Photography for Dummies

1. Photography for Dummies David Pendon. Period one. October 16, 2013.

2. Introduction • In this point of power, I will try to convey the basic rudiments of well-took photos. • Photography’s an art: the art of still-frames. In this art, to take good photos, rules need to be followed in order for the photos to look anatomically well and pleasing to the human eye. • Table of Contents: • Slide 1: title page. • Slide 2: introduction page you’re reading. • Slides 3-9: camera angles and camera shots. • Slides 10-11: rules of thirds. • Slides 12-13: rules of odds. • Slide 14: rules of space. • Slide 15 framing. • Slide 16: cropping. • Slide 17: background. • Slide 18: symmetry. • Slide 19:asymmetry. • Slide 20: depth of field. • Slide 21: “thank you” slide.

3. Camera Shots and Camera Angles • Camera shots are how close the photo is to the subject; camera angles is where the photo is taken of the subject. There is also camera panning – rotation around the subject, but I shan’t cover that. • These are how photos are classified and made to look more interesting by combining variety of angles and shots of the subject in the photo while following the basic photography rules. • I have five camera shots and six angles.

4. Camera shots An extreme close eye level shot. A close-up eye level shot. Extreme close-up shot (ECS) is a shot where the subject completely or completely – with slight background – fills in the photo. Close-up shot (CS) is a shot where the subject almost fills in the photo.

5. Camera Shots A high mid shot of an upper body. An eye-level long shot of a person. Middle shot (MS) is a shot where the camera shot is taken a medium distance away, e.g., a mug-shot. Long-shot (LS) is a shot where the entire subject is be visible in the photo, e.g., a full-body shot.

6. Camera Shots • Extreme long-shot (ELS) is a shot that is taken far away from the subject, e.g., a shot of an island from a satellite. An extreme long low shot of a school.

7. Camera Angles A high close-up shot. A low close-up shot. High shot – a shot taken at a high angle of the subject Low shot – a shot taken from a low angle of the subject; higher than a ground shot.

8. Camera Angles A close ground shot of a telephone pole. Close-up bird’s eye shot. Ground shot– a shot is a shot taken seemingly from the ground, e.g., a shot of the Eiffel Tower from the ground. Bird’s eye shot – a shot taken completely above the subject.

9. Camera Angles Long eye level shot. Close Dutch shot. Eye level – a shot taken at eye level; no camera angle positioning. Dutch shot – a shot that is taken sideways, or crooked.

10. Rules of Thirds • This is one of the most important rules. The rules of third is basically: “Lining your subject to one of the points in the imaginary line.” • The rules of thirds lines are two horizontal and two vertical lines that cross the photo and make nine squares. In the next slide, the most important parts of the lines – the intersections– are circled. • We use the rules of thirds because the intersection points are where the human eye looks; following the rules of thirds makes photos look anatomically excellent to humans.

11. Rules of Thirds The rules of thirds lines is similar to this diagram. As long as the photo subject – what you’re taking a photo of – is lined on the horizontal, vertical or both intersection lines, the photo is proper. You don’t need to follow this if the photo is an extreme close shot: the subject will take up the entire photo. The subject cannot be in the center or sides of the photo, unless you’re using the “rules of odds.”

12. Rules of Odds • If you’re all like: “Nah” to the rules of thirds you can use the rules of odds. • The rules of odds is: “As long as you have an odd amount of subjects in a photo, it’s balanced and the rules of thirds don’t need to be followed.”

13. Rules of Odds • Rules of odds examples: Here, three subjects are in the photos. The rules of thirds aren’t followed.

14. Rules of Space • The rules of space is: “Leaving white space in front of the subject’s point of view to depict movement.” • Example: Space is present in front of the subject. This depicts that the subject is moving and makes photos more dynamic and Interesting.

15. Framing • Framing is the use of natural frames when taking photos, e.g., tree leaves, archways, hallways, or holes. • Example: The walls of the hallway provide a frame for the school in the back and – or-- the Students and teacher blocking my shot.

16. Cropping • Cropping takes away things in the background and allows the viewer to better focus on the subject. • With background: • Without background: If you’re all like: “’Dis guy blockin’ my shot!” then you could use cropping to remove some of the background.

17. Background • Removing background allows the viewer to completely focus on the subject. • With background: • Without background: Now that the background has been eliminated the viewer can focus solely on the subject.

18. Symmetry • Symmetry makes photos balanced. • Unbalanced: • Balenced: This extra column in the photo makes the photo unbalanced because the left side of the photo does not have two columns. This makes the photos look unsymmetrical. Utilize cropping to make the photo more balanced.

19. Asymmetry • Balance the weight of your subject by including another object of lesser importance. Examples: In this photo, a subject that reates to the main subject is added to make the photo look better. The less noticeable subject subtly makes the photo better. In this photo, other less important subjects are added to accompany the photo. The less important subjects may relate and support the main subject. Therefore, following the rules of thirds – even rules of odds – making he photo less empty and more interesting.

20. Depth of Field • Distance between subjects; one is focused, one is not. • Examples: This put focus on the subject but allows subordinate subjects to add to the photo. Some of the subjects are focused, others: not.

21. Thank you for being present for my presentation. The information in this presentation is derived from notes I took in graphic arts class, my own explanation of the information, and my own subjective conceptualization; such as that of slide three.