elements assignment 3
DUE DATE - 19:06:07 @ 6:30 pm.
THE ABSTRACT FORM
© Karl Grupe
Using the camera to capture that which the eye does not see is a very effective tool in creating creative, punchy images. There are many ways in which this can be achieved - over/ under exposure, white balance play, dramatic out of focus images, intentional blur, obscure cropping, colour play through colour filtration. And all of these are obtained by adjusting the controls on the camera and nothing else.
Y our assignment for next class is to have a selection of 10 images which have been created by turning the real into the surreal simply by amplifying the controls on the camera to create effects. You are now taking the rules and tech knowledge that you learned over the workshop and going against the grain. Getting magical and creating, making.
Enjoy your adventure!
Compositional Elements assignment.
DUE DATE - 12:06:08 @ 6:30 pm.
Line
The formation of line allows the eye to be led through a photograph. It is a strong compositional element which can form directions for the viewer when the viewer looks at the work. Line can set boundaries, define shape, evoke mood, or most even lead the viewer towards a direction.
Exercise No.1
Produce 10 images that show line. It can be a literal documentation or something which you observe and organise pictorially. Be sure that LINE dominates the photograph. Use this word “line” to be the stimulant to thinking and observing the world in this way. Suddenly lines will pop up all around you and some will even make great images!
road in grey by Karl Grupe
Think of the shape of line, the direction, the colour. Think of plays on the word of “line” and see if something clever comes up. Whatever you do use “line” as an inspiration and then as you begin to record it, as you are shooting keep asking yourself “how can I make this clearer or better - how can I improve on this.” This focus should pave way towards stronger image making.
Enjoy and see you next week back at the ranch.
Well first off — CONGRATS to you Man U fans in the course — hopefully you enjoyed your moment last night and now are ready for some photography!
I will be with you again after the break - which by the way is next week - so you have Julia tonight. This course was selected as one of the popular and successful courses to be spotlighted at this week’s Adult Learners week — so I am down the road playing ambassador for the course.
Tonight you should have reshot the work you brought in last week. The idea behind the assignment is that once you review, you correct and improve and hopefully that was the case for you. Reviewing the process and approach is all about gaining experience in a field or subject area, and each time you photograph a topic - from flowers to people — there will be a new set of circumstances which will challenge you — thus forming a knowledge base. If you look at how professional photographers approach their work they will say that research and preparation made it possible for the shoot to be successful. They may also tell you — and this is the case for sure with many wildlife and nature photographers - that they had to come back to a scene more than once and reshoot it. It is then in the reshoot everything came together, all at once, in a matter of fractions of a second. The point is they were ready, they were prepared.
In this way I hope you found repeating the assignment enlightening in terms of a more acquired knowledge about your subject and your approach. In this repetition you are forming the basis of becoming an “expert” in your field and that will account for something should you approach it again in the future.
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In class assignment - 20minutes
On a sheet divided into two columns like last week, look at your work and decide where new problems came up, and which problems from the first approach you were able to change into solutions. Spend some time now on this before we go on to the next part.
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What REALLY COUNTS in this exercise is finding solutions to the challenges to improve your photography. What this spells out is some times the problems can be with the camera — technical bits and pieces like metering and shutter speed and aperture stuff — what you are learning about in this class - but also it can be things which have nothing to do with the camera — they are in real time and you have to make practical, creative (or both) decisions in order for the photograph to become successful. Things like:
- changing the time of day you chose to shoot
- the time of year you chose to shoot
- the selection of the background
- the angle or quality of the light
- the quality of your subject
- your point of view
- the fashion of the times
- your subjects interest in being photographed
- the time you have to work with a subject
- the security around a subject
- your confidence and knowledge of a subject
(NOTE - This would be a good point for anyone in the class to add their experience and what affected their own work to the class and discussion can take place in how you solved it. )
The point is that photography is so much more than just what is going on in the camera. It is about what is going on IN FRONT of the camera. The camera can be at times the last part of the equation — it can simply be the device which freezes everything you set up in the experience. Its role is nothing more than a recording. If you look at it in this way you understand that good photography is not so much about having the best cameras and lenses but about how you arrange those things happening in life and freeze it. So the responsibility of good photography lies not only in knowing how to calculate light and arrange shutter speed and aperture — but how to arrange and design.
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In class assignment 2
The “decisive moment” is a term coined by photographer Henri Cartier Bresson. The idea is that there is a moment in time, in any activity where the camera can capture the alignment of life in such a way it becomes nothing more than art. I am paraphrasing it here, but is the basic idea.
