VanAltena-Kempen

What is important about focus? How do you get good focus in a digital slr photograph? Focus can make the thing you're taking a picture of either stand out or blend into the background. There are many things important about focus, but one of the most important is simply holding still or using a tripod to prevent unwanted "moving camera" blurriness.

Explain in your own words what depth of field is and why it's important to understand when shooting photos. Depth of field is important because it gives an image a completely different perspective. A shallow depth of field will focus on only one part of the photograph, but if you have a large depth of field focuses on more of the image.

What is the exposure triangle and why is it important to making quality photos? The "exposure triangle" consists of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. All three of them depend on the other, if you change one you have to change one or both of the others. ISO is the camera's sensitivity to light, shutter speed is how long the shutter is open to view the image, and aperture is the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken. To get good focus in an image, you need to make sure that the three of them are in sync.

What are the 5 compositional techniques we use in photography? Rule of thirds, which is having something of interesting at the points where the thirds intersect will make for a more interesting picture. Framing is using other objects in the picture to emphasize the subject. Fill the Frame is filling the whole image with your subject. Level Horizon is holding your camera steady along the horizon line which helps prevents tension and confusion within the photo. Leading Lines are used to lead people into the picture, an example being railroad tracks. Interesting Point of View is how you stand and how you choose to interpret the subject. Focus and Depth of Field is focusing your camera and doing so in terms of focusing on one object or the entire scene by changing the depth of field from shallow or large.

Which lighting techniques come from natural sources and which come from artificial? When would you use one vs another? Natural sources of light include the sun, filtered sunlight on a cloudy day, moonlight, firelight, light coming from the sun through a window or glass door, and even firelight from a candle. Artificial lights include a flash on a camera, studio light sources include spot lights and strobe lights, and light in a room. It could also be the light from a computer screen which is called "available artificial light," bounce light which is when you use an umbrella, sheet, or other white to reflect the light, a fill light is when the object is lit by one light source and it creates shadows. Dramatic lighting is kind of like fill light; it is one light source, but it creates dramatic shadows and is usually a spot light.

In terms of lighting what kinds of light sources do you already have experience shooting photos with? Explain. Natural light, when taking photos outside, moonlight, sunlight/filtered light, light from a window or door, and also artificial lights like a flash on a camera.