Cropping Photographs

There are many times, in fact most times, when you will want to Crop a picture you take. to crop means to cut out the areas of a picture you do not want. it is used to help create a definite focal point, or point of interest, and can also be used to adjust your picture so that it complies with the Rule of Thirds.

Tools used:

Crop Tool
Ratio
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I will give a demonstration of these tools in class, and you can find a detailed tutorial at the site below:

Photoshop Essentails  - Cropping Images in Photoshop CS6

Your task today is to select 1 photo you have taken and crop them according to the Rule of Thirds. 

You may choose the Ratio, but state which Ratio you have chosen in the blog post.

Include the original version of the Photograph.

Here is an example below.

Cropping Assignment

Original Uncropped

Cropped . Original Ratio, Rule of Thirds

AP Images Critique

Today you will choose a photo from AP Images to critique. Follow the example below to do your critique.

1. Copy the Image (or use the Snipping tool) to upload the photo to your blog.

2. Add the link from the AP site to your blog.

3. Paste the description of the photo from the AP site to your blog.
Description: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men pray ahead of the Jewish New Year at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's old city, Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013. Israelis happily welcomed the Jewish New Year late Wednesday despite uncertainty and turmoil brewing on both its northern and southern borders. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

4. Answer the following:

• Who was the photographer?
• What country and city was the photo taken in?
• What event was photographed?
• Describe the event that was photographed.
• Why is the event newsworthy? Why is it important to us?

5. Write a Critique. Use the Critique Guide in the link above.

Adjustment layers - Desaturate-Levels Assignment - Post to Your Blog

Change a color photo to black and white
Open a photograph you have taken
Using the Hue-Saturation Adjustment layer, convert the picture to black and white.
Post the original and De-Saturated (black and White) to your blog.



Original Color



Desaturated



Adjusted Levels



Histogram

Photography Ethics - Altered Images

You are about to begin using Photoshop in this class. This software allows you to completely change a photograph from its original version.

What is ethical when taking pictures and using Photoshop? How much can we alter a picture and still call it true, honest photography that represents the situation we took a picture of?

Here is a statement of Photography Ethics from a website. Read over it. You will refer to these policies in your answers.

1.Autonomy - In what way can I show respect for a person's right to decline or consent to photography? How do I handle informed consent?

2.Non-Maleficence (Do No Harm) - Am I creating and using photos in a manner that will do no harm to persons appearing in photos?

3.Beneficence (Do Good) - What is my intention or purpose for taking this photo? How can I use a photo to promote a good cause while ensuring that I do no harm to individuals in photos?

4.Fidelity - Am I using photos in a context that fairly represents the real situation, subject identity, or physical location of the image? What steps am I taking to properly credit the photographer?

5.Justice - Am I photographing people and communities with the same respect I would show to neighbors and strangers in my home country?

Now look at this site. Find 3 examples that make an impression on you.

http://www.alteredimagesbdc.org

In a brief paragraph for each picture., explain why the pictures are not 'Ethical". Use the Ethics website and the 5 Principles above to guide you.

Principle of Design in Photography

Examples of Design Principles in Photography

Take the following pictures using the Principles of Design:

Desaturate (convert it to black and white) and adjust Levels in each picture



Texture - Take a Close-up pic to capture rough, smooth, cracked, bumpy, etc








Variety - Take a picture with an interesting/different mix of objects









Unity/Harmony - Take a picture with a group of similar objects or values 








Repetition - Rythm







Proportion - Scale - Use differences in size to create a composition









Emphasis - Focal point - Use Shallow depth of Field






Movement - Use Freeze Action or Motion Blur






Balance - Symmetrical and Asymmetrical

Perspective and Point of View in Photographs

Today we will talk about Perspective. 

When taking pictures, don't just shoot at Eye level. Take a look at the examples at the site below.

http://digital-photography-school.com/perspective-photography-dont-just-stand-move-feet/

Capture 2 Images of each of the following perspectives and post them to your blog:

Birds eye Perspective

Bugs eye

Eye Level

Horizontal Leading Lines

Vertical Leading Lines

Diagonal Leading Lines
Curves

Combination of 2 of the various perspectives.

Make sure to label each picture.

Here is a good example from a previous class. 

Composing Your Photograph Using the Rule of Thirds

Today you will take pictures using the Rule of Thirds. You will need to post 3-5 examples of the Rule of Thirds to your blog. For each example write an explanation of how the rule of thirds was used in each picture.

The rule of thirds is probably the most often referenced photography rule of composition.  It is all about subject placement within the frame.

Imagine that your picture space is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically, like a tic tac toe grid.

The photography rule of thirds tells us to align our subject with one of the points where those lines cross. That means our subject is one third of the way “into” the picture space – from either the top or bottom, and from either the left or right. And that means it’s not in the middle.



Here is an example of the rule of thirds for a landscape photo. The focus is on the land area rather than the sky so the bottom two-thirds of the photograph are filled with land and the top third is sky.

Here are additional links explaining and demonstrating the Rule of thirds.
http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds
http://learnprophotography.com/rule-of-thirds
http://www.ultimate-photo-tips.com/photography-rule-of-thirds.html

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/rule-of-thirds

Aperture - Depth of Field Excercise

Today you will experiment with capturing both shallow and deep Depth of Field.

Post your examples to your blog demonstrating both shallow and extended Depth of Field.

You should have 2 examples of both deep and shallow depth of Field.

 follow the format below for each picture:

This pic was shot at ISO 400, Shutter Speed 1/125, aperture f5.6. 
The DoF is very shallow:

This pic was shot at ISO 1600, Shutter Speed 1/60, Aperture f32. 
it has an extended Depth of Field.

Aperture - The AMOUNT of light let into the camera

Aperture is the opening in the lens that controls the AMOUNT of light that you allow to enter the camera. 

It is measured in a thing we call the F number.



As you decrease the size of the Aperture you increase the amount of the picture that is in focus. This is called Depth of field.

Watch the following video for a good explanation of how Aperture works. We'll began using different F Stops and doing Depth of Field exercises later in class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUbjkMm_v-A


Depth of Field is the amount of the image that is in sharp focus

Here is the a link that describes how and when to use Aperture Priority

Here's link that descibes how to take better pictures using Aperture Priority.

Use the Nikons to experiment with Depth of Field around the building. Take pictures with both Shallow and Deep Depth of Field. We'll post them next class.