TECHNICAL PHOTOGRAPHIC EXERCISE

DIFFERING DEPTH OF FIELD

These two images show a differing depth of field. The first has a very low F Stop of 3.5, creating a shallow depth of field. The coffee tin in the background is out of focus. The second has a much higher F Stop of 20.0 which does the opposite - creates a much wider depth of field. The coffee tin is now in focus, as well as the condiments.

DIFFERING SHUTTER SPEEDS

These images show a differing shutter speed. The left was taken at a slow shutter speed of 1/20, causing the water droplets to blur. The right image has a much faster shutter speed of 1/1000, meaning all the water droplets are caught mid flight.

FOCUS THOUGH SHOT

Here, I have framed the coffee tin using the two condiments. The first image focuses though the two sauces to reveal the coffee tin, and the second does the opposite. To achieve this, I had the aperture set to a low F Number(f/4.0) to get a low depth of field.

BREAKING THE EDGE

Here, I am showing 'breaking the edge' by cutting out certain parts of what clearly should be part of the image. On the left it is obvious that the sign reads 'coffee', but part of the letters are cut off. Again on the right it is obvious what the sauce reads. This technique can be used for good effect within photography. The viewer must look beyond the edge of the photo and create their own ideas of what might be there. Here it is obvious, but it is not always.

PANNING

In these two photos, I have attempted to achieve panning. The subject was walking, so I had to have the shutter speed quite low in order for the background to blur. I followed the subject as best I could, and managed to get the subject mostly in focus. These two images have a shutter speed of 1/15 and 1/13 respectively.

LONG EXPOSURE

I have experimented with two different techniques here. For the first, I set the camera to expose for 15 seconds, and then proceeded to draw letters in the air with a light. Because the camera is constantly exposing, the letters I drew created a stream of light forming the letters. In order to do this, I had to be in a very dark room. You can tell the room I was not a room that was pitch black because of the small red line by the side of each of the letters. The exposure is so long the camera will pick up any bit of light, however small.

The second set of pictures I experimented with making a person see-through. To do this, I set the camera to expose for 10 seconds. Starting to expose in darkness, I turned the light on for roughly 1 second. I then had the subject enter the frame and pose, switching the light on for a further 1 second before the exposure was up. Doing this creates one exposure without the subject, and one with. This is what makes the subject see-though and ghost like.

FILM SPEEDS

In these photos I have demonstrated use of ISO speeds. From left to right the ISO speeds are 100, 400, and 6400. As you can see an ISO of 400 would be most appropriate on that day. 100 is too dark, and 6400 too bright. It's very important to select the correct ISO speed. If I had taken these same pictures inside where it's darker for example, the one with an ISO of 6400 probably would've been correctly exposed.

WHITE BALANCE

In these two photos I have experimented with the white balance. The left photo was taken with the white balance set to the correct light, which was tungsten. I was indoors and was unnaturally lit by a bulb with a filament made from tungsten. The photo on the right was taken with the white balance set to outdoor, daytime lighting which is ultraviolet. As you can see it creates a yellow/orange look. This is because the camera thinks that there should be more blue in the photograph because when you are in daylight there is more blue. Similarly, if I were to set the camera to tungsten while shooting in daylight, the pictures would come out looking cold and blue. I took these pictures to demonstrate how essential getting the correct white balance is.

These two images were taken outside. The left one has the correct white balance setting of daylight. The right was set to tungsten, the wrong setting. However, as you can see the blue/cold look almost makes the photograph look better, creating more meaning and atmosphere. This is how you can use white balance for affect.

ABOVE & BELOW

Here I have demonstrated 'above and below' by photographing the same subject from two different angles. This gives the viewer a different perspective of the subject. When these two images are juxtaposed, the viewer gets more meaning from them.