M E D I A 203 Advanced Digital Photography
WEEK 2: Visual Literacy. Choose a subject of environmental or humanitarian concern, for example pollution, nature conservancy or human rights, and create a collage using three photographs that not only communicate the subject, but can be used to convey multiple messages. Choose a photograph, not your own, and explain how it meets the criteria for a good photo, as defined by Michael Freeman in "The Photogrpaher's Mind". Take six photographs, outdoors and indoors, demonstrating white balance settings: auto, daylight, cloudy, shade, tungsten, and florescent. My camera has one setting for cloudy/shade, so I added an extra florescent setting called daylight. Finally, do an analysis of this week's work relative to feelings/mood, subject placement, multi-layers of meaning, depth of field, light and what improvements could be made.
V I S U A L L I T E R A C Y C O L L A G E
W H A T M A K E S A G O O D P H O T O G R A P H
I've had this image for years, clipped out of a magazine, which one and photographer name long forgotten. It would have been taken on film. It is doing what photography does best, capturing the moment.
Mr. Freeman states that a good photo will meet six criteria: satisfies, stimulates and/or provokes, is multi-layered, exists in the here and now, has some depth of thought, and is true to the medium of photography.
I believe this photo does all of that. The color and composition are visually satisfying. The grass creates an abstract surround that allows the lion's head to be the focal point. The blue tone says dusk, the small size of the head compared to overall image size is made strong by the intent gaze, the light in the eyes captures and holds my attention. Even though the image appears simple in content, it is made more complex by not seeing what the lion is staring at, thus provoking one's imagination to fill in the story.
Mr. Freeman states that a good photo will meet six criteria: satisfies, stimulates and/or provokes, is multi-layered, exists in the here and now, has some depth of thought, and is true to the medium of photography.
I believe this photo does all of that. The color and composition are visually satisfying. The grass creates an abstract surround that allows the lion's head to be the focal point. The blue tone says dusk, the small size of the head compared to overall image size is made strong by the intent gaze, the light in the eyes captures and holds my attention. Even though the image appears simple in content, it is made more complex by not seeing what the lion is staring at, thus provoking one's imagination to fill in the story.
W H I T E B A L A N C E O U T D O O R S
under full sun at noon
W H I T E B A L A N C E I N D O O R S
under tungsten lighting
P H O T O A N A L Y S I S
Photos this week feature my favorite subject, habitat preservation. For me this is respect for our planet and all the living creatures on it. The slogan is my creation, no slam on Habitat for Humanity, just a play on words. I think these images could be used to illustrate a number of themes, hope, defiance, and the endless renewal of life; a green sprig growing out of clear cut, elk co-existing with housing developments and dandelions with a tenuous toe-hold facing an overwhelming foe.
Dept of field was manipulated to create a blurred background of clear cut damage behind the sprig in the stump so as to emphasize the fresh green, and I looked for background that would be abstract, unified and monochromatic so as not to distract. Depth of field was maintained in the other images as these backgrounds or surroundings were important to convey the intended message. I looked to recreate the sense of impending doom looming over the dandelion by emphasizing the size of the machinery against the tiny plant, and found the houses to be a good visual on the encroachment of development. The images are composed in the way the eye likes to move over a page, natural light was used except during the indoor white balance assignment.
Subjects for all assignments were chosen to harmonize with the overall theme of nature conservancy. I could've spent forever deciding on the right color for the background to the collage, I'm wondering about a lighter shade of grey, or maybe greyish brown, or.....that's the thing about improvements, seems like there's always more that can be done. One has limitations based on time, weather, criteria, etc. and eventually you just have to call it.
Dept of field was manipulated to create a blurred background of clear cut damage behind the sprig in the stump so as to emphasize the fresh green, and I looked for background that would be abstract, unified and monochromatic so as not to distract. Depth of field was maintained in the other images as these backgrounds or surroundings were important to convey the intended message. I looked to recreate the sense of impending doom looming over the dandelion by emphasizing the size of the machinery against the tiny plant, and found the houses to be a good visual on the encroachment of development. The images are composed in the way the eye likes to move over a page, natural light was used except during the indoor white balance assignment.
Subjects for all assignments were chosen to harmonize with the overall theme of nature conservancy. I could've spent forever deciding on the right color for the background to the collage, I'm wondering about a lighter shade of grey, or maybe greyish brown, or.....that's the thing about improvements, seems like there's always more that can be done. One has limitations based on time, weather, criteria, etc. and eventually you just have to call it.
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