Bibliography

Websites

www.photoxels.com › Tutorials
www.digitalslrphoto.com/dslrbasics/.../dslr_starters_guides_iso.html
thomashawk.com/2006/04/10-tips-for-new-digital-slr.html
www.flickr.com/groups/grantsgroup/
www.digital-slr-guide.com/what-is-aperture.html
www.talkphotography.co.uk › ... › General › Talk Photography
www.all-things-photography.com/shutter-speeds.html
www.product-reviews.net/.../how-to-use-dslr-shutter-speed-video/
www.butterfly-guide.co.uk/photoideas/
www.studiolighting.net/studio-lighting-tutorials/
http://www.top-fashion-photographers.info/javier-vallhonrat.html
http://photo.net/learn/portraits/
http://www.all-things-photography.com/depth-of-field.html

Texts

The Digital SLR Handbook - Michael Freeman

The Complete Guide to Digital Photography - Michael Freeman

On The Road With Your Digital Camera - Michael Freeman

Digital Fashion Photography - Chris Tarantino & Ken Tan

Fashion Shots - Alex Larg & Jane Wood

Final Piece

For my Final Piece I have decided to create a small portfolio displaying the photographs I feel display my progression over the module. I have selected photographs that display a wide range of subjects and techniques. As I only know the basic techniques I feel that building a portfolio would allow me to monitor my development and keep adding to it. I decided not to use a shoot for my final piece because I didn't feel that I wanted to base all the things I've learnt on a few images. I will be digitally printing my images and displaying them in clear plastic files.

Royal Park school 2

I decided to go back to the Royal Park School to photograph a Jumble Sale. Because I couldn't include people faces in the shots I had a hard time gettings shots which led me to close ups of some the items on sale. I wasn't particulary happy with the photos apart from the shots of the full room. I would have preferred to have photographed using natural light as this room included many windows.

Commercial studio photography

Throughout this project I had not used any studio equipment so I was quite excited when we booked out the studio for half a day. I found myself quite intimidated by the lighting equipment but Hannah, Adam and Holly kindly helped me with my technical difficulties! I learnt a number of things by watching Hannah's shoot first. I find that I learn a lot through observation. I really enjoyed directing our model & experimenting with lighting.

I am a big fan of lighting one side of the face! It adds a unique mystery to the photograph

I kept my ISO on 100 and my aperture ranged from F8 to F11. I felt that the photos taken with an aperture of F8 were quite bright and highlighted the face too much.

Light Meter:- Set shutter speed to 200 or below - Otherwise travels faster than speed of light.

Kim Vogee

While researching natural light used in digital photography I came across another artist who I admire, Kim Vogee. Her photographs include such a wide range of subject matter but always seem to revolve around nature. Some of her photographs almost look illustrated but capture an emotion in animals and scenery. It has been said that Kim Vogee neglects flash photography and computer special effects. She prefers to photograph the world around her in its natural setting. Her work has inspired me to continue working with natural light.

Elena Kalis

I came across this photographer named Elena Kalis. She uses light, colour and underwater space to create her fantasy land inspired photographs. Based in the Bahamas, this visual artist uses natural light which I have recently been drawn to. Love her work!

Flickr Feedback.

I have joined a number of groups on Flickr to try and get feedback on my photos.

(http://www.flickr.com/groups/shootingtolearn/)

I have only received feedback from two users so far:-

tigerita says:
given that several of them are underexposed, i'd suggest learning a bit about exposure.this one doesn't have the exif data, but the portrait is at ISO 800 (a high ISO which will make it more exposed - but can also make it grainy depending on the camera), f/16 (a narrow aperture which will make it less exposed) and 1/6 of a second (a slow shutter speed which will make it more exposed - but can also make it a bit blurred if your hands aren't steady)i'd start by setting your ISO to 100 and just playing with shutter speed and aperture, unless you're indoors and need the extra light. but in any case, set it for a situation and leave it there. the aperture and shutter speed can change shot-by-shot. shutter speed between 1/30 and 1/1000 is a nice normal range for most situations, and you can use the whole range of aperture, but remember that low numbers will give you a shallow depth of field (like those pictures where the subject is in focus and the rest is blurry) and high numbers will make everything in focus.you adjust the exposure with any of the three factors by levels which are called stops, and if you change two of them in opposite directions, the change will balance out. for example f/8 at 1/250 will get you the same amount of light as f/4 1/500 or f/16 1/125. my iso is at 100 unless it really needs to be higher, and i typically start at f/8 1/250 if it's sunny out - and adjust from there this is a useful introduction (especially sunny 16 and the section below it), but there are plenty of others out there:
www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understa nding-series...

