Rebecca Cummins http://www.reframingphotography.

com/artists/rebecca-cummins

Carrie Mae Weems http://www.art21.org/videos/episode-compassion

Eddie Adams

Yasumasa Morimura

Vik Muniz

Julia Margaret Cameron 1879

Larry Sultan

FILE FORMAT Jpeg (.jpg) > compresses > opening it = changing it, saving it = degrading image. TiFF (.tif) > universal format > high quality good for printing LOSSLESS PSD (.psd) > Can opened & edit only in photoshop Camera Raw (.nef, .crw, .pef & more) = the most direct representation, no data lost DNG (.dng) just like camera raw but universal GIF (.gif) > small web file, good for flat color, drawing EPS (eps) > good for photo & text, use in publishing BMP (.bmp) windows & PICT (.pct) mac > these are platform specific. PNG (.png) = adobe fireworks > lossless, use for web

Shutter Speed > Time > moving subject Aperture > Amount of light > depth of field

ISO = sensitivity of film or sensor

Focusing your lens Manual Focus (MF) You select the part of the scene you want to be sharpest.

Think!
What is the most important part of the scene to be sharp? What do you want to emphasize? What do you want viewers to look at first?

The nearer you are, the more important it is to focus critically. Ex. 2 feet > depth of field will be shallow

200 feet away > greater depth of field > everything at that distance and beyond will be sharp.

Focus manually like you might tune a guitar. Go a little past the Point you think is correct, then come back.

Follow focus technique keeps a subject that is moving toward you well focused. You have to adjust the focus at about the same rate that the subject is moving. PRACTICE PRACTICE!

Dont forget that shutter speed and aperture also play an important role in making objects appear sharp in the final picture.

Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt

Elliott Erwitt

Focusing your lens Automatic Focus (AF) > Camera does the focusing for you. The camera adjusts the lens to focus sharply on whatever object Is at the center of the viewfinder or within the focusing brackets. AF works well when the main subject is and stay in the middle of the picture.

If your subject is not in the center use auto focus lock to make it sharp. Placing auto focus braccket on the select area & press shutter release half way
Hold the release button and reframe then press all the way down to make an exposure

Autofocus Lock
1. Look through the viewfinder and position its focus point on the most important part of the scene your main subject. In effect, you center that subject. 2. Press the shutter button halfway down, until the green focus-OK lamp in the viewfinder eyepiece glows steadily. See the next section, "Making sure your focus is locked," for more on the focus-OK lamp. 3. Holding the shutter button halfway down, reorient the camera so that your desired composition appears in the viewfinder. 4. Press the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.

Wide area auto focus allow you to stay frameed on the situation

READ YOUR CAMERAS MANUAL!!!!! Some camera can predict where the focused object will be next, some have 2 focus systems (active > glass window, passive > low contrast)

Autofocus system can be fooled

When is Manual Focus Better than Auto Focus?

MACRO OR CLOSE UP SHOT

Low Light

Portraits
Manual focusing in portrait work helps to ensure the viewer of the image is drawn to the part of the face that you want them to notice.

Shooting Through Glass/Wire Fences

Focusing upon the subject behind that glass or fence in conjunction with a large aperture (which decreases depth of field) and get in close to the fence or glass you might well eliminate it completely from being noticeable in your shot.

Action Photography

Additional options Zone Focus = set depth of field in advance of shooting so you can shoot quickly without refocusing every shot. (need lens with DOF scale)

Helen Levitt

Helen Levitt, New York, 1971

Focusing on the hyperfocal distance will give you the maximum (most possible) depth of field every time. (need lens with DOF scale)

Jan Imberi (hyperfocal distance focus)

video

focusing about a third of the way into a scene DOFmaster.com

John Pfahl

John Pfahl

what is the most important part of the scene to be focus

Or what is the most important part of the scene to be un-focus

Sally Mann, The Perfect Tomato, 1990.

From Pinhole to lens

The focal length of a lens is defined as the distance in mm from the optical center of the lens to the focal point, which is located on the sensor or film if the subject (at infinity) is "in focus". The camera lens projects part of the scene onto the film or sensor.

Focal length controls -magnification -the size of image formed by the lens.
THE LONGER THE LENS = THE GREATER THE SIZE PF OBJECTS IN THE IMAGE.

Focal length also controls angle of view > the amount of the Scene shown on a given size of sensor or film.

Long lens = larger image = less of the scene

Focal length also controls angle of view > the amount of the Scene shown on a given size of sensor or film.

Long lens = larger image = less of the scene

Henry Cartier-Bresson Normal focal length

Normal focal length lens (or standard focal length lens), approximates the impression human vision gives.

A lens that is normal focal length for one camera can be a Long focal length for another. Film or sensor size determines What will be a normal focal length.
The larger the sensor size =The longer the focal length of a normal lens for that format

35 mm film = 50 mm lens

For digital normal focal length = 40-58mm lens

Henry Cartier-Bresson

Long focal length lens

-Greater image magnification, narrower angle of view, good for zooming distance object -MEDIUM LONG LENS > good for portraiture (prevent distortion when Shooting up close) -OFTEN CALLED Telephoto or tele

For 35mm or DSLR > POPULAR LONG FOCAL LENGTH = 105

Lou Jones, 2006 Winter Olympics - Torino, Italy

LONG LENS lets

you get portraits without crowding in on the subject. This lets you capture more natural expressions.

