This was a lovely photo shoot and I loved the opportunity to get outside and enjoy the sun. I enjoyed playing around with different apertures from the close ups of the leaves with a blurry background, to the smaller apertures with the whole frame in focus. The light streaming through the canopy of trees provided excellent lighting for these photos and I thoroughly enjoyed editing these in lightroom.
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Ansel AdamsPrezi Link: https://prezi.com/fof1xp_kmjxt/ansel-adams/ About Him: Ansel Adams was born in San Francisco on February 20, 1902. His mother was nearly forty when she had him and he grew up as an only child. As a child, Adams struggled to fit in at school due to his natural shyness and certain level of genius. He may have been diagnosed as hyperactive as a child and might have suffered from dyslexia as well. Because of this he was home schooled up to a level that would be equivalent to 8th grade. At the age of 12 Ansel taught himself to read music and play the piano. He began lessons and his passion of piano replaced what would have been his formal schooling. Initially Ansel planned on pursuing piano as a career, however he later turned to photography instead. He Died in Monterey, California, on April 22, 1984 at the age of 82.
Early Influences: Because of his lonely and different childhood Ansel turned to nature often and developed a deep passion for it. He would often go hiking and walking through the Golden Gate and it became his main inspiration for photography. One of Adams favorite places was Yosemite National Park. He first visited it in 1916, which began his experimentation with photography and he spend time there until the year he died. His first famous photo "Monolith, the Face of Half Dome" was taken in Yosemite National Park, in 1927. It was in Yosemite that he first learned darkroom techniques and read photography magazines, attended camera club meetings, and went to photography and art exhibits. He developed and sold his early photographs at Best’s Studio in Yosemite Valley. In 1928, Ansel Adams married the daughter of the Best’s Studio proprietor, Virginia Best. She inherited the studio in 1935, and the gallery remains in the family today. Interesting Facts: During the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, Ansel Adams was thrown against a garden wall and broke his nose. It was never properly set and remained crooked for the rest of his life. According to Michael Adams (Ansel Adams' son), he usually always had something positive to say about others photography, even if they had a particular style that was not his taste. He would make sure that he complimented them and gave them positive feedback and encouragement where he could. Why Is He Famous: Ansel Adams is famous for his masterful darkroom abilities and breathtaking landscape photos. His determination and patience when taking photos resulted in beautiful images and his knowledge and creativity allowed him to bring his images to life in the darkroom. His technical knowledge was unparallelled and he often gave advice and assistance to other famous photographers. Some of his most famous works include "Monolith, the Face of Half Dome", Yosemite National Park, 1927, Tetons and The Snake River, Grand Teton National Park,1942, and Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico a (photograph taken by Ansel Adams, late in the afternoon on November 1, 1941, from a shoulder of highway 84.) All of these images display his excellent capabilities with the camera and darkroom. His Style of Photography: Ansel Adams’ style of photography is landscape and natural photography. Because of the technology available he only works in black and white. He spend days hiking across National parks to take his photos, and worked in the dark room to enhance and produce his stunning images. Photography Techniques: Compositional Strategies: Framing, leading lines ,pattern and repetition, symmetry and asymmetry, bug’s eye view Balancing: left-right balance, contrast, vertical and horizontal frames and balancing, three grounds (fore, middle and background) One thing Ansel Adams frequently did was when he took a photograph he would make duplicates and take multiple exposures of the same shot. Many of his negatives are duplicate images that he selected out of a variety of different exposures. The best image would be used for printing. Lighting: Because most of his photography is in nature, capturing the beauty of nature; he uses predominantly natural lighting for his photography. Why I Selected Him: ~Because we have been working in black and white, his photography drew my attention because all of his work is done in B&W. ~His breathtaking landscape photos are some of my favorite photos that I have ever seen and he would hike for days to capture a photo. ~He used darkroom technology to create his photos. The idea of creating photos manually in a darkroom has always been a fascinating and interesting concept to me. Ansel Adams created all of his images without the use of current technology that we enjoy today. My favorite photo by Ansel Adams: Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, 1940 Composition: leading lines, rule of thirds, balance, contrast, layout of the scene I love how that way he composed the image, to me it looks like a river of trees flowing between the mountains that draw your eyes into the image. I also love the detail of the photo with the little waterfall to the right and all of the trees. Camera settings: movement of clouds, very crisp image despite old technology To go along with that statement I find it impressive how crisp and clear the image is like he used a low ISO of like 50-100 ( I don’t know what settings he would have used but if he used a current camera). And finally I like how he used a long shutter speed to capture the movement of the scene with the waterfall and cloud movement. You can really see and almost feel the storm clearing away. Leading Lines:Leading Lines "Path through the Trees" f/8, SS-200, ISO-400, Afternoon sun The leading lines of the path in this photo draws the eye through the photo. The curve that the path has around the trees adds more of a dramatic effect and there is rule of thirds as well. Unusual Framing:Unusual Framing "Framed mirror portrait" f/2.8, SS-100, ISO-1600, Window lighting midday I used the frame of the mirror as well as the backsplash that frames the mirror and the cupboards that frame that to achieve the overall unusual framing. Landscapes/Cityscapes:Landscape "Fence Line" f/11, SS-100, ISO-400, Natural lighting, sunny afternoon. Foreground: Fence/road Middle Ground: trees Background: Mountain, Sky This photo has leading lines, pattern, rule of thirds My Choice:Choice "Dog from Above" f/4, SS-250, ISO-1600, Natural window lighting The main compositional strategies in this photo are birds eye view and pattern which is broken by the dog. 1. This article explains why shooting in black and white helps you focus on composition. The main point I thought was most important from this article was his first point; that colour no longer distracts. Shooting in B&W instantly removes the distraction of colour and the photographer no longer has to worry about distracting background colours. B&W adds a level of simplicity to photography in that way. 2. This article gives you some tips for B&W photography. The main point that I found interesting and very valuable from this article was that graphics make for bigger drama. Compositional strategies like leading lines, pattern, and especially vanishing lines combined with B&W make for a more powerful image. 3. In this slide show on composition, the author has over-scored famous B&W photographs to analyze their composition. He has also altered them digitally to show how all components are important to their balance.
