Improvements to my previous assignments (part 1) November 17, 2008
Posted by jhchen in Assignment 1, Assignment 2A, Assignment 5.add a comment
After going through this module, though it was quite tough at times with the tight project deadlines and presentation every week, I feel that I have learn a lot from this module and i am able to take better shots now with better composition, angles and especially exposure. Thinking back, it was really not easy initially when i started out. I still vividly remember the monotonous shots that I have taken.
Throughout the course of module, I have been always reviewing on my previous assignments and was hoping i can improve on them but didn’t have the time to upload to the blog. Sorry for that. =)
Here are some of the shots that I have improved. Feel free to comment on any of them.
Assignment 1
Subject Element: Colour (Title: The Bright Side of School)
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
Location: Walkpath from the central library to COM1 (near LT15)
For this shot, as the title suggestion, I wanted to portray the bright side of the school. Being a student, studying is our top priority. Most of the time, students are rushing from places to places to attend lesson and thus not noticing the bright side of our school. I also hope that this shot can help to bring the awareness to observe the surrounding and enjoy the process instead of just study, study and study.
Assignment 2
Subject Element: High Key (Title: Innocence)
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
For your information, the baby girl in the photo is my niece. For this shot, I wanted to use the low key effect to enhance the innocence of kids. My experience from this shot teach me that it is not an easy task to take a clear nice shot of small kids because they keep moving around! To achieve this, it took me multiple shots in order to get the angle and feeling i wanted to portray. Nonetheless, it is a nice experience taking photos for my niece. Isn’t she adorable? =)
Subject Element: Low Key (Title: The Fake)
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
For this shot, I wanted to enhance the mysterious effect of the mask. The low key is to portray the more evil side of human using a mask. I used a black cloth when taking this shot. It was taken in a well-litted room and was taken without a flashlight. Personally, this is one of my favourites as it brings out the eerie and mysterious feeling when I view this photo. Comments and feedbacks from my friends are positive too.
Subject Element: Perspective (Title: Taking Off) or Adjective for assignment 5 (Title: Progressive)
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
I slightly tilted my camera to take this shot. Perviously, it was taken at a less interesting angle. I went back to the same block of building to take this shot. By the way for those that can’t make out the place, it was taken at a newly erected 4o storey HDB flat next to commonwealth mrt and the view was marvellous. From this shot, I have learnt that sometimes breaking the rules and tilt the camera, the effect might be magnificient. Thanks Evan for your feedback. =)
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
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
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
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
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
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
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)
(Click on the image to view the higher resolution version)
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:
