Holzhauer-Berg

Holzhauer-Berg Composition, Lighting and Focus Research

What is important about focus? How do you get good focus in a digital slr photograph?
Focus is important in order to get the best quality shot. It is important to think through your ideas, including depth of field and the distance you can focus on the subject. To get good focus in digital slr photography, do not position your camera too close to your subject because it will not allow your camera to focus. A good way to remember this is to always stay in arms length away from your subject if you want to be able to focus, unless you are using a micro lens.

Explain in your own words what depth of field is and why it's important to understand when shooting photos.
Depth of field is the distance from the nearest objects appearing in sharp focus in a photo to the farthest objects. Depth of field is important to understand when shooting photos because the difference can be pretty huge between different settings. It is important to have the subject in focus and everything else not to put emphasis on it, causing your eyes to mostly focus on that.

== What is the exposure triangle and why is it important to making quality photos? (HINT...there are 3 parts to the Triangle make sure you explain all three and how they relate to each other and making a good photo.) ==

The exposure triangle has three elements to it. They are ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed. These are very important for the image’s exposure. ISO is the measure of the camera’s sensitivity to light. Aperture is the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken. Last but not least, the third element is Shutter Speed which is the amount of time that the shutter is open. These all relate because one change in one of the elements can change the whole exposure in general.

What are the 5 compositional techniques we use in photography? EXPLAIN don't just list.
The 5 compositional techniques are patterns and texture, symmetry, depth of field, lines, and the rule of thirds. A pattern is a repeated design. They everywhere and emphasizing these patterns can give an awesome effect in a photo. Symmetry is when a photo is made up of exactly similar parts facing each other around an axis. Symmetry can have a positive or negative effect, but if the photo is shot with strong composition and a good point of interest it will work out well. Texture is the appearance of a surface and can sometimes make 2D images look 3D. Depth of field, explained in question 2, can drastically change the composition of an image. Lines have the power to direct the eye to look at key focal points of a photo. Some different kinds of lines are diagonal, horizontal, vertical, and converging lines. Finally, the rule of thirds is placing your subject on one of the points on the 9 square grid where the lines intersect to create and pleasant and balanced composition.

Which lighting techniques come from natural sources and which come from artificial? When would you use one vs another?
Natural lighting can come from sources such as the sun, light from a cloudy day, moonlight, firelight, candle flames, and light from a window or skylight. Artificial light comes from sources such as flash from a camera (or attached separately), spot lights, strobe lights, room lights, computer lights, bounce lights, or fill lights. Artificial is used for more of dramatic-shadowy uses. So it is good for trying to get specific shadows and light appearances. Natural lighting is good for adding specific shadows to any object that is being photographed. Natural light gives highlights and lowlights to the object. Specific times of the day are also good for certain shadows and highlights, as well.

In terms of lighting what kinds of light sources do you already have experience shooting photos with? Explain.
Nicole and I have both had experience with natural lighting in Into to Digital Media, and using the time of day to our advantage. I used it for creating a silhouette. I left the one object darkened, then let the background highlights to bring it forward and create a sense of depth. The picture turned out really well as it was just my first experience of using natural lighting to my advantage. Nicole, went to Virginia and used the time of day of dusk to take a nice dark picture that had certain highlights and lowlights which made the picture even more interesting. I liked that she used the specific time of day to her advantage.