Course 02, Week 04: Picture Decisions

In Module 4 we return to studying concepts related to the way photographs look, and how practical decisions that are unique to photography can have dramatic effect in terms of what their objective or creative content might be. We examine the aspect of Time as an essential choice that must be made by photographers no matter what their ultimate goal for image-making. We continue the Peer Review process for paid-Learners.

Assignment - Picture your world in BLURRED-ACTION-TIME!

What are the meaningful things in your world of reality, imagination, document, or expression? That alone is a powerful question! A related question forms the basis for this assignment: Whether your expressive purpose in this assignment is to create a photograph from a more documentary point of view, or to creatively express a content drawn from your imagination, how can you use the element of BLURRED-ACTION-TIME as a prominent aspect to convey that content? The answer to that question will be a key factor in both the technical and content aspects a viewer would evaluate in the one photograph you submit.

You will recognize already that this assignment is similar to the first Peer Review assignment in this Course. In that first assignment you were challenged to express elements relevant to your special world using techniques to create STOP-ACTION-Time photographs. In this assignment, you may choose a similar subject to that which you first addressed, or pick an entirely different aspect of your world to express. Whatever you settle on, you will share a single photograph that reveals a new content in your world that results from blurring a moment in time as evidenced by movement of things in front of the camera, or movement of the camera, or both!

Whether you are making an interpretive picture that is more "artistic," or one that is more practical, realistic, or documentary, be sure to make ISO setting and shutter speed and aperture choices that will result in a slow shutter speed to create blur AND a properly exposed picture holding tonal values of lightness and darkness that are appropriate for your approach.

As with any photograph, whether it is for artistic or more documentary purposes, frame your image so that there is what an average viewer would consider a successful composition, one that has an arrangement of visual elements that feels "balanced" to your eye. (JPEG FILE FORMAT ONLY, please no TIFF, PDF, or others!)

Write a brief Statement consisting of 3-4 sentences. In 2 or 3 sentences, describe the content that you hope a viewer perceives in your picture and why the blurred moment in time that you have recorded is a significant one as it relates to you and your world. In the final sentence please share the exposure combination (f. stop, shutter speed, and ISO) you used for the picture, and describe the lighting conditions (as an example, "it was 3am here in New Delhi, the room was quite dark, and this scene was lit by candle light"), so your fellow Learners can not only understand the context for your picture but also gain knowledge to use in their future efforts.

Upload the image file just as the camera records it, without any Photoshop or App manipulation.

“The alternative realities created by having too much to do...” - I shot this photo on my Sony Alpha 7R2, at ISO80, f22 @ 30 seconds with a Sony FE 55 lens. The shutter speed of 30 seconds left me with enough time to move around the frame and hold my position in different spots long enough to create detail in the final image. The use of the 55mm lens meant that a ridiculously small portion of the garage was in the frame, helping to emphasize the idea that the space is claustrophobic to navigate. Bags and a dog carrier cage take up the foreground, with a heap of stuff crammed onto the shelves right behind me. It was after midnight when I took these photos. There was thick and unsettling darkness visible where the garage’s windows are. As a result, the garage itself was lit by fluorescent tube lighting that hung overhead near the back of the garage where my camera was.

TITLE: The alternative realities created by having too much to do...

DATE: January 18, 2023

Many aspects of my life have become engulfed and even paralyzed by a claustrophobically unorganized mess that I’ve been struggling to clean up. Often, it feels like I’m running around in circles, getting little done - as represented by the blurry image of myself moving through the cluttered space of my garage that I captured in this photo.

