Week 1: Assignment 5| Composition
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
Understand the difference between “taking a picture” and “making a picture.”
Recall the six basic elements of composition.
Use compositional techniques to focus viewer attention.
Explain how the rule of thirds is used in composing a photograph.
Describe techniques that can be used while shooting to create interesting visual effects in photographs.
Review the principles of composition and create a resource to be helpful when you’re out on a photo shoot.
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 9- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. LinkedIn Learning Video: Photography: Advanced Composition
3. Practice- Principles of Composition Resource-A resource for you that shows the 9 principles of composition with examples.
Create a resource that you can access on your phone or at home during a photo shoot to review the principles of compositions so you can make your photos better. To have access to this resource, I suggest you create it on Pinterest, Google Slides, Google Docs, on your website with your own picture or even use the notes app on your phone.
You need to define the principle of composition in your own words and what it does to the viewer’s eye or why it is used in photography. Then use two or three photos that are fantastic examples of the principle you are defining. Use photos that are exciting to you. Go to photographer’s websites (look under the Inspiration tab on this website) or Instagram to find the photos. Do not just google the principles. Those aren’t going to be your favorite photographs, but enjoy them anyway.
Here are the Principles of Composition:
Rule of Thirds Balance/Symmetry
Perspective Framing
Leading Lines Repetition
This assignment deals with the aspect of composition in the photograph. You will create photographs that both work well within the framework of the viewfinder and hold the viewer’s interest, which means the photo should have a subject. Try to use the same subject for ALL the photos. Final photos should be in focus, have an appropriate exposure, and follow each of the composition guidelines as described below.
Rule of Thirds
Take 12 photos. The rule of thirds involves dividing up your image using 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines, as shown below. You then position the important elements in your scene along those lines, or at the points where they meet. Those points create visual tension and the viewers eyes are drawn to those areas of a photograph.
Perspective
Take 12 photos. It is about how you show a three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional plane. A lot depends on where you place yourself when capturing a scene. One photo from a bird’s eye view and one photo from a worm’s eye view (stand on a chair or get down on the ground). Bird’s eye view is a high point of view. Worm’s eye view is a low point of view.
Leading Lines
Take 12 photos showing leading lines. Leading lines are lines that appear in a photograph that have been framed and positioned by the photographer to draw the viewer’s eye towards a specific point of interest. These lines often draw the viewer’s eye in a specific direction or towards a designated portion of the photograph.
Framing
Take 12 photos using framing. Framing in photography refers to the technique of drawing focus to the subject in the photo by blocking other parts of the image with something in the scene. Frames can be located in the center of the picture or alongside its edges. Use trees, doorways, buildings, etc. to create a “frame” around the subject. Framing helps draw attention to the subject
Rhythm/Repetition
Take 12 photos that show rhythm/repetition. Rhythm or repetition is a principle that focuses on repeating shapes often creating more abstract photos and can create a sense of movement.
Balance Take 12 photos 
. Among the most basic compositional techniques is symmetrical balance, also known as formal balance. Symmetrical balance requires the photographer to place the main subject at the center of the image so that both sides appear symmetrical or as a mirror image if vertical lines are drawn through them Symmetry is a part of the principle of balance. When a photo is symmetrical, the visual weight of two sides of the photo feels the same. The sides do not have to be identical, but feel about the same weight.
Week 2: Assignment 6|HDR & Silhouette
Objectives
In this assignment you’ll learn…
Recall the basic characteristics of light.
Select filters for different lighting conditions or special effects.
Explain the importance of contrast filters for black-and-white photography.
Describe how the f-stop system functions.
Discuss how exposure is affected by the interrelationship of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO rating.
Demonstrate proper light metering techniques.
