Taken Thursday evening at 8.15 iso 400 1/100 at f4.2 . Light is vitally important and tends to be more dramatic early morning and late evening.

Focus - Brief 4 - Adam

Finally found some time today to take some shots for Brief 4

I setup a small studio with a white background to help focus on my chosen object.

I have used 2x85W 5400K Lighting and some smaller 5400K lights to remove shadows and make the object look more dynamic due to its glossy surface.

I chose this location in my house due to the natural lighting coming from behind the back drop from the french windows and the sky light above the object I was shooting

The brief outlines the use of light and how at different time of the day the light will effect the shot taken.

At this stage I have take all my shots around Mid Day and have used the Dynamic Bracketing function on the camera to demonstrate how different exposure levels effect my object.

The 3 shots of the object were all taken in Manual mode and originally in RAW

 

-1/3 Exposure selected by the AE

 

0 change to the camera AE

 

+1/3 Exposure to the AE

Having all histogram next to each other I can see how the camera has increased the dynamic range making the shots lighter until it is over exposed in places

  

I will see if I get time later to take the shots again with less light coming from the sky light as the sun goes down.

I am not sure how close to the brief this experiment is but I wanted to play with lighting and dynamic range in a controlled manner and the overcast grey sky didn't change all morning. I believe there have been some interesting evening skys in Leeds this week but unfortunately I haven't been around but I did snap this with my iPhone 4 on the train back to Leeds yesterday evening around 20:00

Think it would have been an awesome shot if I had my HS20 and wasn't traveling so fast inside a train behind a thick glass window, alas!

Added a Panoramic Crop

Lighting

Here are two images. The same subject matter and shot within 2 minutes of each other. One is using natural, available light. The other is mostly flash light. Of course one is colour and the other is black and white but just look at the difference in atmosphere. Try it some time.

In addition to lighting, Alex has been asked to look at the Rabbi. The emphasis of the shot changes to the engagement of the boy from reading to listening.

It can be so easy to change the message of the shot.

Understanding Histograms

Hello all,

I found this web tutorial which helped to explain to me how to use the histogram button on my camera.

I think it is particularly relevent to Brief 4 as you can use the histogram in say Picasa 3.8 to look at the difference between your photos taken during different lighting conditions or times of the day.

I also found it useful understanding how the Bracketing function for the Dynamic Range of my camera is manipulated by watching how the histogram moves around on the graph's axis.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/understanding-histograms.shtml

Hope this is useful

Please add comments if you have found any other useful tutorials understanding histograms

Adam 

Focus - Brief 4

Good morning all,

Just to formally set this weeks brief.

I would like you all to set up some kind of still life/object at home and photograph it at different times of the day. The object should have some personal significance.

I would like you to observe the different lighting conditions and adjust you camera setting accordingly.

Please keep bracketing and experimenting a little with ISO if you feel there is a need.

I would like you all to present 3 photographs of the same subject so that you can talk about  each one from a technical and creative point of view.

The Sunday session just gone (12th June) was very interesting for me and I can clearly see the potential that you all have. There were some lovely photographs shown - well done!!

Hope you all found the photoshop tips useful - there are plenty more to help you tweak your shots.

See you all next Sunday!

Kind Regards

David

------------------------------------------------

David Cole,

cole-creative design and photography

28, Primley Park Crescent, Alwoodley, Leeds LS17 7HZ

www.cole-creative.co.uk

e: david@cole-creative.co.uk

t: 07742 580474

Focus - Brief 3 - Hannah

Brief 3 -

"Just to clarify this weeks brief that your photograph to represent 'Your Leeds'
has to include a person within it. Taking pictures of people has different challenges to landscapes, architecture and still life and I want you to try and use your skills to take an image that reflects either their personality or your relationship with that person.

Please remember to bracket and consider your lighting carefully along with how you want your subject to look. "

I find it very challenging to take portraits because I often feel that I have failed to capture the inner beauty or personality of my subject which for me is why I take portraits, so I was pretty nervous about this weeks Brief. Also because of Yom Tov, and then shabbos I was very limited on time, and I'm afraid I'm not up quite a early as Penni (to whom I doff my metaphorical hat) so it had to be monday, after work.

Vicky (my subject) and I spend a lot of our time together either cooking, chatting, reading, either snuggled in the house, or when weather permits, lying out in the garden. So this weeks photograph is again set in my garden:

This photograph was taken at 18:55 F4.5, ISO 100, 1/280 sec.

I tried to shorten my focal length (as much as my camera would permit) to get Vicky in focus, and blur the background, however I couldn't manage this the extent that I wanted so I blurred it further in Picasa 3.8.

Vicky has naturally very soft, pale brown hair so I tried to positioned her to get the sunshine to really show this off and then used the book as a prop, both to show something of her and our relationship and to bounce some light back onto her face.

I also borrowed Adam's lens hood to remove glare.

Below are a couple of other photographs I took that afternoon that I liked but discarded as I didn't feel that the met the Brief - My Leeds.

This photograph was taken at 18:23 f7.1, ISO 100, 1/140 sec.

This photograph was taken at 18:10 f4.5, ISO 100, 1/85 sec.

This photograph was taken at 17:41 f4., ISO 800, 1/26 sec.

This photograph was taken at 17:23 f4, ISO 800, 1/12 sec.

Focus - Brief 2 - Hannah

The Second Brief -

"Please remember that in many ways the brief is wide open. The only two parameter are that it has to represent Leeds and has to be personal to you - Your Leeds. This brief is about interpretation so these two words are key".

This shot was taken 15:20, 1/340sec, ISO 400, f5.6.

As the Brief was to take a photograph that was my Leeds I immediately thought of doing something in my garden. I then asked Bruce to model for me as I thought his black coat would make a nice contrast against the bright colours of the grass and flowers (as opposed to Wayne, who is white).

Bruce is in a tunnel of ferns, next to a dry stone wall (though I have cropped most of the later out as the photo looked too busy). I particularly liked how the light coming through the leaves created interesting shadows on his face.

Focus - Brief 1 - Hannah

For our first brief David asked us to bring with us 2 photographs:

The first photograph was a picture that inspired us as photographers and also an image we aspired to be able to take ourselves:

The image I chose was of a female longboarder. It was taken right in the drop zone (the part of the wave that is just breaking and the surfer uses to take off from), at sea (or foot/board) level. It is a shot that is physically quite difficult to take as you have to remain steady in the water whilst the waves (which will be at least 4ft high) are breaking right on top of you. As a surfer I love the elegance of longboarding and would love to be able to take these shots with a better success rate than 1 in 20.

The second photograph was a picture that meant something to each of us personally:

Taken at F2.8, at 10:46, 03/01/2010 on my iphone.

I chose this photograph of my garden in winter. For me the garden is a place to relax; passive or actively, solitary or with loved ones, and is a place of calm and peace. I love the winter light coming through the trees and the sense of imminent adventure from the fresh snow fall. I would have liked to have taken the washing line down to keep the shot soft and natural, but didn't want to ruin the new snow.