How I See It My Place Photo Curriculum

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How I See It My PlacePhoto Curriculum

• By Jerold Kress, Multimedia Coordinator
• Bresee Community Foundation, Los Angeles

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Tips on Taking a Good Digital Photograph

• Basic Camera Technique
• Rules of Composition

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Technique Framing

• Pay Attention to Framing Your Shot
• Use the zoom or move closer in to frame what you
  want people to see.
• Ask yourself if the LCD window frames what you
  want people to see.
• Make sure your subject is prominent in the photo.

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Technique Framing

• Filling the Frame or Showing Context?
• The sign 39 takes on a different meaning in the
  wider shot, as the context shows it refers to the
  number of lanes in a bowling alley.

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Technique Framing

• Filling the Frame or Showing Context?
• The wider shot of the water main cover doesnt
  show the bicycle gear welded onto it as well as
  the closer shot does.

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Technique Framing

• Filling the Frame or Showing Context?
• Framing the red steps sign in an expanse of
  beige stucco uses color contrast to highlight the
  sign and shows how small it really is.

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Technique Framing

• Filling the Frame or Showing Context?
• Filling the frame with bootleg DVD covers creates
  an interesting grid design, but doesnt tell us
  where they are being sold, who is selling them,
  or who is buying them.

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Technique Framing

• Filling the Frame or Showing Context?
• Framing a sleeping homeless person and the
  persons shopping cart tells us something about
  how they live.
• However, the framing doesnt show the context
  the steps of a church.

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Technique Focus

• Decide what you want people to see clearly or
  what you want to emphasize in your photo.

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Technique Focus

• Unfocused photos are caused by not focusing on
  the main subject in your composition.
• To correct, retake your photo, centering on what
  it is you want in focus.
• Or, hold down the shutter button halfway to focus
  on the center, then reframe the shot you want.

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Technique Focus

• Example of changing focus
• In the shot on top, the camera auto-focuses on
  the iron fence, leaving the Brynmoor Apts sign
  unfocused.
• In the shot below, eliminating the foreground
  fence allows the camera to keep the sign in focus.

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Technique Focus

• Sometimes, you may deliberately decide to make
  something out of focus to create an effect.
• Notice how by focusing on the background, a
  sense of depth is created when the foreground is
  out of focus.

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Technique Blur

• Blurry photos are caused by camera movement.
• This often happens in low light situations
  because the shutter slows down to let in more
  light.

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Technique Blur

• Avoid blur by holding the camera steady. You can
  prop it on a horizontal or against a vertical
  surface (wall or pole) to steady it.

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Technique Blur

• Notice how the telephoto zoom magnifies the image
  and the blur. Get closer to your subject or prop
  the camera against a pole or wall to avoid moving
  it.

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Technique Blur

• Sometimes blurring can create interesting
  effects.
• Notice how the blurred background created by the
  moving bus gives a sense of movement to the photo
  and contrasts with the newspaper racks.

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Technique Lighting

• Learn to how use the flash properly.
• The flash control is a lightning bolt arrow.
• Dont use the flash unnecessarily
• The flash depletes batteries faster.
• The flash will illuminate foreground objects only.

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Technique Lighting

• Here, a flash is used unnecessarily in daylight
  and overexposes the palm tree in the foreground.

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Technique Lighting

• A flash used to advantage at dusk
• Notice how the flash illuminates the signs,
  leaving the twilight sky glowing in the
  background.

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Technique Lighting

• A flash used to good effect to highlight a
  graffiti-painted wall, accenting the colors as
  well as creating a bright hot spot against the
  shiny surface.

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Technique Lighting

• A flash used at night illuminates plant life in
  both the close-up and wide shots.

22
Composition

• Make your photographs more interesting by knowing
  the elements of a photo and how to use them.
• Background
• Lines
• Juxtaposition
• Patterns
• Contrasts
• Form
• Depth
• Camera angle
• Size and Proportion
• Balance
• Lighting
• Exposure

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Composition Background

• Is something in the background distracting the
  eye from your subject?
• If so, eliminate it by focusing or changing your
  perspective.

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Composition Lines

• Look for lines (wires, fences, layers, stripes,
  arrow, etc.) in your photo.
• Try positioning them at interesting angles
• Parallel lines (in roads, sidewalks, railroad
  tracks, etc.) will disappear in the distance,
  giving depth to your shot.

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Composition Juxtaposition

• Grouping two or more objects in a photograph can
  change the meaning of an object or of the photo
  itself.
• A shopping cart juxtaposed next to the Hebrew
  letters on the old temple wall.
• A similar shopping cart sprouting from a bush.

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Composition Patterns

• Repetitive visual elements found in fences,
  walls, and signs can create interesting images.

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Composition Contrast

• Pay attention to how shapes, colors, shadow and
  light can clash and interact with each other.
• Contrast creates interest and drama.

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Composition Form and Shape

• The shapes of objects, or the shapes created by
  light and shadow, can create interesting images.
• An ordinary object can take on special meaning if
  isolated in your shot.

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Composition Depth

• Create a sense of depth in your photo by being
  aware of what is in front or behind your subject.

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Composition Camera angle

• Vary the camera angle so that not every shot is
  perfectly horizontal or vertical.

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Composition Size and Proportion

• Sometimes, you might want to fill the entire
  frame with your subject.
• Other times, you may want to make the subject
  small against the background.
• Refer back to the tips in framing discussed
  before.

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Composition Balance

• Try different options to avoid overuse of boring
  symmetry
• Dont always center your subject, although this
  works well if you want to emphasize the quality
  of bi-lateral symmetry in your subject.
• Use the Rule of Thirds to create asymmetry in
  your composition divide the frame into thirds
  (top and bottom) and position the object youre
  photographing in one of the thirds.

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Composition Lighting

• Looks for how natural or artificial light
  illuminates your subject or creates contrast.
• Your subject will not stand out if its in
  complete shade or shadowed. Notice how the
  stenciled sign doesnt stand out against the
  background.

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Composition Lighting

• Dark shadows can accent your subject.
• Notice how the contrast with the dark shadows
  makes the cigarette pack stand out boldly
  against the asphalt street surface.

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Composition Exposure

• Look at the overall light level of your photo.
  Is it too dark or too light?
• If either, retake the photo or adjust the light
  level later on using Photoshop.

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The End

• Now its your turn.
• Good luck and have fun!

Note photos in this presentation were taken by
Virgil Middle School students enrolled in the
pilot project conducted at the Bresee Community
Foundation in Winter 2007-2008.
This project is a program of the California
Council for the Humanities California Stories
How I See It campaign conducted in partnership
with Califa. It is supported in part by the U.S.
Institute of Museum and Library Services, under
the provisions of the Library Services and
Technology Act, administered in California by the
State Librarian.