morgan-johnson

Morgan Johnson

Good focus comes from having good photo-taking techniques, such as holding the camera steady or using a tripod to keep the camera steady. When you take a photo if the camera is shaky, the photo may turn out unfocused or blurred, which shows exactly why keeping the camera steady has a great impact on how focused the photo is. Also, the distance between your camera lens and the subject is really important when focusing. If the subject is too close to your lens, the camera will have a hard time finding it and focusing the subject. If the subject is too far away from your lens, it makes it really hard to focus on because it's probably hard to even see the subject in the first place. A rule of thumb in photography is that you should be about an arms length away from your subject in order to get the best focus. When it comes to digital slr cameras, many have an auto focus option on their lens, however something auto focus is unable to actually focus on your subject the way you want it to, so there is also a manual focus option which allows you to manually focus the lens.
 * What is important about focus? How do you get good focus in a digital slr photograph? **

Depth of field is what you are viewing through the camera's view finder or the LCD screen. It is what you're focusing on in your photograph and how it appears. How it appears depends on how close it is to the lens and how it looks in the frame, particularly if it looks sharp, which deals with what the aperture and exposure is set at on the camera. However, what is in focus depends on whether you're focusing on the foreground, middleground, or background.
 * Explain in your own words what depth of field is and why it's important to understand when shooting photos. **

The exposure triangle deals with three different aspects that have to do with exposure when taking photos. The first thing to know about is ISO which is the camera's measuring to the sensitivity of the light being captured. Next is aperture which is how open or closed the lens is when taking a photo. The last is the shutter speed which is simply the speed in which the lens closes to capture the picture. It's important to understand this when shooting photos because every photo deals with all of these aspects and a balance of all three is needed to create a good photograph, while if one of these aspects is removed or changed, the rest are affected too which can affect the outcome of a photo.
 * What is the exposure triangle and why is it important to making quality photos? **

There are five compositional techniques in photography. The first is the rule of thirds which just divides the photo horizontally into three groups and vertically into three groups. Where those groups intersect (four focal points) is where there should be a focal point in the photograph. The second is framing, which is a technique used to frame the subject with surrounding objects in the frame. The third is the rule of filling the frame which just means that the subject should fill or extend off the photograph. The fourth is the rule of level horizon, which just applies to keeping a level horizon when shooting landscapes to keep the feeling of calm and peacefulness. Lastly, the rule of leading lines is in place to make sure the viewer's eye moves through the image.
 * What are the 5 compositional techniques we use in photography? **

Natural sources can be a lighting technique, such as moonlight, sunlight, and fire/candlelight. Artificial lighting techniques can be used as well, such as camera flashes, computer lights or cell phone lights, lights from light bulbs and studio lights. Depending on what kind of emotion or mood you're trying to portray you can choose the best lighting for that mood. If I were trying to show strong emotion and contrast I would probably use studio lighting so I can manipulate the light source.
 * Which lighting techniques come from natural sources and which come from artificial? When would you use one vs another? **

I have already had experiences with studio lighting in AP Art when shooting my artwork. I have also shot outdoors with natural lighting like sunlight. I have tried taking pictures at night or in dark areas before, but have had to use artificial lighting like the camera flash. Usually most of my photos that I have taken are not really artsy photos but family or friends pictures in natural light or light from a room. I also am guilty of the selfie taking too.
 * In terms of lighting what kinds of light sources do you already have experience shooting photos with? Explain. **