Hopefully this site can be pulled up MAGNUM, and his portfolio run- PORTFOLIO .
As you look at the images examine how simplistic they are — this was not with digital photography… it is simply arranging the technical bits to meet the ambient light bits and then taking the photograph. These examples show how important knowing and arranging life into the camera is in the construction and success of a photograph. Please read his quote on the left of the screen — it sums it all up.
ASSIGNMENT
You have two weeks to get this done so you should be able to do this.
You are to use your cameras in automatic mode for this one. YES AUTOMATIC!!! The reason is that it will free you up from any sort of technical thinking and have you focus arranging real life in to photographs. The only thing is to shut off your camera flash and capture everything under existing light conditions AND if you can change your camera to black and white mode and shoot all the images in black and white.
Use your camera to photograph images recording life and living. Looking for the DECISIVE MOMENT, capture images at the peak of their happening — when the moment recorded tells us a story. This is your first time at this so treat it as an experiment, so don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just watch life going on and select areas of it where you see something happening or about to happen. Look at the HCB work again and again and interpret and apply. Let it communicate to you and then go out and see if you can create it yourself.
For our next class a portfolio of 15 images are due. All black and white and in Flickr ready as a slide show.
Have fun with it folks!
Howdy gang.
Well first off sorry I could not be with you tonight. However you have “good cop” Julia in my place and she gets to see all your work you produced last week — hope she is impressed!
Today you should have two things — a daisy image and a still life example you shot over the week — both on Flickr.
First let’s look at the daisy. What you need to be observing is now that you were able to create your own maually and technically correct photograph, how did you go about composing it — how did you organise the information on your “canvas” - the viewfinder. Did you simply point the camera at it and shoot or did you get in there and make a photograph? How many of you began to think about the importance of composition?
Take some time to walk around the class and look at the Flickr images on all the computers. Look at how people arranged the photograph. Look at the details — look how the grass falls, and the lines of the stems cut across the picture. Look at the quality of the daisies- are they full and vibrant, radiating life and health, or are they dried up and looking tired. Look at the camera angle — is the photographer an ant, climbing through a jungle, or are you a six foot giant looking down on these tiny buds and finding pattern. Did you do a portrait of a daisy or a landscape of daisies? How many of you photographed in portrait mode and how many of you in landscape mode — and did either support the composition of the work?
Phew — we got alot of mileage out of those little flowers — so now we can move on to the homework assignment. Please load up your image you took on your own and have it in front of you. Take a plain piece of paper and draw a line down the middle and write out two columns — see the sample below.
With you image up there on the screen, start listing the points in each column. Be as detailed as you can be. Really spend the time to think through the technical challenges and triumphs and then all the other factors which entered the equation — from creative to logistics. And if you did not do the assignment then you will also be able to do this as well because the reasons you didn’t will be answered under the “challenges” column.
Once you are done and you have talked through these as a class with Julia don’t throw this paper out — this will be a scorecard for you to reflect on as we go through each assignment and you can measure your progress or what things changed or remained the same from assignment to assignment.
So during this discussion meter reading, shutter speed and aperture control and maybe even ISO will be the hot topics to discuss. Julia will assist you here.
For next week then — the assignment is to go out and shoot the same thing again — the same topic and this time pay attention to the weak areas and try to resolve them. This work is then to be posted for next week on Flickr — and we can look at the before and after.
See you next week.
Good work today gang.
Just a recap — you experienced the following:
Observing ambient light to make a calculation about your ISO.
Adjusted the ISO to set your camera sensitivity and give you a better window to work within.
Relied on your camera meter to tell you if the current shutter speed and aperture measurements were in the ball park or way out there.
Selected shutter speed, aperture or a combination of both to create your exposure.
Not bad for class 2!!!
So now for the week ahead.
Please post ONE daisy photo on flickr. And over the week create, IN MANUAL MODE, a still life image and post on flickr. We are looking for a couple things here to suit the brief. First making sure that you can operate comfortably in manual mode and use your meter and make the correct adjustments. Next, we are looking at where your compositional skills lie.
Have fun with it, spend time really looking and studying your subject — because now — with manual operation — you are becoming real photographers.
Ciao!
Hello.
Welcome to the first class. Unfortunately I am unable to make it here tonight but you have Julia at the helm for the first class so you are in good hands. (Julia you can use this place to brag about yourself here!) For the next ten weeks this space will be your place to find notes and get an idea of what has been going on — just in case you missed it. So please mark it down in your notes. To see a selection of notes from other classes — you can see it under this link.
I understand that tonight is a full house so we best get busy.