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 16- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. LinkedIn Learning Video:Silhouette Photography: Shooting and Post Processing
3. LinkedIn Learning Video: HDR Photography: Shooting and Processing
4. Practice HDR & Outdoor Silhouette
HDR – Take 12-24 outdoor landscape & portrait pictures with a five-shot bracket exposure of the same picture. Once complete, download your images to your computer then open in Adobe Photoshop CC. Then File>Automate>Merge to HDR Pro OR HDR using the raw menu>open your images in the raw menu with Adobe Photoshop CC 2018. Select images that you would like to merge too HDR. Then in the left upper corner, next to the word “filmstrip” click the 3 lines and a drop down bar will appear. Select merge HDR.
Outdoor Silhouette – The basic strategy you’ll need to employ in taking silhouette images is to place your subject (the shape you want to be blacked out) in front of some source of light and to force your camera to set its exposure based upon the brightest part of your picture (the background) and not the subject of your image. In doing this your subject will be underexposed (and very dark, if not black). Outside you will need to do a TTL meter reading of the background, set your aperture then focus back on your subject.
Photo Assignment:
Take 12-24 outdoor pictures showing HDR.
Take 12-24 outdoor Silhouette images.
Week 3: Assignment 7| Photo Essay
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
Recall the major categories of action and event photography.
Identify the techniques used to stop action.
Describe the different focus techniques used in action photography.
Contrast hard news and feature (soft news) photography.
Recall the advantages and disadvantages of using a camera’s built-in flash.
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
Read the textbook: Chapter 20- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
LinkedIn Learning Video: Learning Photojournalism and Photo Essays
A Photo Essay is a series of photographs that are intended to tell a story. Take a look at this story board I created. It can be a sequential in nature, viewed in a particular order, or they may consist of non-ordered photographs that may be viewed all at once or in an order chosen by the viewer. All photo essays are collections of photographs, but not all collections of photographs are photo essays. Photo essays often address a certain issue or attempt to capture the character of people, places, or events.
Photo Assignment:
The photographic essay should tell the story of a person or people, a place, an object, or collection of things, an event, or an issue and include images that thoroughly explore aspects of the student’s chosen topic. Take about 10-12 photos and tell a story with them. Once your done with this, we will create a story board in photoshop.
Week 4: Assignment 8| Panorama
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
Identify the types of subjects covered by the term outdoor photography.
Describe the importance to photographers of the lighting conditions surrounding sunrise and sunset.
Understand the reasons for using a tripod when photographing landscapes.
Explain why manual exposure, focus, and white balance controls should be used when shooting a panorama with a digital camera.
Describe the environmental precautions to be observed when photographing plants and animals.
Compare the effects of different shutter speeds on the appearance of water in motion.
Compare the various types of close-up equipment and identify the most suitable use for each type.
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 14- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. LinkedIn Learning Video:Shooting and Processing Panoramas
3. Practice– Landscape Photography
Panoramic photography, also known as wide format photography, is a special technique that stitches multiple images from the same camera together to form a single, wide photograph (vertical or horizontal).
Here’s how you should define panoramic images:
Wide angle panoramas – anything that looks like a wide angle photograph, which covers less than 180 degrees, whether horizontal or vertical. Wide angle panoramas can even look like regular images, except they are stitched from several photographs and therefore would have more resolution.
-180 degree panoramas – panoramas that cover 180 degrees from left to right. These types of panoramas look very wide, covering a large area.
-360 degree panoramas – panoramas that cover up to 360 degrees. These panoramas look extremely wide and they cover the whole scene in a single, super wide image.
There are two ways to capture panoramic images:
Taking horizontal shots – an easy method for quick panoramas, where resolution is not important. Take two horizontal images that overlap then stitch them together.
Taking vertical shots – a preferred way to capture panoramas. Vertical images capture more of the sky and ground and yield higher resolution panoramas compared to horizontal ones. Take four vertical images that overlap then stitch them together.
Camera Settings: Before you start taking panoramic images, you have to change some of the settings on your camera. Here is what I recommend to set in your camera:
- Shoot in “Manual” mode –Why would you shoot on anything else!!!!