I shot this photo on my Sony Alpha 7R2, at ISO80, f22 @ 30 seconds with a Sony FE 55 lens. The shutter speed of 30 seconds left me with enough time to move around the frame and hold my position in different spots long enough to create detail in the final image. The use of the 55mm lens meant that a ridiculously small portion of the garage was in the frame, helping to emphasize the idea that the space is claustrophobic to navigate. Bags and a dog carrier cage take up the foreground, with a heap of stuff crammed onto the shelves right behind me. It was after midnight when I took these photos. There was thick and unsettling darkness visible where the garage’s windows are. As a result, the garage itself was lit by fluorescent tube lighting that hung overhead near the back of the garage where my camera was.

This photo is also posted on Instagram and Flickr.

Peer Review Feedback…

GRADE: 100%

Course Certificate of Completion

Course Completed on January 19, 2023

Overall Grade: 99.5%

Course 02, Week 03: ELEMENTS OF CAMERA CONTROL 3.0 - DEPTH OF FIELD

In Module 3 you will learn about the meaning of "Depth of Field," and how it can be controlled to create areas of focus that are perfect for the type of content you wish to convey in your photographs, whether they are for business or pleasure, art or industry.

Assignment - Shoot & Share: Depth of Field Control

You have learned many things about Depth of Field (aka "DOF") in this Module, and in this assignment you will be able to use that new knowledge. You are also gaining a greater understanding of one or more subjects you enjoy photographing, and in this assignment you will also be able to continue exploring that content.

Whether your photography is primarily work-related, family and friends, landscapes, portraits, or abstract expression, you are vitally interested in certain subjects. There are certain people, places, or things that excite you as a photographer, and in this assignment you will share that passion with your peers! Narrow in on a Subject that is among your favorite interests in photography as the focus of this assignment, and write a sentence to guide your work before you begin photographing. As you'll see below, we use the example of a Subject we call, "the sweetness of life." This will help keep you focused on a distinct content approach that you have defined after considering things that make you the unique individual you are. It will also help your reviewers understand this particular context within which you enjoy creating pictures.

Plan ahead if necessary, and make any necessary arrangements you need in order to be able to complete your photography (for example arranging for models, gathering still life objects, planning for time to photograph at a worksite, etc.)

Review the principles for control of depth of field, and think about how you might use that knowledge BEFORE you set out to photograph. Thinking about how you will use those principles, and even pre-planning a picture or two, can help you get started and then branch off into more experimentation. Remind yourself of these effects: of focusing close or far; of large or small aperture size; and of long or short focal length lenses.

Please do not concentrate so much on DOF that you neglect proper exposure to create appropriate overall darkness, or lightness, or middle tonal values! Be sure that your photographs are properly exposed for the purposes you are trying to achieve in responding to your subject. There ARE times when it is important to have an overly dark or light scene, especially when you are trying to convey a mood rather than a more direct documentary content, but make the tones purposeful.

Make two photographs, not necessarily from the same vantage point or of the same scene. One photograph will show the effects characteristic of Shallow Depth of Field (a very narrow band of focus with other areas of the picture noticeably out of focus), and; one photograph will show the effects characteristic of Great Depth of Field (a large space from fore to background that is reasonably in focus). (JPEG FILE FORMAT ONLY, please no TIFF, PDF, or others!)

Frame a composition that you feel successfully arranges visual elements to give the viewer a sense of purposeful direction, that results in a well composed picture that an average viewer would feel is "balanced."

Write a brief Statement of 3-6 sentences: the first sentence should be the one you wrote before you began the project, that guided your approach to the Subject (for example, " My subject is a philosophy I call the 'sweetness of life,' as that approach is very important to me as a person living in somewhat difficult circumstances."); 1-3 sentences describing the photograph, and anything else you like in regard to the purpose for Shallow DOF in the first picture and what techniques you used to achieve it (for example, "I used a telephoto lens to create Shallow DOF to isolate the child from the crowd..."); 1-3 sentences describing the photograph, and anything else you like in regard to the purpose for Great DOF in the second picture and how you achieved it (for example, "to allow as many details in the field of flowers to be clear, I used f.22, a very small aperture...").