We have to go through some admin stuff first — so that means checking all the following boxes:
1. Fire exits and procedure.
2. VERY IMPORTANT - toilets
3. Smoking
4. To break or not to break - now that is THE question.
5. Class start times and end times and importance of getting the homework done for your own learning.
6. If there is any one needing additional assistance in terms of learning to speak to Julia at the end of the class.
7. Oh yes — almost forgot — eating and drinking in the class — but please not around the computers.
8. Handout of student ID cards — if they are available.
9. No class May 29th — MIDTERM.
10. Passwords for computers.
( I think now will be a good time for everyone to introduce themselves ).
Done that — Ok.
Well here we go … learning about these amazingly complexed tools in our hands in the form of the camera.
Before we begin though thought you might like a look ahead to our weeks together.
W1. Introduction/ Exploration/ introduction of vocabulary/ registration to online gallery.
W2. Shutter speed explore/ lab 1.
W3. Shutter speed review/ lab 1 due/ Aperture explore/ lab 2.
W4. Aperture review/ lab 2 due/ Metering/lab 3.
W5. Lab 3 due/ Focal length/ white balance/ image type and file size.
W6. Visit to professional lab.
W7. Aesthetics and Concepts - lecture in composition with “line” lab.
W8. Line due. Review and discuss/ Mood in photography with “colour” lab.
W9. Colour lab due/ Light in photography with “light” lab.
W10. Light lab due/Class reviews and comments/Exhibition.
We begin the course by introducing the terminology and concepts behind the following:
By the end of the class most of you will able to successfully produce your first manual exposure and understand what was technically happening between the subject matter and the available light and the combination of iso, shutterspeed, and aperture you chose and metered for.
Your homework over the next week is to set up a photographic account to view your images in places like Flickr or something similar.
Have a great week!
Well we have come to the end of the course. For those of you wondering what we are going to cover - the MYspace assignment is due –see link here. We are going to have a question and answer sesh, we’ll talk about whats next - where would you like to go- and then we can wrap it all up with some lovely admin stuff we need to do. Have a great Easter and see you next week.
Ciao.
As the course comes to a close we have gone from the technical aspects found in a foundation course (shutter speed, aperture, focal lengths, metering etc) to some foundation level compositional elements (line, texture, light, volume, abstract). Our last remaining classes are a brief introduction leaning towards what one would come to expect to expand on at the intermediate level.
From technical to aesthetic we now move towards CONCEPTUAL — the use of photography to produce and support an idea, belief, or commentary one may have about… well …. really anything at all. The aesthetic - the way a work begins to present itself - can shape into something visually lovely to look at or it can be something which seems tedious and not “entertaining”. Having learned the basics we can now move towards examining how forming a voice comes from the relationship of style and concept mixed with subject matter.
Below are six photographers of various levels of practice and certainly different interests but what one can see is the distinctive styles in each of their work.
Please find your assignment below. Good luck and see you next week.
Reviewing what has been accomplished to date:
• learning the basic instruments of the camera and how to use them in manual mode.
• analyse an image and determine what has gone wrong in the photography.
• present work in an online gallery format and edit the work so there is a less distracting flow of content.
• study and comment on our own work while observing if there are some common or recurring characteristics we focus on in our visual “voice”.
• establish a ongoing visual vocabulary, both literal and figuratively speaking, in order to have an in depth dialogue when speaking about creating, observing and presenting works.
• experience and experiment with compositional elements - motion blur and freeze, depth of field, line, colour, abstract.
• learn that the camera can be used as a documentary device or a tool for creating the abstract, the unreal, the illustration.
Your next assignment will be the last in the aesthetic field. Following this we will move to documentary exercises - telling stories with photographs. Before we do we will examine the most important thing in photography besides creativity and that is light.
Following today’s discussion you will be set on the task of capturing between five and ten photos lit by as many different light sources.
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The remaining weeks consist of the following:
W7. Today - Abstract assignment due and introduction of light task.
W8. Light task due. Interpretation assignment given in class - “25 things”
W9. 25 things due. Telling a photo story discussion. “mySpace” assignment given.
W10. “mySpace due”. Wrap up. What’s next?
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Leaving the study of LINE behind, having recognised its power to direct and set up an architectural structure to a photograph we are now going to go another direction where we are going to make the viewer grasp a bit in order to get a foothold on what they are looking at.
Compositional Elements assignment 3
DUE DATE - 06:03:07 @ 6:30 pm.
