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INTRO TO PHOTO - ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION

SUMMARY

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Composition is an indispensable aspect of photography, serving as a fundamental tool for visual storytelling. It guides the viewer's eye, conveys emotion and mood, creates balance and harmony, enhances the visual impact, and allows photographers to express their creativity and individuality. By understanding and applying the principles of composition, photographers can elevate their work, capturing not just a moment but an entire narrative, story and feeling. Make mistakes, learn from them and keep adjusting your eye to truly find your sweet spot and, of course, take terrific shots.

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This assignment will teach you 9 types of composition to use in Photography and how using these types will take your creativity to the next level and set you apart from those that don't know how to use composition in their photography.

Composition: the arrangement of subject matter, graphic elements, tones, and light in a scene. It can be harmonious or discordant, depending on the photographer, his or her mood, and the subject at hand.

 

Contrast: the relationship between the lightest and darkest areas in a scene and/or photograph. A small difference means low contrast; a great difference in high contrast. High contrast scenes usually cause the most exposure problems; however, their difficulty can mean they hold the potential for more expression.

 

Depth of field: the zone, or range of distances within a scene that will record on film as sharp. Depth of field is influenced by the focal length of the lens in use, the f-number setting on the lens, and the distance from the camera to the subject. It can be shallow or deep and can be totally controlled by the photographer. It is one of the most creative and profound effects available to photographers.

 

Rule of thirds: in the rule of thirds, photos are divided into thirds with two imaginary lines vertically and two lines horizontally making three columns, three rows, and nine sections in the images. Important compositional elements and leading lines are placed on or near the imaginary lines and where the lines intersect.

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Foreground, Middleground, Background

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Foreground: part of a scene or space around an object that appears closest to the camera. (2) element or feature of the composition of a photograph that is depicted as being the nearest viewer.

 

Middle ground: is the space located between the background and the foreground in a painting or drawing.

 

Background: the portion of a scene that sits behind the main, foreground subject. The background can be made sharp or unsharp through the use of selective focusing techniques and depth of field manipulation.

 

Sharpness: the perception that a picture or parts of a picture are in focus. Also, the rendition of edges or tonal borders.

 

Crop: to select a portion of the full-frame image as the final picture. Cropping is done in the darkroom or computer environment by the photographer, or by an appointed surrogate in a commercial

PART ONE - VIDEO & QUIZ ON COMPOSITION

1. PLEASE CLICK ON THE YOUTUBE VIDEO BELOW AND CALLED "9 COMPOSITION TIPS"

2. PLEASE GO TO YOUR SCHOOLOGY

PAGE AND TAKE THE "COMPOSITION

IN PHOTOGRAPHY" QUIZ

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When you pass both assessments with a score of 70% or higher, you can move on to the Photo Composition Presentation

PART TWO - CAMERA TUTORIALS

Camera Tutorial Videos & Student Demonstration.

  1. Click on the image below to access the Youtube playlist that contains 10 short videos on how to use our classroom cameras. They cover:

    • Overview of the camera and it's operations​

    • How to insert and remove the SD card from the camera and laptop

    • Overview of our tripods and their components

    • How to attach the camera to the tripod 

  2. After you are done watching the videos, you will have to demonstrate the use of the equipment following safety procedures to the instructors.​ The instructor will use a checklist to score your knowledge and use of the equipment.

  3. When you successfully complete your demonstration, you may use the equipment to complete your project.

DOWNLOAD CHECKLIST
BELOW

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PART THREE - COMPOSITION VIDEO PRESENTATION

Taking what you've learned about Composition in Photography, you will be asked to create a presentation to show these elements of Composition:

  1. Rule of Thirds

  2. Leading Lines

  3. Depth of Field

  4. Framing

  5. Symmetry/Patterns

  6. Balancing Elements

  7. Cropping

  8. 2 Viewpoints (Birds/Worms Eye)

  9. YOU MUST SHOW 3 EXAMPLES OF EACH ELEMENT FOR A TOTAL OF 27 IMAGES. YOU WILL ALSO NEED AND INTRO AND ENDING SLIDE (29 SLIDES TOTAL)

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Using the images you've collected, you will create a 2 minute video presentation 

  1. Use the images you took with the camera

  2. Using Adobe Lightroom, select your images and color correct, crop and prepare your images for you video. See the tutorial below.

  3. Find music on Youtube for the background

  4. Use graphics and type describing the images and the type of composition used. You can download fonts.

  5. You can create custom Type slides in Google Slides. Then export the slide as a JPEG and import to your presentation.

  6. Your total amount of slides will be 29. Your 1 intro slide, 27 examples of your design elements slides and 1 ending slide. 27+1+1=29.

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Your presentation MUST include:

  1. Take one of the studio DSLR cameras and take example images of these types of composition. You can record your images in the classroom, the hallways and stairwells, and (weather permitting) outside the classroom.

  2. An intro title with your name on it and the title: "Nine Photo Composition Tips".

  3. Images must be labeled which type of composition is being used​​​

  4. Use of transitions

  5. Use of creative fonts

  6. Ending slide: "Thanks for Watching"

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CLICK TO VIEW SLIDESHOW EXAMPLE

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CLICK TO VIEW COLLAGE EXAMPLE

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STUDENT EXAMPLES

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RESOURCES
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PHOTO

VOCABULARY

 

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COMPOSITION

TUTORIAL

 

Nikon D7500 Tutorial

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FUNDAMENTALS

OF PHOTO

 

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18 RULES OF

COMPOSITION

 

Using Adobe Lightroom

Student Goal:

Basic photography skills are so important in today’s digital design world. Whether it's a photo for a website or a portrait shot for an advertisement, Photography is a must-have skill in today's design world. Students will be introduced to the concepts of SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera operations and the use of composition and lighting in Photography. 

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Student Objective:

After completion of the lecture and the class exercises, the students will understand the different types of Composition used in Photography and how it also applied to Video Production.

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Lesson/Project Overview:

This project will expose you to the fundamentals of Composition and how to use these techniques to take more artistic and technically correct images.

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Lesson/Project Task List:

209 Elements of design (line, shape, texture, mass, form, color, etc.).

210 Principles of design (balance, emphasis, unity, alignment, repetition, motion, etc.).

301 Identify, describe, and demonstrate the principles of typography.

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Total Hours To Complete:

(10 Days - 20 Hours)

 

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