- Set your lens to Manual Focus – if you have a DSLR, focus your lens on a distant object (infinity or near infinity), then switch to manual focus. You do not want your camera to change focus every time you take a picture.
- ISO – make sure that “Auto ISO” is turned off and set your ISO to ISO 100
- Aperture and Shutter Speed – for panoramic images, you want to have everything in focus. Therefore, make sure that your aperture is set to a good number that will put everything, including any foreground elements, into perfect focus. Depending on your lens focal length, you should set your aperture to at least f/8, preferably f/10 and higher. Once you set the right aperture, set your shutter speed based on the meter reading.
- Metering –TTL in terms of metering, do not meter off the brightest or darkest areas of the scene, but rather try to find a “ middle” and set your shutter speed based on that area for the entire panorama. Take a couple of pictures and make sure that the images are not too overexposed or underexposed for the brightest and darkest parts of the scene.
- Lens Focal Length – think wide and use a wide-angle lens.
- Shoot in RAW – I always recommend shooting in RAW for best results.
- White Balance – set your White Balance to “Auto” when shooting in RAW and change later, if necessary
Photo Assignment: Take 8-10 photos of a landscape aim for an overlap of about one-third or about 30%.The photo merging software requires you to have a generous overlap of each photo you take. It needs this to make it possible to match up and align the photos.
Finally: Using Adobe Photoshop CC
>Open Photoshop CC and then go to “File”->”Automate”->Photomerge…A dialog box will come up simply click “Browse” and select the images to be merged into a panorama. Make sure that “Blend Images Together” and “Geometric Distortion Correction” are checked, then click OK. This will start the stitching process, which can sometimes take a long time, depending on the number of images and their size. Once the process is completed, all you have to do is crop the image and you are all set!
Week 5: Assignment 9| Window Light
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
Discuss the significance of photography in our visual society.
Describe the various methods of entering the field of commercial photography.
Identify the major photographic career fields.
Describe the basic skills important to succeeding as a commercial photographer.
Demonstrate a variety of ways to photograph a given subject.
Create a portfolio for use as a career tool.
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 1- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. Practice– Window Lighting pictures
3. Watch: Window Light Studio Portrait Photoshoot Behind the Scene
4. Watch: Food Photography with Indoor Natural Lighting
What is Window lighting? So basically window light is the soft light, which comes in through your windows when the sky is slightly on the overcast side. If you use direct sunlight through the windo
w it would be harsh and will produce sharp shadows which may not be pleasant for portraits, but try it and let me know what you think. The Diffused light usually produces less contrast compared to normal light. One of the best things about window light is that you can find it almost anywhere. Think of the window as a large, flattering light source. Position your subject beside a window. Move around if you don’t like what you see, try a different position or even a different window. And as always if you need to bounce some of that beautiful light on the other side, place a reflector or two.
Window lighting can be challenging if you don’t know what you are doing, but by now you (yes you) should know what to do! If not, let’s review: When working indoors you will generally need a high ISO but make sure you don’t bump up the ISO beyond its limits (meaning you should know what the max ISO you can set your camera to) Second, is the aperture, OPEN IT (meaning f/1.8 or f/2.8) Last is the focusing, focusing in low light situations with a large aperture can be tricky so be careful. Other than that, have fun and take some beautiful pictures!!!*You must photograph 4-6 different subjects with Window Light with a person and product.
Photo Assignment:
Research Window lighting pictures.
Take photos 4-6 different subjects demonstrating Window Light.You must shoot 12-24 images and make a contact sheet of your work.
Week 6: Assignment 10| Lifestyle Portraits
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
• Take an outdoor lifestyle photograph of a person that includes enough of the background to tell a story about your subject.
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 9 – Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. Practice– Lifestyle Portraits
3. Watch: How To Make Great Lifestyle Portraits by Adding Props, People and Pets!
Research: Lifestyle portraits. Put your subject in their natural environment, including elements of the background to tell the viewer something about the subject. This is the approach taken by photojournalists, documentary photographers, travel photographers and also some fine art photographers.