ABSTRACT FORM
Using the camera to capture that which the eye does not see is a very effective tool in creating creative, punchy images. There are many ways in which this can be achieved - over/ under exposure, white balance play, dramatic out of focus images, intentional blur, obscure cropping, colour play through colour filtration. And all of these are obtained by adjusting the controls on the camera and nothing else.
Y our assignment for next class is to have a selection of 10 images which have been created by turning the real into the surreal simply by amplifying the controls on the camera to create effects. You are now taking the rules and tech knowledge that you learned over the workshop and going against the grain. Getting magical and creating, making.
Enjoy your adventure!
Compositional Elements assignment.
DUE DATE - 28:02:08 @ 6:30 pm.
Line
The formation of line allows the eye to be led through a photograph. It is a strong compositional element which can form directions for the viewer when the viewer looks at the work. Line can set boundaries, define shape, evoke mood, or most accessible lead the viewer towards a direction.
Exercise No.1
Produce 10 images that show line. It can be a literal documentation or something which you observe and organise pictorially. Be sure that LINE dominates the photograph. Use this word “line” to be the stimulant to thinking and observing the world in this way. Suddenly lines will pop up all around you and some will even make great images!
road in grey by Karl Grupe
Think of the shape of line, the direction, the colour. Think of plays on the word of “line” and see if something clever comes up. Whatever you do use “line” as an inspiration and then as you begin to record it, as you are shooting keep asking yourself “how can I make this clearer or better - how can I improve on this.” This focus should pave way towards stronger image making.
Enjoy and see you next week back at the ranch.
In tonight’s study we discovered that we can use FAST shutter speed to record and FREEZE :
fast moving water/ waterdroplets
birds in flight/wildlife
vehicles in transport
skateboarders
carnival rides
air shows
sporting events
hyper kids/ parties
people movement/ facial - expressions
fireworks
SLOW shutterspeed allows us to BLUR to
emphasise movement - dance
distorts the object - to give a colour wash
abstracts the person, place or thing
carnival
fireworks
VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE TRIPOD.
FOR NEXT WEEK Now that you are using shutterspeed, aperture, iso and metering we are going to move into compositional work. Our first study is COLOUR.
Over the course of the week seek out images which emphasise COLOUR. Colour will dominate the composition of your work. For next week please have eight to twelve images loaded on your Flickr account that show your interpretation and discovery of COLOUR.
ENJOY!
We witnessed your works on playing with APERTURE to control the DEPTH OF FIELD in order to select an area of the image that you wished to remain sharp and then send the rest of the image into a gradual softer focus. The images were successful although there were some exposure teethinh problems with synchronising shutter speed to accommodate alterations in your aperture reading. We went through the adjusting EXPOSURE VALUES in order to make things right.
For your next weeks assignment the goal is to focus on SHUTTER SPEED and have two photographs showing an object blurred through movement and an object frozen in movement while keeping the EXPOSURE VALUE the same.
An example of each up on Flickr for February 7th please.
Enjoy!
Great class last night folks. The samples you all showed were right on the mark and you should pat yourself on the back for getting the first stage of manual exposure making correct. We are now shifting our basic exposure away from shutter speed priority to aperture priority. Your assignment over this week is to produce a food still life which is an example of shallow depth of field. Here are some samples. Study them for their exposure, lighting, styling and composition.
3 pears on a line
Polaroid sx-70 film
Karl Grupe 2007
pear and curtain
Polaroid sx-70 film
Karl Grupe 2007
Remember that in this class we explored what you need to do to the aperture to make it create a shallow depth of field. Don’t forget that if the exposure is looking too bright (overexposed) or too dark (underexposed) you have the option of adjusting shutter speed, ISO, and/ or light level to make the exposure more acceptable.
Have fun with it and remember to not eat the still life until you have got the shot!
See you next week.
Howdy gang.
Well here we go … learning about what these amazingly complexed tools in our hands can do when we have them trained beyond the one command we have known till now — “automatic boy —– that’s it — just be automatic! ” .
We began in this class to introduce the terminology and concepts behind the following:
By the end of the class most of you were able to successfully produce your first manual exposure and understand what was technically happening between the subject matter and the available light and the combination of iso, shutterspeed, and aperture you chose and metered for.
You were given the task for the next class of trying to make your first manual exposure on your camera without guidance. Please have that image placed in your Flickr account and ready for observation by Thursday’s class.
Have a great week and we’ll see see each other then.
Ciao.
Wow —- what stunning work folks. I hope you are as impressed with your own progress and work examples as I am. Huge congrats to you all for your recent success and to the ongoing development of your visual dialogue and understanding.
