This series of photos were made to explore two other aspects of the exposure triangle - ISO and Shutter Speed. The first seven photos here were under artificial light at night, and the final five under the light of an overcast day that had settled into my space through closed blinds (although photo 9, in the bathroom, was taken with the bathroom light on, mixing in with the available daylight).
These photos have also been posted on Instagram, here and here.
Freezing Motion…
From December 30, 2022: Today’s image is for a @michiganstateu @coursera program specialization I’ve been working through called PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS & BEYOND: FROM SMARTPHONES TO DSLR. Specifically it’s for the week 01 project of the second course, called CAMERA CONTROL.
I finished the first course, CAMERAS, EXPOSURE, & PHOTOGRAPHY in January 2020 with 97%, but my depression meant that finishing further courses in this specialization fell off the radar.
So I’ve moved back to it & honestly, this module scares the hell out of me as it deals with exposure. Yes, exposure. The combination of Aperture, ISO, & Shutter Speed to produce a properly exposed photograph. It’s something I can do when I have a camera in my hand, but don’t ask me to explain it to you. My dyslexia has always made understanding the theory behind the concepts difficult to grasp & remember, especially in a way that lets me teach somebody else. But I’m practicing, going over in my head the concepts about what happens when I fiddle with these settings.
More specifically, this project focused on the stopping of action to create a meaningful photograph. And my problems with this assignment lay in my insecurities at being good at stopping action, and finding something meaningful to photograph. But then, while snapchatting with @ahhlanna96 it hit me - what if I did something related to the mess in my life? I then saw the piles of laundry in my bathroom & got the idea of tossing them in the air, forever capturing them in a photograph as they flew mid-air, just one of the many things I’m juggling in life.
Artist’s Statement as Submitted to Coursera…
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. The 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. 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 did post this photo on Instagram and minor adjustments helped make the photo look more properly lit, without the blown out light sources.
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 is also posted to Instagram.
Peer Reviewed Feedback on Coursera Project…
Second Stop Motion Series…
Throwing junk isn’t easy using shutter speed to capture motion. I like the first one cause you can see my face fully. I did this a few weeks ago in December for a @michiganstateu @coursera course called CAMERA CONTROL only using towels in the bathroom. I submitted these to this unit on shutter speed.
These photos are also posted to Instagram.
INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK…
NOTE: this feedback was for the units 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5 combined.
The following comments were for Unit 2.3 specifically…
