Learning Summary Wrap up. So podcast it is.

I chose learning my camera/photography for my learning project.  There was so much to learn about the camera settings and a ton of things to learn about lighting. I was surprised how much information there was and all the options for equipment.  These things are good to know if you want to learn how to take great photos. I do like photography but I can’t say I would pick this subject again for my learning project. It was a lot of technical information to learn and everything works together to take good photos.  Without learning about lighting and what equipment you sometimes need; you can’t make decisions about what would be best for different shoots without practicing and educating yourself on it.

I originally chose this learning project, because I was so unhappy with photos that I took when my niece was graduating. We were in Crescent Park in Moose Jaw when we started and ended up out at Buffalo Pound lake after that.  In the park it was really bright and I could have used a block for the sun I have now learned.  It was great daylight except for where we were taking pictures at the time, it was directly on us.  We were doing the photos at the end of June and there was a lot of forest fires going on at that time. We took a short break to eat and then the sun was clouded over from the smoke.  The pictures came out hazy and the lighting was terrible.  You can see in the pictures how smoky it was so not the best.

Once I got going I realized how many things that I needed to spend time on in order to have successful shoots.  I guess it was more than I bargained for. I would choose something different because it wasn’t that fun just researching techniques, equipment and lighting that is important to know.  I did take pictures on my trip with my husband during the winter break, and around my home at the lake. I found without understanding why two identical shots turn out differently or why the light or colors are off, leaves me still confused and needing to learn what I’m doing wrong.  Taking photos all the time is key to getting better for sure but I really felt I needed to lay the ground work.

I will continue to practice taking photos but I would choose something different for my learning project if I had another opportunity.

Week 9 finds me reading and learning about composition.  I’m still surprised at  how much information there is, and the many things there is to learn with photography.  Who knew?  Composition itself could take up a few weeks of learning posts. According to Wix Photography, there is fifteen things they compiled from their users that you should know about composition and photography.

  There are numerous photography composition rules proven to take photographs to the next level.  The way elements are arranged in a shot, play a large role in perception of the image afterwards.  One of these is the Rule of Thirds.  Basing this on the idea, that the human eye is more attracted on images divided into thirds.  This being likely the composition rule that is most well known. If it’s imagined your shot is divided into three equal sections,

(think tic-tac-toe) by putting the elements on your composition on the lines that divide this section.  Or place them on points where the lines meet.  Photography Life talks about depth and how capturing a three-dimensional format can be difficult to do.  This technique talks about placing elements on the foreground, middle ground and background.  Doing this will add a sense of depth to composition, being careful not to let additional objects steal attention from the main subject.

Natural Framing is when you draw the viewers attention to the main subject, you can use elements in the image to frame the main subject.  They can also create context or hide unwanted images within the shot.  Artificial and human elements can be used as frames as well.  Digital Photography school had a lot of good tips on natural framing.

The last one I read about was Negative spaces. Negative space is just simply the name given to the area that surrounds the main subject in a composition.  When making a lot of composition negative space, it makes for dramatic composition that catches peoples attention.  It’s noted with this technique, that it’s important to pay attention to how well the negative and the positive spaces work together.

This week I decided to check out more of what Learn Photography Canada has to offer. There is endless things to learn about lighting. The Digital II, Motion and Light course has a lot to offer new photographers.  It offers the same type of deal as the Digital I class in that there is training in a location in your city.  Private classes are also available for small groups up to eight people.  A couple of things that are very convenient about it is that the course includes comprehensive notes and options to access the information at later times.  One of my favorite things is that they also offer camera rentals so that you can try before you buy.  That is a really nice option because a lot of people are interested in photography but are uncertain (like myself) so if I’m able to try things out first I would definitely be a better sell.

The class promises to talk in depth about exposure, exposure compensation and how to capture spectacular images using LIGHT first. It also promises to spend time going deeper into the world of motion and how to speed it up and slow it down by manipulating the settings on the camera.  There is a list of things that the class will dive into, but there was a couple I decided to research. I had never heard the terms used before reading the list of the classes offerings.

Exposure compensation basically helps you override automatic exposure adjustments your camera makes in situations with uneven light distribution, filters non standard processing, or under exposure or overexposure.  It lets you take control of your images brightness by manually increasing or decreasing exposure. One really interesting one I learned about was light metering.  Simply put, a light meter is a device that measures light.  There are two different kinds, Incident and Reflective.  Incident light meters help a camera focus on a subject regardless of how light or dark the surrounding background is.  Reflective light meters do the opposite, measuring the light reflected or that bounces off a subject.  Last but not least was Sun starring.  Sun starring is commonly known as the sun star effect or the star burst effect.  It results in the image of the sun appearing as a star-like shape. Typically, you can see this effect  being used in conjunction with landscape or cityscape photography.  I am finding that there are endless things to learn about photography.