Upload both photographs and your statement to the Gallery, each as individual uploads. After uploading, it will be your turn to provide "Peer Review" feedback to your fellow Learners...and they will do the same for you!

“The Banality of Yard Work (Shallow DOF)” - With this photo, I wanted to focus on one small part of the task of raking up leaves, by focusing on how one area has been cleaned up, into a pile that’s ready to be taken away. What’s blurred represents the five other piles, and the leaves that continue across the rest of the grass and throughout the garden beds, also waiting to be raked up. A man, myself, stands alone, as if I’m lost in a dream, or a never-ending nightmare. looking out at the work that awaits him. To achieve this shallow look, I used a flexible spot focus on the first pile of leaves in the foreground and shot the photograph at ISO80, f1.8 @ 1/80s.

“The Banality of Yard Work (Wider / Deeper DOF)” - With this photo, I wanted to focus on the entire yard, so the work that had been done as well as the work that remained was in sharper focus than the first photo, although at f4, the far end of the photo where the gazebo stands is still a bit blurred, which I like, as that area of the yard isn't my concern while I rake up the leaves. I still stand alone, looking out at all the work that still awaits me. To achieve this wider depth of field, I again used a flexible spot focus on the area where I would be standing and shot the photograph at a setting of f4 @ 1/20s, also ISO80.

TITLE: The banality of yard work

DATE: January 17, 2023

My subject focusses on the banal repetitiveness of yard work and other household chores, as they represent chores that I’ve had difficulty in handling in recent years due to my anxiety and depression. I shot these photos with my Sony A7R2 with my FE 55mm f1.8 lens.

With the first photo, I wanted to focus on one small part of the task of raking up leaves, by focusing on how one area has been cleaned up, into a pile that’s ready to be taken away. What’s blurred represents the five other piles, and the leaves that continue across the rest of the grass and throughout the garden beds, also waiting to be raked up. A man, myself, stands alone, as if I’m lost in a dream, or a never-ending nightmare. looking out at the work that awaits him. To achieve this shallow look, I used a flexible spot focus on the first pile of leaves in the foreground and shot the photograph at ISO80, f1.8 @ 1/80s.

With the second photo, I wanted to focus on the entire yard, so the work that had been done as well as the work that remained was in sharper focus than the first photo, although at f4, the far end of the photo where the gazebo stands is still a bit blurred, which I like, as that area of the yard isn't my concern while I rake up the leaves. I still stand alone, looking out at all the work that still awaits me. To achieve this wider depth of field, I again used a flexible spot focus on the area where I would be standing and shot the photograph at a setting of f4 @ 1/20s, also ISO80.

These photos were also posted on Instagram as well as on Flickr here and here.

Peer Review Feedback…

GRADE: 100%

Course 02, Week 01: WELCOME, OVERVIEW, and FUNDAMENTALS

This journal will serve as a repository of the work I’m doing in Course 02: Camera Control of the Michigan State University Coursera Specialization, Photography Basics and Beyond: From Smartphones to DSLRs.

Course 02, Week 01 - Welcome, Overview & Fundamentals

Course 02, Week 01 - Welcome, Overview & FundamentalsWelcome to Course TWO! From previous lessons, you have learned to set your camera menus and functions so your camera is ready to use. Beginning with Module 1, we'll add to the camera knowledge you gained in Course ONE to increase your understanding of critical exposure factors so you can create predictable results through confident control. If you are fully participating in the Course, you will also have the opportunity to test your knowledge through Quiz questions, and share your photographs in Peer Review and learn from the photographs of fellow Learners. As you learn about different exposure options, the concept and effects of Depth of Field, and begin to study the visual elements in a more concentrated manner, you will be developing the skills to "put it all together," to create pictures you will be proud to share that go beyond the snapshot to more fulfilling expression.

Assignment - Picture Your World in STOP-ACTION-TIME!

