The Power of Photograph
This course will help you get to know your camera; learning how to operate it in manual mode, make correct exposures and understand the basics such as aperture, shutter speed and ISO. You will learn the art of good composition, capturing, action, objects and landscapes as well as how to edit and enhance photographs. However, ultimately this course is for you. Complete the below survey and share your experiences thus far as a photographer.
Why do we take photographsYou will now create a mind map of the purpose of photography. Once you have had a go, review this link and add further ideas. Take a photograph of your mind map as this will be the first post in your portfolio. Take a photography of your mind map, you will need to add this to your portfolio that we will set up later.
Now we have an understanding of why we take photographs we are coming closer to understanding the various genres of photography. Review the images in the PPT below and try and work out which genre of photography these would fit in. |
Photographic Genres from RCB78 |
Portfolio development
In order that you keep a record of all of your work throughout this course you are going to keep a portfolio that you will add to each week. This portfolio can have images, lesson tasks, thoughts, ideas, anything that demonstrates your thinking and understanding of the course. To do this you will be using a platform called Weebly. Check your email as you have been sent an invitation to edit this. Some rules with regards to using this:
- You can personalise your page as much as you want, however, you must not alter anything under the theme tab.
- Do not move your page to a different location.
- You should only be working on your page.
PHOTOGRAPHY WITHOUT A CAMERA
Capturing a powerful and emotive image starts NOT with you buying the best camera equipment, rather it starts with you opening your eyes to the world around you. You will practise this art through a variety of mediums of your choice outlined in the activities below. You need to attempt at least TWO of these.
An image is often powerful as it is emotive in nature. The more emotional the shot is, the more it appeals to our senses, and the greater the connection we feel to it. If a picture conveys emotion – whether it’s happiness, surprise, sorrow, disgust – it is successful.
Using old newspapers and magazines try and find an image that captures at least 5 of the below emotions. Stick these on to a black piece of paper to make a collage.
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You might have taken up photography because it is easier or more interesting than drawing a scene with a pencil and paper, but going back and learning this more basic form of art could help you to hone your vision when it comes to looking through the lens.
When you sit down to sketch, you are required to look at, and copy, highlights and shadows, shading and textures, bold and light lines and other elements of an image that provide necessary detail for a recognisable subject to appear to the viewer. You will become more aware of how shape and proportion matter, or how little elements of composition or lighting help add oomph. It might be difficult, and you might not create the next masterpiece that will hang in the Louvre, but you will more than likely come away with a greater appreciation for detail, which will come alive in your photography from composing a scene to your post-processing techniques.
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There have been dozens of times when I am watching a beautifully filmed movie and the main thing I notice is how every scene could easily be made into a still and hung as a photograph. Well-crafted movies are truly a series of beautiful photographs that come to life — they are just as painstakingly composed and lit as any single image taken with a camera. As such, movies can be a great source of inspiration and training for your eye.
You are going to watch the one of the film trailers opposite. Watch it first from start to finish. Then go back and every time you notice a scene that sparks your artistic side, hit the pause button and study it. Notice how people or objects are placed in relation to one another and what kind of silent dialogue that creates. Notice lighting and colours. Notice how the scene is framed — what is included, what is partially cropped out. |
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For the first 10 minutes review at some of the images in the PPT opposite together and have an open discussion about what you see. Examine the images carefully and ask yourself what can the details of the photograph tell us about the people and/or place it was taken. Use the following questions to continue the discussion.
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When each person makes an observation, ensure your can justify your answer with evidence from the image. For example, if someone says “its hot there,” ask “what do you see that makes you say that?” This will help focus you on the details and make assumptions about those details.
At this link you will find images taken by one of the past cohorts of this course. As a group you need to identify FIVE images that you feel are most powerful and emotive to you. There is no right or wrong answer here, rather the most important part is how you came to this conclusion as a group. Be prepared to justify your rankings with your teacher.
Photo Storage
It is highly recommended that you not only have your photographs saved to your laptop, but that you also back them up on a hard drive and online. There are multiple free web storage platforms for storing your images however, some recommended one would be Google Photos, flickr and Amazon Photo Prime.