Alphabet Composition!

     Look at my masterpiece! I worked hard for this. Finding letters from ordinary things wasn't that easy as you think. I regret because what I passed is a collage with white background and I found out after that it would look better with this black background. Well at least, I've learned!

DAY 5: Composition Making

     It's been a long time since we had our class. Though it's only one meeting we missed because of the typhoon, it feels that all of us haven't seen each other for a very long time ago. We thought that we'll already take the online exam as our prelims on that day that's why you would see a lot who were in rush reading notes and asking their seatmates.

     Relieved! Fortunately, we'll not take the exam yet! (because honestly I'm unprepared)

     The first thing we were asked to do when our professor came in is to prepare our portrait shot of one of our family members. We presented our works in front of the class while telling what's the context or situation while taking those photos and also the settings of the exposure triangle. My shot was under-exposed, my model was my sister.

     After the presentation our prof revealed that our topic will be about composition and to test how we see things with the lenses of the camera, we were tasked to do an ALPHABET PHOTOGRAPHY! There we spread outside the room eager to find anything that will show letters of the alphabet. May the best eyes win!The more creative you are, the more chances of winning! Lol.

     The secret maybe is to simply be a kin observer. Look on every small details in the surroundings. They may show the letters you're finding. We learned that in order to identify if you have at least good skills in composition, show your shot to others and if takes time for them to recognize the letter that you're trying to show, it's time to find another subject and work harder, while if they understand the letter immediately, go ahead and keep up the good work!

     These are some of the photos that I took when we done the exercise for almost an hour. I hope you understand what I am trying to show on each picture! All of the photos were shot inside the campus since we're not allowed to go outside the school because it's still our class hours though we're doing our exercise outside the classroom.

     After we tried our composition activity outside the room which we'll pass and present next meeting, our prof told us another new information about cameras that we should not forget. 

     It's about how the camera metering matters. We learned that cameras make black or white colors in the picture into a middle gray shade. Something like the color will always be in the middle tone. 

     Look at the picture below. The first one show the corresponding color where the center have the middle gray. The Second picture is an example of the metering we see in our camera whever we are about to take a shot. It's would tell you if it would be going to be over-exposed (more on left) or under-exposed( more on right), that's why to play safe you should let the pointer be at the middle. 

Photo From Google Images

Photo From Google Images

     It may be just easy and definitely the basics but at least the following sizes are already clear to us now. Thanks to our professor! Hahaha!

3x5 = 3R

4x6 = 4R

5x7 = 5R

8x10 = 8R

11x14 = 111R

     Thanks for visiting and reading! Watch out for my Alphabet Photography soon when I'm done!

May God Bless Us All! 

DAY 4: PORTRAIT LIGHTING PATTERNS

     The discussion and demo about the lighting patterns wasn't too long because our professor let us devote the remaining time to try by ourselves the lighting patterns of portrait shots.
 
 These are four lighting pattern:

1. SPLIT
    The face here is split into two where the half is dark and overshadowed while the other is clear.

2. BUTTERFLY/PARAMOUNT/GLAMOUR
     You will know that it's a butterfly lighting if you find a shadow right under the model's nose.

3. LOOP
     It is a shot wherein the shadow is on the side of the model's face. The nose's shadow is slightly slanted but is not touching the shadow at the bottom part of the face.

4. REMBRANDT
     It is the type of lighting pattern which you can see the triangle on one cheek of the model because the shadow of the nose overlapped with the bottom shadow part of the face.

There are also Styles in the lighting patterns, here are they:

1. Short - Light is on the area that's not facing the camera. For example is the model poses a side view and her left cheek is facing the camera, the light will be toward her right right face to obtain the short style.

2. Broad - It is the opposite of the short style. If it will be broad, the light now will be on the left face of the model which is the same area that's facing the camera.