My orginial question posted on Flickr was:- " I was wondering if there was a way to reduce the yellow light? I've tried using flash but the images turn out bland? "

stu-miller says:
Some ideas: 1 - try to move the lights out of the frame, or make some kind of shade for them. Camera is exposing for the light source, not for the objects.

2 - overexpose 2 stops so the detail in the lights will blow out but objects will be properly exposed.

3 - use the 410's exposure bracketing to overexpose 1 2 3 stops, then use master or studio to merge the properly exposes lights with properly exposed objects

4 - set color balance for lower temperature (warmer) lightThe shadows from the existing light make the photo interesting. Flash destroys these, making for a 'flat' image

Portraits.

I wanted to experiment with portraiture. As none of my housemates were available I decided to test this out on myself. I played around with light and angles using a lamp in my room, the photos did not turn out very well although I did enjoy experimenting with light sources around me.



Excuse the poor quality. Not sure what went wrong there.
Try using a higher ISO or lower aperture

Royal Park school

Nicola and I heard about a Jumble sale & Open Mic night happening at the old Royal Park school and decided to check it out. The building has been reclaimed by people who want to help repair it, for community use. The night included performances and tours of the building. The night had a lovely atmosphere which definitely rubbed off on me and made me want to get involved with this project.

It was quite hard to photograph due a number of things, firstly the lighting conditions weren't the best and using flash would have not been possible due to the relaxed atmosphere I didn't want to ruin. It was also hard to photograph the rooms as they were filled with large numbers of people. I did manage to take a few shots but would have liked to photograph during the day with better conditions and more time & space.

With the short time and photography permission issues, I feel that I did an average job. I hope to go back during the day and make use of the natural light.

Iso 800 F4.5

Iso 800, F5.2 1/100

Iso 800 F3.5

Iso 800 F6.3

Iso 400 F6.3

Iso 400 F7.1

Campaigners are re-launching a bid to take over a disused Leeds school and put it to use for surrounding communities after a private firm pulled out because of the recession.For four and a half years, Royal Park School at Hyde Park has stood empty.
During its time as a primary school Royal Park was host to a wide range of community groups with interests ranging from language classes to keep fit and health projects, and a Government-backed Sure Start scheme.Pledges were made by councillors and officials after its closure that at least part of the school would be kept for use by the community. But they refused to let it be taken over by local groups and the building was put up for sale.Local groups and residents were determined it should remain a focus for community activities and formed the Royal Park Community Consortium with the aim of taking over and renting the Victorian building. - Peter Lazenby (Yorkshire evening post)

Macro.

"Macro photography is when you produce an image where your subject is captured on your image sensor at life size (or bigger) with a 1:1 ratio"

Macro photography has grown popular over the years due to it being one of the simpler techniques. I took my DSLR out to Hyde Park and experimented with using Macro. At the beginning I found it quite hard to focus and had to consider many things:-

Aperture- Aperture impacts depth of field. For a shallow depth of field select a large aperture.

Focus- Deciding where to focus proved harder than i originally thought. The amount of sharpness and detail depends on D.O.F. limited depth of field is important when experimenting with macro photography.

Composition- Try selecting a non cluttered background for the main subject so there's no competing.

Flash- Choose a good time of the day. Try diffusing light so its not too harsh, try using tissue paper or cello tape?

Overall I found this experiment a little trickier than I had originally thought. At first I struggled to find subjects to photograph but after a while I relaxed and realized I was comparing my photos to images I had seen over the internet. For the first time using Macro, I feel that I did alright. Next time I'd like to broaden my range of subjects and try photographing a subject with more detail.