Intro To Light

Today I learned from the wonderful Johnny Long about light. To move into portraits, we learned about basic lightning and posing.  We learned about how to reduce "sharp" light by moving the light closer to the subject and how you can reduce shadows by moving your subject away from the background. But above all, we learned to experiment with the light and to just shoot a lot of pictures.

Technical Stuff:

• Think about where your subject is placed and how they will be perceived.
• Should they be sitting down?
• Look at the angles and see how different angles look together.
• "Feathering" bouncing the light off of something instead of shining it directly on the subject.
• Bulb setting allows you to hold the shutter open for as long as you want *but you have to shut it again.*

Photography Terms

1. What do you like to photograph?


I like to shoot landscapes and cityscapes. Especially Long Shots.






2. What is the aperture? What does it affect (hint: it affects two things: Light and ______)


Light and Focus






3. What is ISO?


It refers to the sensitivity of the picture to light (higher the ISO the grainier the picture)






4. What is shutter speed? What does it affect?


The amount of time the shutter is open on the camera. It works together with aperture to affect light and focus.






5. What is the exposure triad and how do they work together to control exposure?


The exposure triad is Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO. By controlling them you can have a shallow depth of field or a deep depth of field.






6. How do you control Depth of Field (DOF)?


By using the exposure triad by changing one or more of them. (Having a lower aperture or a faster shutter speed will make a shallower depth of field.)






7. What is the difference between Shutter-Priority mode, Aperture-Priority mode, and Manual exposure mode?


When using a certain mode you control one or more of the exposure triad. There are four modes on our DSLR cameras: Auto, Shutter-Priority, Aperture-Priority, and Manual. Auto you don't control any settings, Shutter you control the Shutter Speed, Aperture you control the Aperture Settings, and Manual you control all of the above.






8. What are tonal values? What are different ways to adjust them in Photoshop?


A tonal value is how vibrant a certain color is. You can adjust them in Photoshop by using an adjustment layer.



9. What is a histogram? (we'll be talking more about this soon)


A graph that can tell you how much of certain tones you have in a particular picture.



10. What are different kinds of light to use when shooting? Describe each (diffused, direct, existing, artificial, natural, fill, key, flash).


Diffused . Direct . Existing . Artificial . Natural . Fill . Key . Flash .



11. What is the basic image editing process (in Photoshop)?


Cropping, adjusting the tonal values, and masking are all essential parts to the basic imaging process.



12. What are different ways to make a selection in Photoshop?


There are a variety of ways to make a selection in Photoshop, such as the Marquee tool and the magic selection tool or the selection tool.




13. Why is it important to use adjustment layers in Photoshop?

So you can make your picture the exact way you want it and control your tonal values.






14. What is an example of an ethical issue in Photography? For example, if photography is meant to be an accurate representation of reality, is it ethical to remove or edit out part of an image for a news story? Find a recent news story that shows is representative of an ethical issue in Photography. What is your opinion about it?

This article was interesting about whether paparazzi were legal and how maybe all photographers were like them. I think that people shouldn't be stalked but I don't think that all photographers are stalkers.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-16282985






15. Why do you think Photography is important today? Be specific and thoughtful in your response.


I think that we would absolutely suffer without it. Many people use cameras and photography to commemorate and reminisce about past events. Photos and Mental pictures are as much a part of us as music. For hundreds of years we have remembered and recorded history that we considered significant. And losing the history that photography offers us is horrible in my opinion.

Architectural Location

Where? Cascade Station
Why? Because I have always wanted to shoot there.
What? Stores, Flags, Industrial Objects.
When? Late Afternoon
How will I capture it in a unique way? By using the Photography Trifecta (Aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed)  I will blur certain parts to come up with the best solution and I also I will remember that I have photoshop to finish my pictures to perfection.
What particular challenges do I envision? Transportation is a big one since I don't drive so I will have to do with mass transit and navigate my way. Also the shading of the individual objects.