What are the meaningful things in your world of reality, imagination, document, or expression? That alone is a powerful question! A related question forms the basis for this assignment: Whether your expressive purpose in this assignment is to create a photograph from a more documentary point of view, or to creatively express a content drawn from your imagination, how can you use the element of STOP-ACTION-TIME as a prominent aspect to convey that content? The answer to that question will be a key factor in both the technical and content aspects a viewer would evaluate in the one photograph you submit.

Are you interested in the new content that is revealed by stopping the action of a traditional dance group you joined, or of your niece as she kicks a soccer ball, or a gesture of love that is fleeting, the mystery of life itself, or the action of a hummingbird's wings...or something else that can only be referenced or expressed through a stop-action moment? Do you want to convey something insightful or expressive as you freeze the motion of a bird, or your grandmother's laughter? Is there a momentary expression on people in the street that, when the action is frozen, becomes a "ballet of life" that is filled with mystery and metaphor? In this assignment, you will share a single photograph that reveals a new content in your world that results from freezing a moment by stopping action.

Whether you are making an interpretive picture that is more "artistic," or one that is more practical, realistic, or documentary, be sure to make ISO setting and shutter speed and aperture choices that will result in both a Stop-Action effect and a properly exposed picture holding tonal values of lightness and darkness that are appropriate.

As with any photograph, whether it is for artistic or more documentary purposes, frame your image so that there is what an average viewer would consider a successful composition, one that has an arrangement of visual elements that feels "balanced" to your eye.

Write a brief Statement consisting of 3-4 sentences. In 2 or 3 sentences, describe the content that you hope a viewer perceives in your picture and why the brief moment in time that you have recorded is a significant one as it relates to you and your world. In the final sentence please share the exposure combination (f. stop, shutter speed, and ISO) you used for the picture, and describe the lighting conditions (as an example, "it was 3pm here in New Delhi, and this scene was lit by direct sunlight"), so your fellow Learners can not only understand the context for your picture but also gain knowledge to use in their future efforts.

Upload the image file just as the camera records it, (JPEG FILE FORMAT ONLY, please no TIFF, PDF, or others!) without any Photoshop or App manipulation.

“Up in the Air” - Steven Lee's stop motion photography exercise.

TITLE: Up in the Air

DATE: December 31, 2022

This photograph serves to illustrate the physical messes in my life, which are a direct result of my ongoing struggles with anxiety and major depression. Depression often leaves me having periods of time where I’m paralyzed and tasks that need my attention get ignored, and the work needed to get the chores done increases. The tossing of the socks and towels into the air serves as a metaphor for the many things I’m juggling in my messed-up life.

This photo was captured at f1.8, which was fixed in the SONY ZV-1 camera I used tonight. I selected ISO400, as it allowed me to use a shutter speed of 1/80s which seemed fast enough to stop this particular action of tossing the socks & towels in the air. I also used a time lapse shutter of 5s, so there was time for me to hit the shutter release, get into position, & toss the laundry. The photo was taken at night, and the room was lit by artificial lighting sources along the wall and the ceiling. I practiced this a lot, doing it a dozen times, & then a dozen more. I tried it with different sized towels, shirts, as well as socks before I decided on the mix of socks & washcloths.

Formally, the photograph has some areas that are blown out and overexposed - particularly around the wall sconce lights that hang on the wall with the mirror. I didn’t have as much time to devote to this as I would have liked, and the process of using a delayed shutter slowed things down. My f-stop was also fixed, so I could only control shutter speed and ISO. My camera was able to shoot five shots consecutively which helped. I posted this photo on Instagram and minor adjustments helped make the photo look more properly lit, without the blown out light sources.

Overall, I think the stop action helped convey the idea that I always have laundry on the go. I’d like to shoot this again and work on my facial expression, and with getting the clothes captured more clearly / sharply by adjusting the shutter speed.

This photo was also posted to Instagram and Flickr.

Peer Review Feedback…

GRADE: 97.5%