Long lens use at moderate distance also avoid distortion

Dont forget shutter speed! Ex. 105 mm lens need at least 1/250 Also use tripod if possible.

Annie Leibovitz

Short focal length lens or wide-angle lens

-Increases the angle of view >show more of a scene from the same position

ANSEL ADAM For 35mm or DSLR > POPULAR = 28MM

ANSEL ADAMS

SHORT LENS IS ALSO GOOD FOR FAST MOVING SITUATION

Short lens can show apparent distort of perspective

David Muench

Using a short focal length lens close to the subject adds some distortion to the portrait but it still works as an image. Perhaps not as flattering as it might be, the image is probably more interesting to others than to the subject.

Typical Lens Focal Length* Less than 21 mm Extreme Wide Angle = Architecture 21-35 mm Wide Angle = Landscape 35-70 mm Normal = Street & Documentary 70-135 mm Medium Telephoto = Portraiture 135-300+ mm Telephoto = Sports, Bird & Wildlife *Note: Lens focal lengths are for 35 mm equivalent cameras. If you have a compact or digital SLR camera, you likely have a different sensor size. To adjust the above numbers for your camera, use focal length calculator or look at lens & camera manual

Zoom lenses combine a range of focal lengths into one lens.

Ex. 28-105 mm = 28mm, 50mm, 85mm, & 105mm

Zoom lenses can be very useful! Make sure your shutter speed is fast enough or use tripod (ex. Lens at 28mm = 1/30, when zoom to 100mm use 1/125

Macro Lens is useful for extremely close shots

Catherine Chalmers

Fisheye lens = widest of wide-angle view

Fisheye lens distort space

"Tilt-shift photography" refers to the use of camera movements on small- and medium-format cameras, and sometimes specifically refers to the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene. Sometimes the term is used when the shallow depth of field is simulated with digital postprocessing; the name may derive from the tilt-shift lens normally required when the effect is produced optically.

Tilt Shift

Play around with this site > http://tiltshiftmaker.com/

Focus & Depth of Field

Depth of field is the area from near to far in a scene that is acceptably sharp in a photograph.

One of the most important things to look for in a new camera is how well it focuses. This is important because a lens can only bring one part of the scene into the sharpest possible focus. This part of the scene falls on what is called the plane of critical focus. Subjects falling on this plane will be the sharpest part of the picture. You move this plane toward and way from the camera as you focus.

Remember! The smaller the aperture, the greater depth of field The shorter the focal length of the lens, the greater the depth of field. The greater the distance from the subject, the greater depth of field

Bokeh is the blur or the aesthetic quality of the blurin out-of-focus areas of an image. Bokeh occurs for parts of the scene that lie outside the depth of field. Photographers sometimes deliberately use a shallow focus technique to create images with prominent out-of-focus regions.

Martin Franck

Perspective = how we see or judge depth in 2D.

Perspective can be controlled by adjusting lens to subject distance

Perspective is not depth of field.

Depth of field is the area from near to far in a scene that is acceptably sharp in a photograph.

Perspective is effected by the lens-to-subject distance, Not by the focal length. Move camera closer to subject will Make objects in the foreground larger relative to background

Forced perspective

Andreas Feininger, New York, NY, US

Long focal length lens = telephoto effect = exaggerated perspective

Short focal length lens = exaggerated perspective

Jan Dibbets

Jan Dibbets

Remember!
The smaller the aperture = the greater depth of field The shorter the focal length of the lens = the greater depth of field The greater the distance from the subject = the greater depth of field

The sizes of the aperture openings are determined so that at a given f-stop number the same amount of light reaches the film/image sensor.

F- stop = lens focal length Aperture diameter

Ex. 100mm lens 25mm lens opening = F/4
200mm lens 50mm lens opening = F/4

Sally Mann

Hiroshi Sugimoto

Tokohiro Sato (long exposure)

Jeff Wall, Passerby, 1996

Tina Modotti

An-My L

The Daguerreotype Louis-Jacques-Mand Daguerre invented the daguerreotype process in France. The invention was announced to the public on August 19, 1839 at a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences in Paris. American photographers quickly capitalized on this new invention, which was capable of capturing a "truthful likeness." Daguerreotypists in major cities invited celebrities and political figures to their studios in the hopes of obtaining a likeness for display in their windows and reception areas. The Process The daguerreotype is a direct-positive process, creating a highly detailed image on a sheet of copper plated with a thin coat of silver without the use of a negative. The process required great care. The silver-plated copper plate had first to be cleaned and polished until the surface looked like a mirror. Next, the plate was sensitized in a closed box over iodine until it took on a yellow-rose appearance. The plate, held in a lightproof holder, was then transferred to the camera. After exposure to light, the plate was developed over hot mercury until an image appeared. To fix the image, the plate was immersed in a solution of sodium thiosulfate or salt and then toned with gold chloride. Exposure times for the earliest daguerreotypes ranged from three to fifteen minutes, making the process nearly impractical for portraiture. Modifications to the sensitization process coupled with the improvement of photographic lenses soon reduced the exposure time to less than a minute.

Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln. Three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing front

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/daghtml/daghome.html