Rule of Thirds

Landscape:

Portrait:

Architecture:

Description: 

The Rule of Thirds is a guideline that helps make an image better by placing the subject in intersecting lines. It divides the photo into nine different, equal subsections. This rule prevents an image's subject from being centered in the middle of the picture. 

In the landscape image, the main focus point is the tree trunk. As I set my camera to The Rule of Thirds grid, I placed the tree trunk on the intersecting lines on the right side. 

In the portrait image, the main focus point is the person (Alex). I placed Alex on the left side where he was on the intersecting lines of The Rule of Thirds. I also placed the bottom horizontal line on the fence line or the top of the fence.

In the architecture image, the main focus point is the house. The house is on the intersecting lines of the left side of The Rule of Thirds. Just like the portrait image, I put the bottom horizontal line on the top of the fence. 

All in all, The Rule of Thirds allowed me to make images that are not in the center of the image. This creates a more advanced and better overall photo.

Static Composition vs Dynamic Composition

PART 1:

Static Composition:

Still Life

Bananas and Grapes in a Basket in My House

2 People

Chandler and Alex Looking at the SCHS Baseball Field

Landscape

Tree at Vine Hill Elementary, Scotts Valley

Architecture

School Building at Vine Hill Elementary, Scotts Valley

PART 2:

Dynamic Composition: 

Still Life

Books and Markers Near SCHS Tennis Courts

2 People

Chandler and Alex Looking at SCHS Baseball Field

Landscape

Trees Behind SCHS Baseball Field

Architecture

School Buildings at Vine Hill Elementary, Scotts Valley

Part 3: Written Essay

Write 2-3 Paragraphs about your images and attempt to cover these topics, include this with your blog post:

• Explain how your static images achieve composition
• Explain how your dynamic images achieve composition
• For each image describe the dominant element or point of interest
• Describe how the subordinate elements support the dominant elements in each image
• For each image describe at least 2 elements or principles of art that or being utilized, or any other compositional concept
• Post your essay with your favorite image

PART 3: Written Essay

Static Composition vs Dynamic Composition

In photography. there is a static composition and a dynamic composition. When an image is static, it means that most of the elements in the image are horizontal and vertical. When dynamic, the image's elements are mostly diagonal. 

I posted a still life, an image of two people, landscape, and architecture in a static composition. For the still life, the main elements in the image are bananas. The subordinate elements are the cabinets and the wall. It helps support the strong verticalness in the image making it static. The bananas and the light reflection are being utilized to show the vertical composition. The grapes add color in the image. Secondly, Chandler and Alex's image show the strong vertical composition. The dominant element is them because they are standing straight up showing a nice vertical and horizontal composition. The subordinate pole to the left reveals the powerful vertical composition which helps support Chandler and Alex's vertical composition. The pole and the sign are being utilized to show how they look parallel to Chandler and Alex expressing a strong vertical image. For the landscape, the tree is the dominant element. The subordinate elements are the horizon, the tree to the right, and the fence which supports the main tree's verticalness. The horizon and the trees in the background are used to express the vertical and horizontal strength in the image. The green in the trees and the blue in the sky brings colorfulness to the image. Lastly, the school building is the main element in the architecture picture. The trees against the sky is a subordinate element that brings out the natural horizontal strength in the image. The brown in the building, the green in the trees, and the blue in the sky are layered on top of each other showing the horizontality to the photo. 

Next, I posted a still life, an image of two people, landscape, and architecture in a dynamic composition. For the still life, the books and the markers are the dominant elements. The subordinate elements are the tennis court floor and the pole behind the books. These elements support the dominant markers and books. The books and the markers are being utilized to reveal the diagonal strength in the image while also adding several different colors. Secondly, the image of the two people have the dominant element of Alex and Chandler in the photo. The subordinate are the pole, car, and street sign. This is utilized to give the image diagonal strength and color. Next, for the landscape, the trees are the dominant element while the clouds and the baseball fence are subordinate elements that support the diagonal dominant element. These clouds and the fence are utilized to show how they are diagonally parallel to each other in the image. Lastly, the front building is the main element, and the subordinate elements that support the main building are the buildings behind it and the railing. These two elements are utilized to show how it is diagonal and how the diagonal lines are receding and going out to a distance.

ISO Project: Understanding ISO

The Three Principles of Exposure

In this Digital Photography class, I have learned many things about taking good pictures. There are three principles of exposure. They include aperture, ISO, and shutter speed.

Aperture affects the focus of the picture. A smaller aperture reveals more detail with a clear background and expands the area of sharp focus also called the depth of field. A wider aperture has a soft focus and shows a more narrow depth of field which blurs out the background. On the camera, the aperture number decreases as the aperture gets wider and vice versa. The aperture is also called the Iris or the f/stop which controls the amount of light let in. 

                 Tree In Front of My House

                     Wide Open Aperture (F/1.8)

The ISO determines how quickly a camera absorbs light. A lower ISO number creates a cleaner image while a higher ISO has more noise. The "noise" in an image is due to a higher ISO. As the ISO number increases, the camera's sensitivity to light increases too. A lower ISO is preferred because it has better overall quality and has less "noise" than a higher ISO.

                                                  Soccer Ball and Football in SCHS Gym

                                          Less Noise                                           More Noise

The Shutter Speed is the amount of time the film is exposed to light. The longer the shutter stays open, the more light enters into the camera. A faster shutter speed (ex: 1/4000 sec.) freezes action. It's good to use sports mode to shoot consecutive shots quickly. The motion blur that is created shows the speed of the object or person in the image. A slower shutter speed causes more of the film to be exposed to light. This could possibly lead to overexposure of an image. Furthermore, a slow shutter speed also causes blur in the image when an object is moving. 

Mr. Wilson Riding a Bike in SCHS Tennis Courts

Fast Shutter Speed

Aperture and Value

Black and White:

Near/Far Focus:






Depth of Field:

Exposure: Action and Blur

Object Frozen in Time:

Object in Motion:

Tracking Motion:

Zoom Blur:

Image Enhancement

Original Photo

Color Enhancement

Dragon Effect

Cross Processing

Selection Tools: Beginning Photoshop

Layer Tutorial

Juxtaposition Collage

Alphabet Poster