Assignment 1 – Subject Elements August 29, 2008
Posted by jhchen in Assignment 1.add a comment
Learning Experience
This is my first assignment for this module and my first experience on a digital SLR; I was feeling anixous and unsure how to go about doing it. Thus, I borrowed some photography books (National Geographic: Photography field guide and photography for dummies) from the library and read up more on how to operate the SLR and stuff. For those who are interested in photography and have no basic knowledge on it, I truly recommend you to read up the 2 books mentioned above as it gives you the technical information such as aperture size and shutter speed.
After reading up the books, I went ahead with my first hands-on experience. Initially, I do not really understand some of the terms in the books, until I experience it through taking some photos. The first round of random shots turn out to be a disaster to me, as most of them turned out to be unsharp and out of focus although they looked fine in the viewfinder.
Subsequently, I increased the shutter speed and minimized the aperture so that I am able to take sharp photos even if with shaky hands. That’s when I realised that the depth of field is rather smaller and elements that were closely behind became out of focus. There was once I could only focus a marker among the group of markers while my intention is to focus on the group of markers and blur out the background. From this, I learnt that knowing your intention is very important so that one could adjust the aperture and shutter speed settings towards it. I also learnt that to take an interesting photo, one should try taking it from different angles, the effect might turn out to be magnificent.
From this exercise, it also strengthens my knowledge and experience with the application of rule of thirds. Generally, the rule of thirds will ensure a nice and interesting positioning of the main focus which gives audience a comfortable feel. On the other hand, it might not be suitable for all scenarios. For instance, the photo that I have chosen for subject element: Colour which consists of different markers. I took 2 photos of them, one of which is aligned centre while the other aligned at the 1/3 position. It turned out that the one aligned centre is nicer in terms of balance. For this example, the colours of the markers play an important role. When the markers were positioned at the 1/3 position, it turned out that the elements were too heavy at the bottom. Hence, I feel that the rule of thirds is just a guideline for positioning elements more interesting and might not be able to apply at times like this.
Difficulties Encountered
Light & Exposure (aperture / shutter speed balance) – On my first attempt, I wasn’t sure which camera operating modes to choose from and what exactly each mode does. I decided on the manual mode because I wanted to adjust the settings manually and it gives me the full flexibility to adjust the aperture and shutter speed which later I found out that it is the most complex of all. I took quite a few under / over exposed photos before realising that there is a exposure meter that can check the exposure level for me. Hope that this would prevent you guys from making the same mistake.
Focus – Initially, I started off with a f/10 shutter speed which I thought was alright. But it turned out that most of the photos were out of focus and blur. I guessed it was due to the clicking motion of the button and the limitation of my hands to hold it firmly. From this, I learnt to take photos with faster shutter speed so as to avoid unsharp photos.
Positioning & Angles – When I came across some objects of interest, I was very unsure where should I place my camera. What angles? Should I apply rule of thirds? Should I take from the top, bottom, left or right? I wasted a lot of time on figuring out and visualizing where to take and that taught me to plan and have a rough idea before going down to the site. That actually worked for me on my subsequent attempts.
Here are some photographs that I have taken for my assignment 1:
Subject Element: Lines
Neat
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
Location: Central library
Clean
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Location: Central library
These photos were taken in the library while I was doing my tutorial. I spotted the view when I was referring to my textbook. I tried a few shots from different angles and chose these 2 because they give me a clean, neat and tidy feeling.
Subject Element: Shapes
Butterfly
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
Location: Central forum waiting area
Strength
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Location: School of Engineering
The first photo was taken on a rainy day when I was inspired by the angle from the umbrella that I was carrying. I chose this picture as an example of shape element because it resemblance a butterfly. For this photo, I feel that I also falls under the category of color and lines from the contrasting effect and lines of intersection.
The second photo was taken at school of engineering, opposite of university cultural centre. The object is a shelter at the entrance to school of enigneering. It makes up of lines that form triangles and spheres at all interconnections.
Subject Element: Colours
Rainbow
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
Location: Central library
Blocks
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Location: Central library
While I was drawing some illustrations for my commercial website, I realised that the bottom of the marker is rather interesting. Hence I tried to arrange the markers and took some shots of them and they turned out to be quite nice and balance. The closely packed highlighters resemblance part of a rainbow spectrum while the markers on the right resemblance blocks.
Subject Element: Form
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
Location: School of computing tutorial room (COM1-02-39)
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Location: NM3223 lecture room (AS1-03-04)
Subject Element: Texture
Location: University cultural centre
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
Location: Central library
Below are some of the photos that I have taken but filtered off due to under / over exposed, positioning, uninteresting angles, and balance of elements:
Comments and personal impression August 15, 2008
Posted by jhchen in Exercises.add a comment
(picture taken from http://www.worldpressphoto.org)
My first impression on this image is that everyone in the picture including the photographer, is in a very chaotic situation and confused state of mind, due to the blur that depicts motion. Psychologically, a photo that is taken in a normal condition should be sharp.
Without even reading the explanations of the photo, I can easily identify the explosion from the smoky background and fire sparks although we might not be able to identify the exact location of the explosion and the people involved.
Last but not least, the image is rather dark and features of the people involved are not really visible. I can only identify them from the silhouette due to the picture taken against a bright background during the explosion.
(pictures taken from http://www.worldpressphoto.org)
It consists of series of photos portraying a town from very different viewpoints; happy couples (tourists); unhappy villagers; abandoned houses to depict low visitors amount; helpless villagers that can’t do anything to improve the situation.
Colours combination and contrast in the series of the photos plays an important role in showing the drastic situation of the village.
Personally I feel that in photography, audience inferrence and impression are important factor when expressing a photo. By using different techniques, a message can be encoded into the photo and brought across to the viewers. Hence, learning the correct techniques to convey a certain message is crucial. For instance, blur logically gives the viewers an impression that the photographer took the photo in an unstable state such as taken on the move. They might also infer that it is taken under panicking situation such as a bombing site.
On the other hand, with different elements mixed together, blur can take up another meaning. Blur combined with dull colours portrays despair, lonesome and sadness which can be observed from the series of photos above.
In conclusion, different viewers have different sentiments towards each and every picture and hence it is important for photographers to be consistent and follow the convention in photography, otherwise viewers may be infer differently.
Introduction to NM3223: Digital Photography and Imaging August 10, 2008
Posted by jhchen in Introduction.add a comment
The word “photography” comes from the French photographie which is based on the Greek φώς (phos) “light” + γραφίς (graphis) “stylus”, “paintbrush” or γραφή (graphê) “representation by means of lines” or “drawing”, together meaning “drawing with light”.
Although the art of photography has been around for centuries, it is still something new to me. Personally, I do not have the opportunity to learn the various aspects of photography. Through this module, I have the chance to learn the different techniques to view photography in a more professional perspective.
In this blog, I would review some of the great photographs taken by professional photographers around the world and discuss the techniques, including the rule of thirds, colour composition, elements positioning and many more, in taking photos. Besides that, I would upload the photographs taken by me and the experience involved in taking them. I would also include the critics that I have received from friends and classmates during tutorial lessons and conversations. Feel free to comment on any of my photographs. Thanks in advance for your valuable feedback and have a great day ahead. . .