This is a reminder that next Monday and Thursday will be Photoshop introductions so please bring along images to work with on either in on a CD or on a USB sticks. The classes will be a tour of what Photoshop can do on a basic level to improve your immediate work - see it act like your own digital darkroom.
See you Monday at 6:30!
Leaving the study of LINE behind, having recognised its power to direct and set up an architectural structure to a photograph we are now going to go another direction where we are going to make the viewer grasp a bit in order to get a foothold on what they are looking at.
Compositional Elements assignment 3
DUE DATE - 06:12:07 @ 6:30 pm.
ABSTRACT FORM
Using the camera to capture that which the eye does not see is a very effective tool in creating creative, punchy images. There are many ways in which this can be achieved - over/ under exposure, white balance play, dramatic out of focus images, intentional blur, obscure cropping, colour play through colour filtration. And all of these are obtained by adjusting the controls on the camera and nothing else.
Y our assignment for next class is to have a selection of 10 images which have been created by turning the real into the surreal simply by amplifying the controls on the camera to create effects. You are now taking the rules and tech knowledge that you learned over the workshop and going against the grain. Getting magical and creating, making.
Enjoy your adventure!
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ANNOUNCEMENT!!! - MAKE UP CLASSES ARE SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 10th + THURSDAY DECEMBER 13th. Times for both days are 6:30 pm - 8:00pm.
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Compositional Elements assignment.
DUE DATE - 29:11:07 @ 6:30 pm.
Line
The formation of line allows the eye to be led through a photograph. It is a strong compositional element with directions for the viewer to look INTO the work.
Exercise No.1
Produce 10 images that show line. It can be a literal documentation or something which you observe and organise pictorially. Be sure that LINE dominates the photograph. Use this word “line” to be the stimulant to thinking and observing the world in this way. Suddenly lines will pop up all around you and some will even make great images!
clouds in g minor by Karl Grupe
Think of the shape of line, the direction, the colour. Think of plays on the word of “line” and see if something clever comes up. Whatever you do use “line” as an inspiration and then as you begin to record it, as you are shooting keep asking yourself “how can I make this clearer or better - how can I improve on this.” This focus should pave way towards stronger image making.
Enjoy and see you next week back at the ranch.
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ANNOUNCEMENT!!! - MAKE UP CLASSES ARE SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY DECEMBER 10th + THURSDAY DECEMBER 13th. Times for both days are 6:30 pm - 8:00pm.
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A reminder to have set up some sort of online photo gallery account for the next workshop.
Flickr is an example of such a venue. However, as I mentioned, if you wish to have a critique from a photographic print perspective - especially with regards to presentation/ layout - then prints are the only way to go.
Tonight we reviewed last week’s exercise. “25 things” allowed us the opportunity to react and create images through a series of stimuli. The result was a matrix of pictures. But this matrix allowed for us to witness how each of you have, inherently, your own approach, your own style, already, so early in this stage of your photographic experience.
Building on that knowledge and observation - the next assignment is an exercise in story telling.
Office by Karl Grupe
scanned Polaroid SX 70 film
600 second Office by Karl Grupe
Scanned polaroids from Mamiya RB67
Assignment: My Space.
Practice. Offer an opportunity to reflect on that which has become unobserved and through the pursuit/ art of picture making have the learner “seeing” on a wider level.
In other words develop a more visually savvy eye.
Work. Choose a space which you wish to begin your visual study of. It can be absolutely any sort of space. One which has meaning to you or not. A place which serves simply as a function, an intimate space, a secure space, a new space. It simply must be a single space.
From here you are to develop a character study of that space. Your goal is to, through your pictures, bring the viewer into that space and “read” into it as much as they can. Yes , it could be one single photograph which documents the entire space, but we are looking to dig further here. We are looking to draw out the character of the space as much as seeing simply what it looks like.
You are to begin thinking about how you wish to present this as well. Your “exhibition” is an extension of your images. The presentation is used to enhance or amplify the images. So please consider this as an additional visual appreciation.
Home as a Metaphor by Karl Grupe
scanned Polaroid SX70
As many images as you would like. Examples are given here of my style/ approach to the exercise or if you go to Project 1 and read the concept statement you will find a good example of a personal study of a space (it may take a bit of time to load) . And something which was thought out to a large degree from images to film/camera choice.
Have fun with this, enjoying the ride that photography can take you on, and see you next week.
Notes
“25 things” is due. 4×6 or 5×7 inch glossy pictures with white borders please.
This class will be running through various exercises in determining your visual eye, and establishing the ground work for the rest of the remaining workshops which will focus on composition and personal style.
See you at 6:30!