     Our professor also told us some tips. He said that if you want to look thinner, you should use the side lighting. Mostly it's for boys but it could also be a shot applicable for girls. He also showed us some pictures that really transformed the model. The transformation happen without the use of any editing software, it's just simply because of the angles and poses. A model (like what we deed) could spread her arms, move his/her lower body parts a bit backward, or lean to look thinner.

     Throughout the whole class hours, the lesson that I've learned the most is that photography isn't really easy for beginners. You just don't need to be good in taking shots, you have to know as well how to talk to people. You should know how to make your clients feel comfortable during photo shoots. Photography isn't just about having good photos of the nature or the macro thingies, it's also capturing different kinds of people.
   

DAY 3: ISO and LIGHT PAINTING

     We had our assignment last week which is to submit the best photo that we can take, now that we know the purposes of ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture. So, our class starts by presenting the photographs that we have. I’m thankful they appreciate my shot. (If you want to see what I submitted and the other shots that served as my choices, click THIS)

     After the presentation, we had again a short discussion and review about the light control buttons. Our professor stressed out that the shutter speed controls the ambient light. Like on my other classmates’ shots, they can make their shots look a bit dim though it’s 12 o’clock in the afternoon and brighter even if it’s 6 in the afternoon. I can call it, “The wonders of Shutter Speed”. I realized that I really need to memorize by heart the functions of the exposure triangle so I would be able to get the shots that I want to establish.

     Remember ISO? It’s the sensitivity to light. Our professor called me to cite something that I learned and I said the ISO function. If for example you’re in a party which is dark, you can adjust you’re ISO to make your objects clear and visible. It can also be useful in museums and theatres where it’s a bit dark and the use of flash is prohibited.  Meaning if higher ISO capability, you can capture brighter images. It connotes too that the HIGHER ISO the camera has, the MORE EXPENSIVE it will be.

     One thing that I also love when I learned about it is the aperture. Because aside from it controls the light, it is also responsible for the Depth of Field (DOF). It’s important also especially for me who loves having blurry background.

     Our first activity is to experiment with the ISO. We went outside and took pictures with different ISO. Here are my shots. They have the same Shutter Speed and Aperture except the ISO, for me to be able to distinguish the difference between each ISO levels.

  

     When we’re all done with the activity, our professor thought us how to do the LIGHT PAINTING!

    So here’s the list of what I’ve learned:

·         ISO should be 100

·         You can set the camera first to auto, to have find the focus, then set it to manual again

·         You can set the timer to two seconds first for preparation

·         The aperture must be f/ the highest number so the hole would be small and there blurriness would not occur

·         Set the shutter speed depending on the shot that you want to have, for example you want a lot of details in your light painting, set it like 20 o 30, or try 6 if it’s just simple and small

·         You can also choose the bulb as the shutter speed so the time of the shutter to open and close will depend on how long you click the capture button

·         THE MOST IMPORTANT: YOUR LIGHT PAINTING WILL NOT BE AS GOOD AS YOU WANT IT WITH JUST ONE SHOT OR ONE TRIAL SO WHAT IT TAKES IS REALLY A LOT OF PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE!

     Look at the scenario in our classroom while we’re having our light painting session. Look also on what change the ISO did. Only the middle picture shows the exact lighting that we have in the room that moment. Observe the ISO magic! :) 

  

     No further ado, now I introduce you my own LIGHT PAINTING!!
(It took me a lot (as in 60 plus) of trials to have the best that I can)

f/27   30s   100   

f/27   30s   100

f/22   63s   100

    My first concept is to make the light looks like a smoke coming from the glass bottle but then I've realized that it'll be good if I'll try to put some stuff inside the bottle and use other light color.  

Show Your Best Shot

     Our professor required us to give next meeting a 5r copy of the best shot that we can capture. Now that we know the functions of the exposure triangle, he also told us that we need to put the settings that we used on the picture. Editing is not allowed.

     Look at my shot, as of now it's the best that I have!

f/ 5.6     1/90   100

The following are the photos that serve as my other choices:

f/ 5.6     1/15   100

f/ 5.6     1/30   200