Because we are focusing on framing and leading lines in this project, the sections on those compositional strategies were the ones I thought were the most important. I was also intrigued by some of the other strategies that I will definitely try out such a triangles and curves. Overall this slideshow widened my ideas about each compositional and showed how important each of them are. SymmetrySettings: ISO-400 SS-1/250 F/2 Thought Process: One of the simplest compositional strategies is symmetry. Symmetry ensures left-right balance and is not too difficult to achieve (depending on the photo), this photo is well balanced because it has the same subject matter left-right. Getting into detail the left boot has more light which in my opinion makes it draw the eye lightly more, however the lined in the background act as leading lines and help guide the eyes back to the right side. Aside from symmetry this photo also has some pattern with the laces and diagonal lines with the background texture. Asymmetrical BalanceSettings: ISO-400 SS-1/250 F/2 Thought Process: Unlike symmetry, asymmetrical balance is more difficult to find and in my opinion harder to achieve. This photo has a bright white spot on the right side which immediately draws the eye (on a white backdrop it does not have the same effect). The texture on the left side however helps balance it out and adds equal visual weight to the left side. The chain in the center is the main focus of the photo because it contrasts the lighter sides and because the pole acts as a leading line directing the focus to the chain. Wide Frame/PanoramaSettings: ISO-800 SS-1/100 F/11 Thought Process: Wide frames are easier to balance than any other shape of photo. To achieve this photo I balances out a standard sized photo and cropped it to make it panorama-like. Once again I used symmetry as a basic balancing strategy and just adjusted the photo size to make it a wide frame. This photo also has pattern and leading lines as well as some general rule of thirds. Broken BalanceSettings: ISO-800 SS-1/125 F/4
Thought Process: My original plan with this photo was to place the focus of the photo near the edge of the frame (which is not a rule of good balance). Looking on my camera screen I thought that I had successfully broken the rules, however now that I look at it the vertical strip is almost on the rule of thirds line but more clearly there is another vertical line on the right side of the frame almost exactly on the rule of thirds line that balances the photo out more. 1)Left-Right Balance
2) Balance vs ImbalanceWhen your photo has balance it has an overall serene appearance than an unbalanced photo. When your photo is unbalanced, it skews the visual attention towards the subject matter and created a less serene appearance. 3) Symmetrythe same. The issue with symmetrical photography is that most scenes are not perfectly symmetrical, and symmetry can become repetitious and "old" if it is overused. 4) Asymmetrical Balance5) What Attracts the Eye?6)Putting Balance Into Practice
7) Imbalance
8) Balancing Vertical Frames
9) PanoramasPanoramas are nearly opposites to vertical photos when it comes to balancing. A panorama is typically quite simple to balance because it has more space to offset subjects and find left-right balance. 10) Small Subjects11) Post ProcessingPost processing in a program like photo shop can change a photo's balance completely. Adjusting exposure, altering the contrast of a certain area, and even cropping can take an unbalanced photo and balance it.
Why isn't this little girl smiling? Why did Diane choose to photograph her? If Diane focused on the rejects of society what is this girl's situation? Why does she have a hamster? These are a few of the questions that came to mind when I first looked at this photo. I love photos that have a story behind them and depict more than just a scene. That is why I like this photo, because it shows has a story and meaning behind it and draws your mind in.
"A camera does not just capture images; it captures emotion, ideas, and memories."
Photography is more than just learning how to work a camera. To me it is an opportunity to learn how to capture beautiful moments and use a camera to it's full potential. In photography 11 I learned how a camera works, and how to format a photo. My focus was more on learning the technical aspects of photography. This year I want to explore photography further and continue to increase my abilities and knowledge so that I can become better at capturing moments and creating beautiful photos. Photography is important to most people because of the meaning a photo can have. The upside of photography is the final product you get when you take a successful photo, the downside of photography is the challenge it can be to take a successful photo. I believe that as I become more adept at working with a professional camera my philosophy will change in ways, and probably expand while staying the same in its core meaning and idea. |
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