Practicing Photography Skills
I keep thinking about Professor Amy Oliver lecturing on the importance of treating digital photography like film.  I hate that the camera takes so much time to record an image.  The replay feature stopped working and I can’t remember how to get it to go back on.  This is the last photo I took of Chris today.  I knew I had it in the can with this final shot.  There is only one image of this pose.  I think I took a great photograph and that Chris can use this photo to promote her newest book and tour.

Chris Kraus in the Los Angeles River

0   I like This

Related posts:

Photography 7 at LACC Photo 7 Shutter Speed Control: The year old Angels are Pairing Off Aquarium Update: Lefty and Digitalis' offspring are mating!!!!!

The Bugman takes a Photography Course:  Assignment 1 Snapshot/Photograph
February 11, 2012
I am very excited about taking Photography 7 at LACC with Professor Amy Oliver.  I have heard excellent student opinions of her class and I want to learn to teach Exploring Digital PHotography from the best instructor possible.  I read about the first assignment in the syllabus and I am doing my interpretation of it without hearing the instructor’s expectations which are scheduled for next Monday.  Here is my Snapshot/PHotograph assignment.

Snap: Gerardo, Mauricio and Napo eat lunch on February 11

My gardening crew, who come every two weeks to help maintain the yard, often eat lunch in the back yard.  While the crew ate, I scouted for a good location and I metered the light.  I also ran tests experimenting with apertures of the composition for the shot.  They look like this:  [publish while I find and format the location scouting.]

Location for a PHotograph February 11, 2012

The potted wisteria I dug out of a vacant lot twelve years ago is about to begin blooming.  I know the southern winter light there.  Napo finished eating first and he posed for a few photographs. 

Photograph of Napo February 11, 2012

Napo’s boss Francisco has already critiqued the cropping and position of the hands.  What do you think?  Is this a snapshot or a photograph???  Post comments please.

Paramount Lighting is high and frontal and the shadow of the nose falls perfectly symetrically above the lip and resembles the wings of a butterfly.  Paramount Lighting is also called Butterfly Lighting.  Marlene Dietrich insisted that she always be photographed with Paramount Lighting.  It is rumored that she took lighting classes so that she could direct the lighting technicians.

Update:  February 13, 2012
Yesterday I shot another example of the Snapshot/PHotograph assignment.  I like this building on San Fernando Road and I needed to get some of Aunt Willie’s local honey from the Atwater Farmers Market, so I took the camera with me.  On the way to the market, I took a snapshot of Alco Printing from across the street since that was the direction I was traveling.

Snapshot of Alco Printing

On the return trip, I parked, got out of the car and composed a better photograph, selecting shutter 1/60 and f/8 aperture in the shade.  This was about 11 AM.  I believe early morning light might be better because I can back up a bit more and not get lens flare on the northern exposure wall.

Photograph of Alco Printing

Update  Assignment 1 Snapshot/Photograph:  The Real Assignment
February 14, 2012
Interesting how wrong I was about the first assignment.  This first assignment was to be an in class shooting assignment, and students without their own digital cameras could check out a school camera provided they brought CF memory cards which are not supplied by the campus.  In class last night we learned the kind of things that signify a snapshot, like being shot horizonally, straight on and with the subject in the center of the frame, to name a few characteristics, and that a photograph could be vertical, shot at an interesting angle like side, up, down or back, considered composition like the rule of thirds, and might be shot up close of from a great distance.  The class went out at night after setting the cameras to 1600 ISO, though the dinosaur Olympus I shoot with only goes to 320 ISO, and we were instructed to treat the digital camera like a film camera and be judicious about the number of images we took.  We were to take 10 photographs of a classmate on campus in a variety of different situations.  I was nervous to shoot on Program Mode, hand held at night with a 320 sensitivity speed, so I shot multiples on a few shots to ensure that one would be in focus due to the longer shutter speeds hand held.  Svetlana asked if I had a partner and we shot together.  I took a total of 12 shots, having lost count, and I submitted them last night with no manipulation.  Here are my two favorites for your scrutiny.

Svetlana at the vending machines, Cesar Chavez Administration Building, LACC

I did not adjust the levels or color balance on either of these images since we were not yet instructed how to properly color correct.  I always color correct, sharpen, format size or otherwise adjust  quality for the  images that are posted to the What’s That Bug? website to optimize their impact on the website, though many of our contributors submit positively excellent photographs of the bugs they encounter.

Svetlana under yellow lights, Holmes Hall, LACC

1   I like This

Related posts:

Chris Kraus in the Los Angeles River Photo 7 Shutter Speed Control: The year old Angels are Pairing Off Aquarium Update: Lefty and Digitalis' offspring are mating!!!!!