Photo Assignment:Take 12-24 photos of a Lifestyle Portrait. Lifestyle photography is a kind of photography mainly aimed to capture portraits/people in situations, real-life events or milestones in an artistic manner and the art of the everyday. The primary goal is to tell stories about people’s lives or to inspire people in different times.
- Plan every step of the photograph including subject, location, lighting, props and clothing.
- Find a Location – Find an area to set up your photograph. Look for good lighting and an appropriate background. How will you control the background (in focus or out of focus, lighter or darker than your subject)
- Choose the correct lens to achieve the look you want for your photograph.
- Choose a subject of subjects, an appropriate pose and any props needed.
- Who would buy this photograph and don’t say your mother!
Week 7: Assignment 11|Natural Light Portraits
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
Learn how to pose people and use natural light for portraits
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 18- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. LinkedIn Learning Video: Douglas Kirkland on Photography: Natural Light Portraiture
3. Research: Natural Light Portraits. Google and/or Pinterest to seek our posing inspiration for family/kids/high school seniors. Try new things, experiment and make mistakes and learn from them.
Natural light is beautiful! There are different qualities about it that you can use to your advantage with portraits. Direct light (in the sun!) is harsh and can be used for an edgy, high contrast look. Indirect light (shade or overcast) is soft and gives a more even look and feel to portraits. What time of day should you take portraits? In reality, you can use any time! Just use your surroundings to work with the light you have. The golden hour is the hour before the sun sets and the hour after the sun rises, which is a great time for portraits because the direction of light is great, color is warm, and light is a little softer.
Photo Assignment: You have been hired to take a family/kids/high school senior portrait. Your job is to take 20-24 different photos because a client wouldn’t want to see 20-24 photos that look the same (i.e. same pose, same type of shot, same clothing, same pose, same location, etc.). Make sure you switch up all the photos by shooting full body, 3/4 body, headshot, vertical, horizontal, changing poses, changing location, changing outfits, etc. Take 12-24 photos of a person in natural light.
Week 8: Assignment 12|Painting with Light
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
A technique that uses a moving light source to add light to an under-illuminated subject while taking a long-exposure photograph
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 19- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. Watch this video: Light Painting Tutorial
Research: Light Painting Photography is the Art Form of using hand he
ld lights to paint and/or draw in a scene while the shutter of a camera is left open during a long exposure photograph. Basically set the camera to a slow shutter 1/10th of a sec or slower and set the aperture to f/11 and walk into the scene and start lighting an object or objects in the camera’s view. Exposure times can range from just a few seconds up to an hour or more. Your goal is to try and create the most creative/impressive painting with light image or images.
Photo Assignment: Take 12-24 photos of you Painting with Light
Week 9: Assignment 13| Self-Portrait
Objectives:
In this assignment you’ll learn…
How to take several photos demonstrating self-portraiture, be creative!
Selfie (also selfy): sel·fie \ selfē\ n. (plural selfies): A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. Self-portraiture is one of the oldest genres in Western European art.
Almost, if not all, great artists have turned their eye on themselves—perhaps out of curiosity; perhaps for immortality. Photographers are no less interested in portraying themselves through their medium.For this you will submit three photos you have taken of yourself. The challenge for you, the artist, is to find ways to use your camera to portray yourself as YOU. Please be very aware of the background in the photos. You should also be sure the photo is composed correctly, and that you present this as a true portrait of yourself! Try to keep your “camera arm” out of the photo, and that this is a pleasing and well-composed portrait of yourself.
Student Activities (online work): Read, Watch Video & Practice
1. Read the textbook: Chapter 2- Complete: Technical Terms, Review Questions & Workbook
2. Watch this Video: 10 Ideas for Cheap Self Portraits | Photography Tips
Photo Assignment: Take 12 Selfie/ Self-Portraits