Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO - What do they all mean?

The next lesson in our use of the camera and how it works involves what is commonly referred to as the "three pillars of photography." They are Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO.

Today we are going to learn about all three and how they impact our photography.

Let's start with Aperture as it is probably the hardest of the three to full understand.

Go to this website and read about Aperture:

http://mansurovs.com/what-is-aperture-in-photography

Once you are done reading - I want you to use google and find me an example of a photo taken at aperture setting F2.8 and an example of a photo taken at F16 or higher. DO NOT USE the photos on the website I sent you to, find different ones. Post those photos on your blog and label them.

Then answer the following questions:

1. What part of the body should we closely relate aperture?
2. Finish this sentence - the smaller the Aperture _____________, the higher the Aperture ________________.
3. In your own words tell me how aperture impacts Depth of Field?

Now lets move on to Shutter Speed. This is a little easier to understand but we should read about it here:

http://mansurovs.com/what-is-shutter-speed-in-photography

Once you are finished reading about Shutter Speed, I want you to use google and find me an example of a photo taken with a high shutter speed and one taken at a slow shutter speed (you do not have to show blur unless you want but I still need to see an example of a photo that COULD have been taken at a slow shutter speed). Post them both on your blog and label them.

Then answer the following questions:

1. If you were assigned to shoot at Bulldogs and Hotdogs night, which was a few weeks ago, what shutter speeds do you think you would have to shoot at the following events that night I would like you to answer the question for the following two situations:

At the beginning while the sun was still up and the courtyard had reasonable good light

a.) a booth in the middle of the yard near the Tree
b.) a food booth outside under one of the big red awnings
c.) the Stars performance inside the gym
d.) students dancing near the center of the courtyard
e.) people streaming in from the front doors
f.) the basketball booth where students are shooting basketballs at a hoop

Towards the end when there is no sun and has gotten dark enough that you can't see from one end of the courtyard to the other.

a.) a booth in the middle of the yard near the Tree

b.) a food booth outside under one of the big red awnings

c.) the Stars performance inside the gym

d.) students dancing near the center of the courtyard

e.) people streaming in from the front doors

f.) the basketball booth where students are shooting basketballs at a hoop

2. List the three settings your camera has regarding setting shutter speed (these are found at #5 on the Shutter Speed website. Explain how each works - DO NOT COPY AND PASTE, use your own words.

Now for the last of the pillars, ISO. Lets go read some more at this website:

http://mansurovs.com/what-is-iso-in-photography

Once you are finished, please go to google and find me an example of a photo taken at ISO 200 and a photo taken at ISO 3200 or 6400. Post both on your blog and label them.

Then answer the following questions:

1. What are the advantages of shoot at a higher ISO at a sporting event like basketball or a night football game?
2. What suggestions did the author make about using a low ISO?
3. What suggestions did the author make about using a high ISO?

Now that we have a basic understanding of the three pillars, let's look at some direct examples of what happens in when you mess with Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. Go to the following website:

http://www.canonoutsideofauto.ca/play/

This simulates a DSLR camera. Make sure you set the camera on MANUAL setting at the top.

List the aperture settings available on this camera.
List the shutter speed settings available on this camera.
List the ISO settings available on this camera.

Now have some fun and play with the settings. We will play with this site or one like it more later.

Academic post shoot reflection and peer reflection

You should have 3-5 images from the academic shoot posted already. Please go back and edit the post with those photos - answer the following questions for each photo you turned in (either underneath the photo if you did 1 big post, or under each photo in your separate posts):

1. What composition rule did you follow the rule?

2. What is the subject (be very very specific)?

3. Is it clear to people looking at your photos what the subject is?

4. If you can't very clearly see what the subject is, what could you have done differently?

Second:

Make a new blog post - title it - Academic Shoot reflection and critique. Answer the following questions:

1. What challenges did you encounter while trying to get the photos following the rules I set out for you? 

2. What technical aspects of photography or the assignment in general (focus, framing, holding the camera, etc.) did you find yourself thinking about the most? Provide a specific example of what you did to do this correctly.

3. If you could do the assignment again, what would you do differently now that you know some basic rules of photography?

4. What things would you do the same?

5. When you go out with your next set of prompts, which rule do you think will be the easiest to achieve?

6. Which rule do you think will be the hardest to capture?

7. What rule are you still not totally clear on and what can you do to figure out what that rule is?

Third: Now go and critique someone else's work (1st period, you will need to do this next class, I will allow time for you to complete this task):

Step 1:Pick someone else's blog to look at that is not in this class from the blog list. 

Step 2: On your blog copy and paste the link for the student's blog. 

Step 3: Write two positive things about the photos. 

Step 4: Write about one thing that could be improved in the photos.

Step 5: Leave them a comment on their blog about their work. You can choose to write something clearly positive, or you can choose to leave a comment that is constructive criticism (something that is written in a positive way, but makes a suggestion on something they could have done better).

I will grade both that you did this correctly with a DIRECT LINK to their blog, and I will grade the comment you left them for appropriateness.

