March 22 - March 26, 2010

On Monday, I worked on my spread.
On Tuesday, the class learned how to use the clone tool. We learned how to hide parts of a photo by covering it with its background, and duplicating or cloning a certain subject in the photo. After this, myself and the class continued working on their spreads.
On Wednesday, I finished my yearbook spread of the Junior and Senior Girls' Volleyball, and I recieved a 4+ on the spread! Look at it! :) Also, I began to start my other spread I wanted to work on, which was about some of the groups at Korah, the Duke of Edinburgh club and Free the Children (both of which I am currently involved in).
On Thursday, the class learned how to use the move tool on Adobe Photoshop Elements, and took 2 photos and made them one, and also used the erase tool to make the subject that was added to the original photo, look like it was there in the beginning. Also, I called my mother's real estate agency, Castle Realty, to purchase and ad for the yearbook. They purchased a business card size ad, and it will actually be my mother's business card that will be used for the yearbook! After that, I continued to work on my new spread.
On Friday, It was Earth Hour today at school, and the class was given a photo assignment to take pictures in the dark without the use of flash, so we can learn how to use the light we are given to take good pictures. The class uploaded them to the computers too.

March 8 - March 11, 2010

On Monday, the class worked on their spreads. I'm finishing up the Volleyball spread. I hope to touch it up even more and get it all set and ready to go to be published for the yearbook!
On Tuesday, the class learned how to change photos to black and white and make certain areas of the black and white photo, have colour using the selection and magnetic lasso tool. Here is a photo of showing the end product of this.
On Wednesday, at the beginning of class we had a quiz on Digital Terms, such as terms like Resolution, Pixel, Mega pixel, Megabyte, Kilobyte, Byte, Bit, JPEG, Memory Card, and Gigabyte. I hope I did well on it! After the quiz I went to take pictures for this week's top 10 tip: use a plain background. I took photos with a classmate and they can be seen in the post as the two newest photos.
On Thursday, there was a guest speaker from Friesons to talk to us about the yearbook. I was unfortunately not there at the time because I was absent.

March 1 - March 5, 2010

On Monday, the class continued on creating their spreads that are going to be used for the yearbook. I continued with the process of creating my volleyball spread. Also, I photographed the trophy and banner won by the junior girl's volleyball team in the photo-taking area of the class. Hopefully these will contribute to my spread.
On Tuesday, the class learned how to use the program Adobe Photoshop Elements, and with that program the class learned how get rid of the background of photos so the selected item can easily be placed in spreads and other photo projects. The photo we did this with was the photo I took the previous day, of the NOSSA banner won by the junior girl's volleyball team. Here is a photo (top) of the banner in front of a circle, with the banner being used as clipart.
On Wednesday, the class continued to work on their yearbook spreads, as well, we were assigned to take photos based on one of the Top 10 Tips, which was "get down to their level." I took some great photos with a classmate, and they can be seen below in the Top 10 Tips post.
On Thursday, the class was not used because of a battery explosion caused by the Robotics Team, so the class stayed in the library and did other work, or took pictures for the Top 10 Tips assignment. I also had my French Oral that day for IB, I hope I did alright!
On Friday, the class continued with their yearbook spreads, and also got a handout on digital terms which will be needed to know for a quiz next Wednesday!

Top 10 Tips Photos

These photos represent the Top 10 Tips for Photography. One tip will be displayed for every week.



Week 1 - Get down to their level (first 2 photos). Direct eye contact can be as engaging in a picture as it is in real life. When taking a picture of someone, hold the camera at the person's eye level to unleash the power of those magnetic gazes and mesmerizing smiles. For children, that means stooping to their level. And your subject need not always stare at the camera. All by itself that eye level angle will create a personal and inviting feeling that pulls you into the picture.




Week 2 - Use a plain background (photos 3 and 4). A plain background shows off the subject you are photographing. When you look through the camera viewfinder, force yourself to study the area surrounding your object. Make sure no poles grow from your head to your favourite niece and that no cars seem to dangle from her ears.




Week 3 - Use flash outdoors (photos 5 and 6). Bright sun can create unattractive deep facial shadows. Eliminate the shadows by using your flash to lighten the face. When taking people picures on sunny days, turn your flash on. You many have a choice of fill-flash mode or full-flash mode. If the person is within five feet, use the fill-flash mode; beyond five feet, use the full-flash mode.




Week 4 - Move in close (photos 7 and 8). If your subject is smaller than a car, take a step or two closer before taking the picture and zoom in on your subject. Your goal is to fill the picture area with the subject you are photographing.




Week 5 - Move it from the middle (photos 9 and 10). Centre-stage is a great place for a preformer to be. However, the middle of your picture is not the best place for your subject. Bring your picture to life by simply moving your subject away from the middle of your picture. Start by playing tick-tack-toe with subject position. Imagine a tick-tack-toe grid in your viewfinder. Now place your important subject at one of the intersections of the lines.
You'll need to lock focus if you have an auto-focus camera because most of them focus on whatever is in the centre of the viewfinder.




Week 6 - Lock the focus (photos 11 and 12). If your subject is not in the center of the picture, you need to lock the focus to create a sharp picture. Most auto-focus cameras focus on whatever is in the centre of the picture. But to improve pictures, you will often want to move the subject away from the centre of the picture. If you don't want a blurred picture, you'll need to first lock the focus with the subject in the middle and then recompose the picture so the subject is away from the middle.
Usually,you can lock the focus in three steps. First, center the subject and press and hold the shutter button halfway down. Second, reposition your camera (while still holding the shutter button) so the subject is away from the center. And third, finish by pressing th shutter button all the way down to take the picture.




Week 7 - Know your flash's range (photos 13 and 14). THe number one flash mistake is taking pictures beyond the flash's range. Why is this a mistake? Because pictures taken beyond the maximum flash range will be too dark. For many cameras, the maximum flash range is less than 15 feet -- about 5 steps away. In photo 13, you can see the flash's range, and how the subject is too far away, and the flash did not reach the subject, so therefore the picture is dark. However in photo 14, the flash is close enough for the picture to lighten up and the subject is brighter than in the previous photo.




Week 8 - Watch the light (photos 15 and 16). Next to the subject, the most important part of every picture is the light. It affects the appearance of everything you photograph. On a great-grandmother, bright sunlight from the side can enhance wrinkles. But soft light of a cloudy day can subdue those same wrinkles. Don't like the light on your subject? Move yourself or your subject. For landscapes, try to take pictures early or late in the day when the light is orangish and rakes across the land. In photo 15, you can see how shadows affect the subject, it covers some of the subjects face, and his placement should have been changed. However, in photo 16, the light is enhancing and creating a great picture. The light brigten's the coat of the dog, and makes a nice light picture.




Week 9- Take some vertical pictures (photos 17 and 18). Is your camera vertically challenged? It is if you never turn it sideways to take a vertical picture. All sorts of things look better in a vertical picture.




Week 10 - Be a picture director. Take control of your picture-taking and watch your pictures dramatically improve. Become a picture director, not just a passive picture-taker. A picture director takes charge. A picture director picks the location: "Everybody go outside to the backyard." A picture director adds props: "Girls, put on your pink sunglasses." A picture director arranges people: "Now move in close, and lean toward the camera."