Week 2, Exercise and Homework

Topics: Short history of digital photography, to be a photographic artist, image capture—cameras, basic adjustments, depth of field, shutter speed, focal length

In-class: Basic digital workflow and adjustments

Read (for Wednesday 9/5):

1. Chapters 1 & 3
2. Prepare for Discussion: pages 18-30. Choose 3 of the question/answer combinations that seems most relevant to you, or interesting. Then chose one that you don't agree with or which seems less relevant. Be prepared to defend your views in a class discussion

Deep depth of field. Achieve with small aperture and/or wider angle lens.

Shallow depth of field. Achieve with wide aperture and/or longer (telephoto) lens.

Shooting (for Wednesday 9/5)

Review reading on depth of field and shutter speeds (in chapter 3)

For those of you with a digital SLR, or a camera with these controls:

Explore depth-of-field using Aperture Priority Mode. 

Nikon: use "A" mode

Canon: use "Av" mode

The photographer chooses the aperture and the camera automatically adjusts shutter speed for optimal exposure.

Shoot in fairly bright conditions to ensure adequate exposure. Create a photograph where there is a distinct foreground object and the background is fairly far away.  Shoot the image three times, varying the apertures. Create at least 10x3 image sets.

• f4 or wider (f2.8, f1.4 okay)
• f8
• f16 or smaller (f22 okay)

Explore motion control using Shutter Priority Mode. 

Nikon: use "S" mode

Canon: use "Tv" mode

The photographer chooses the shutter speed and the camera automatically adjusts aperture for optimal exposure.

Shoot in relatively dim conditions to reduce over-exposure. Create a photograph where there is a moving object going across the frame. Coming toward/moving away from you is not as good.  Shoot the image three times, varying the shutter speeds. Hold the camera as steady as possible. Create at least 10x3 image sets.

• 1/2 second or slower
• 1/60th second
• 1/250th second or faster

For fun, try a pan shot with a long exposure... what happens when you track the camera with the moving subject?

Explore the effects of focal length.  For those of you without a digital SLR, or a camera without the above controls.

Shoot in fairly bright conditions to ensure adequate exposure. Create a photograph where there is a distinct foreground object and the background is fairly far away.  Shoot the image three times, varying the zoom settings, but be sure to keep the subject the same size in the frame. This means that for a wide angle lens setting, you will need to come very close to the subject to maintain the size. For a high zoom setting, you will need to stand back to maintain the size of the subject.  Create at least 20x3 image sets.

• wide angle focal length
• middle or "normal" range focal length
• long or zoomed focal length