Basic Photoshop Adjustments

Now that you have taken your Academic pictures, here is a quick and easy way to edit them in Photoshop. If you have already posted them, please go back and edit the pictures and re post.

This is a quick tutorial on how to edit photos in Photoshop. If you need help to do these steps, please ask and I will help you.

Color

Color changes take a little longer and can be much more evident to the eye.

1. Open the photo in Photoshop, you can go to the search tool on the top right of your desktop and type in Photoshop.

2. The first thing we want to do every time is to SAVE AS and rename your photo and save it in the correct folder. For right now that folder is your folder on the  desktop.

3. Go to – Image>Adjustments>Levels

A box should pop up on your screen. In that box is a drop down box that has RGB in it. Use the drop down box and go to >BLUE

Move the black and white slider tools (the hershey kisses) and move them as needed to be underneath the mountain.

go to >GREEN
repeat

go to >RED
repeat

go to >RGB

On this step you move ONLY the middle one which is brown (do not move the black or white slider) just slightly where the photo appears a little lighter than perfect.


4. The final step, go to >Filter>Sharpen>Sharpen

You should only do this one time

5. Crop and make sure you have the correct resolution as requested. Today you do not have a specific Height and Width (that will change later) and your resolution is blank (that will also change later).

6. To change the photo to black and white go to: Image>Mode>Grayscale

when the pop up appears asking if you want to discard the color information, hit yes or okay. Soon you will be asked to produce a B&W image. Today your images can be color. If you want to make one of them Black and White, I am okay with that.

7. Save and close the file

Academic Shoot

Once you have your blog set up and updated, you may go out and take photos for the Academic Shoot.

Here is the assignment:

You will go out around the Bowie campus and go into classrooms and take photos. There are some rules about this - you MUST get permission to take photos in any classroom, so knock politely and ask permission to come in. If the teacher says no, please find another teacher. I have sent an email to the campus letting them know that you may come to their rooms. I highly recommend classes where there is something going on - like a science class or perhaps engineering or even culinary. DO NOT go to PE or any sort of dance or place where there is lots of movement going on, we will do motion later and the cameras are not set up to shoot motion yet. I expect you to stay with your partner/team at all times, the camera is your pass.

What will you shoot?

Your goal is to get high quality, peak of the action photos where you fill the frame and tell a story of what is going on in that classroom. If you know the saying - a picture is worth a 1000 words - this is the concept we are going for.

Do I need to do anything else?

Why, yes, you do. I expect you to turn in 3-5 really good photos. I also expect to see some sort of rules of photography evident in each of your photos. You will be asked to reflect on your work afterwards, and you will also be completing a peer reflection as well, so be ready to defend your work in writing.

Do you remember the rules of composition we have covered?

Here they are again:

Lines
Balance
Simplicity
Rule of Thirds
Framing
Avoiding Mergers

But remember the focus is Academics. Each photo must have "Academics" in it.

Out with BLEND in with BLOGS!

This year we will be using blogger to publish and post all of our assignments on the internet.
To accomplish this we have to set up an account: Please follow the instructions carefully. Its important that you do each step correctly and that you remember all the vital information so you can get back to it later.

Here's how:
What you will need
· Internet access
· An Email account

First – Create a Blogger account
Open Safari - you can use Chrome, but sometimes the interface between the Macintosh computers and Chrome can cause problems. Safari is the native internet browser for Macintosh, so its the one I recommend.
· Go to  http://www.blogger.com/
· Click on the orange "Sign Up" box at the top right of your screen - if you have a gmail - this will be really easy because blogger is a gmail product.

In “Step One”
· Enter your gmail address
· Enter the password for your gmail
· Enter a display name – Do NOT use your full real name. To be safe, we will keep our blogs semi-anonymous - I recommend you do something like Firstname_lastinitial_blog, or something similar. No one can see this unless you leave your computer logged in on accident, but lets be safe.
· Enter the word verification
· Click on the “accept terms box, and hit continue·
· If there are any problems, they will show up in red.
Fix the problems

In “Step Two”
· In the blog title box, enter “first name’s Photojournalism Blog” (Ex Michael’s Photojournalism Blog) - this is what will show up at the top of your blog - My blog is called Bowie Photojournalism.
· In the (URL) box, enter the same thing as the title, but with no spaces or apostrophe (Ex: mattsphotojournalismblog) - this URL can be seen by anyone, so please keep it school appropriate.
· Hit “Check Availability”
· If it is available, hit continue. If it is not, select one of the suggestions, and then hit continue.
· Select a template and hit continue·

You did it!

Now make your first post on your new blog:

Hit “Start Posting”
Type “Welcome to my blog” in the post subject line, and hit “Publish Now”
Click on “View Blog” to see the results.

Select and copy the web address (URL) of your new blog
(ex: michaelsphotojournalismblog.blogspot.com)

Open your personal gmail, not your school gmail and send an email with the following info to:
bowie.comm.photo@gmail.com

Subject : My blog
Full Name: ____
Paste URL here: ______