Raschka

= Focus = Focus is a very important part of a photo, it can change the meaning of the photo and how others view it. For example a photo could have the background out of focus, therefore the main subject or what people's eyes should be drawn to is whatever is in focus rather than the background. Or it could be opposite where something not expected to be in focus is intended to be the main subject, and the background or other things around are in focus. The image shows how a picture can change depending on what at in the photo are in focus. To get good focus in a digital slr photograph you need to have a larger field of depth, while if you want less in focus you would want a larger aperture, because only things directly in front of camera will be in focus.

= Depth of Field = Focus is a very important part of a photo, it can change the meaning of the photo and how others view it. For example a photo could have the background out of focus, therefore the main subject or what people's eyes should be drawn to is whatever is in focus rather than the background. Or it could be opposite where something not expected to be in focus is intended to be the main subject, and the background or other things around are in focus. The image shows how a picture can change depending on what in the photo are in focus.

= Exposure Triangle = The exposure triangle is made up of three components that will greatly affect the exposure of a photo in several ways, whether it be good or bad. One component is aperture. Aperture is the size of a lens opening when the photo is being taken. So having a bigger aperture will cause the lens opening to be bigger allowing more light to be captured into the photo. Another component is ISO. The ISO is how sensitive a camera’s sensor is to light. So adjusting the camera to make the ISO larger will allow more light to get into the photo. And lowering the ISO will allow for less light to get into the photo. Finally the last component is shutter speed. Shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter of the camera is open. So the longer the shutter is open the more light, and the shorter the shutter the less light captured. A photo that will be taken at a shutter speed of 1/30 should be taken on a tripod because the camera needs to be completely still otherwise the photo will come out blurry. Those are the three elements of the exposure triangle, and while they all seem to do the same thing, when they are not working together properly it will cause a photo to turn out poorly.

= Composition Techniques =

When taking photos there is no right or wrong compositions. But there are definitely some that are favored more than others, and some that will just turn out much better and be more visually pleasing. Here are five common compositional techniques:

**Framing:** This technique is using the elements around the subject to create a frame around the subject. Sometimes trees, hallways, and other things can make good frames. This "window" in the wall frames the beautiful mountain view.

**Leading Lines:** This is where several lines composed of really anything lead the eyes of a viewer to create depth within a photo. Sometimes leading to the subject or focus of the photo. The image shows the bridge leading back to create depth, and it always may help make the viewer think about where it leads.



**Rule of Thirds:** This is a very common technique. It is “dividing” the frame of the camera into thirds and having the subject be in one of the thirds on the end of the frame. Rather than simply just having the focus be in the center of the photo. The photo below uses this technique and it makes the image more appealing because you can see more of the shape of the sunset rather than the boat being right in the middle.




 * Fill the Frame: ** This is another common technique used where the enter screen of the camera is filled with the subject, rather than showing the things beyond and in front of the subject. This also the viewer to only see the subject, and not the other things not important on the screen. For example if there is a lion that you want to take a picture of, it would a more interesting photo if you zoomed in on the lion rather than having the trees or rocks in the background, because obviously a lion is much more interesting than some rocks or trees. Like the image below.




 * Level Horizon: ** The level horizon technique is just what it says it is, having the horizon of the photo right in the center as it can cause the viewer to think harder about what they are really looking at. This can make a boring image more creative and interesting as it will make you think more. The image below shows a level horizon and how it really does make a photo more interesting.



= Lighting Sources = There are two types of lighting sources, artificial and natural. Natural lighting can be from the sunlight, firelight, and moonlight. Artificial lighting can be flash, ceiling lights, computer screens, bounce light (light reflected of a white surface), and spotlights. You would use artificial lighting when you really want to control the amount of light in the photo and you can manipulate the light in several ways. While natural light you can decide when to go outside but you can't truly control it. When shadows are wanted in a photo using spot lights work for artificial light while if you want a shadow when outdoors using the sun light you will need to bounce it with a white sheet.

I have had experience using natural light in many of my photographs of nature, trips and other things. Firelight is something I have tried to utilize but I have always needed to use the artfical light of my camera flash to have to photo turn out how I would like. Those are the only types of natural lighting I have used. But I have also used a few types of artficail light like a spotlight, the camera flash, and ceiling lighting. I generally used artfical light when I am taking just a quick picture of something or if it is something that cannot be taken into natural light. My only experience with a spot light was used to try to create shadows with a white sheet to bounce the light and it worked fairly well.