Exposed! :: Homework ::© Copyright 2008. All Rights Reserved. Some of our best homework features from past issues of Exposed! to help you take better photos and have fun doing it! For teachers, educators and camera clubs, this body of work is available for licensing. "Exposed!" is protected by copyright. Contact us for more information about using Exposed! in your classrooms.
Five tips for Holiday PicsPractice, practice, practice. Really. Write the five simple tips (above) on a piece of paper and place it in your camera bag. Remind yourself of the tips every time you open your camera bag. From: Five tips for Holiday Pics Wise words from working photographersPrint out the four quotes listed in this edition of Exposed! and stick them in prominent places to remind you of the ideas behind the quotes. Add your own quotes as they come to you. Keep them alive in your photo life. Also visit our blog to submit your own favourites in our photoquotes challenge! From: Wise words from working photographers Boom went the colour! How to create vibrant photosPick a subject and shoot it in different ways to see the colour possibilities:
Your photo could have many, many different variations! From: Boom went the colour! How to create vibrant photos Wanted: Photographer for well paid, exciting assignmentsDon't touch your camera! If you are interested in a business answer the following on paper and pen:
From: Wanted: Photographer for well paid, exciting assignments Photography Hell in HeavenYour homework is to spend a whole day (or holiday) shooting with one camera body and one focal length lens - if you have a zoom you must limit it to a single focal length - a piece of tape on the zoom barrel will help you stay honest! For advanced photographers you must choose the focal length you use the least. Many people use a powerful zoom as their principle lens - ie 100-200mm. If this is you, you MUST use your widest lens. "That's preposterous!" you say. "The photos will be terrible!" you say. How are you going to make the shot work? From: Photography Hell in Heaven Catching SupermanYour homework is to find a volunteer to walk or run against a plain background. Explore the techniques of motion at 1/500th of a second and at 1/15th of a second. For some initial motion guidance join the Creative Fundamentals Workshop in the fall. We will practically go through the base ideas of motion. From: Catching Superman Passion in PortraitsLeave your camera at home. Take someone for coffee. Do your best to create the joy, tears and furrowed brows from the face in front of you. With practice you will master the art of producing passion on demand while working with your camera. From: Passion in Portraits It's like Insurance for your Photos!Homework this month is easy and interesting. There are two parts.
From: It's like Insurance for your Photos! Mary Primary and Scott SecondaryYour task this month is to look at photos from a magazine. As you quickly flip pages circle Mary and Scott in each picture. You should be able to peg the primary and (possibly) secondary subjects instantly. Spend only one second per photo. Keep circling until it comes naturally. Next time you are creating photos take time to place Mary and Scott appropriately! From: Mary Primary and Scott Secondary What is your Photo Worth? The Business of PhotographyLearn to embed copyright information into your photo data. Also, when posting your photos on websites show pride in your photos by placing a watermark such as "© - your name". It shows you value your work and helps people recognize your photo's worth, too. One benefit for me is that the watermark acts as advertising or a reminder of my websites - as you can see this month's photo from ChelseaGallery.ca. From: What is your Photo Worth? The Business of Photography Light up the NightPhotographing cars at night provides a fun challenge. Often you will only see streaks of headlights - where's the car? On my Creative Fundamentals course I often say "What are you exposing for?" It's a good question to ask. For your homework this month experiment capturing the trails of headlights without the benfit of sunlight. Experiment with long shutter speeds and different exposures. Remember to be aware of your surroundings for safety's sake! From: Light up the Night The Power of 1.8An 'image stabilization' or 'vibration reduction' lens is another quite expensive option on some zoom lenses. While I do not have much experience with these lenses, I am not convinced of the benefits for the average shooter given the significant extra expense of the pro-quality VR lenses. Interested in one of these lenses? Your homework, then, is to research some independent review and forum sites such as: It is important to check independent reviews and evaluate the biases of the reviewer - what will they gain from their review?! From: The Power of 1.8 TAM - Grave Medical Condition Affects PhotographersTreatment (Also known as Homework)
From: TAM - Grave Medical Condition Affects Photographers Warm Photos from Winter's ColdEasy. This winter experiment with how you dress for photo adventures. Remember:
From: Warm Photos from Winter's Cold Picture Perfect - The Perfect PrintTake a negative, slide or digital file and send it to 5 different labs to have printed using the different technologies discussed above. Tell the lab specifically what you are looking for (warm hues, exceptional shadow detail...). Speak to the printer if you wish to develop a long term printing relationship. Compare the results and the price. Which print is nicest for you? How did the printing enhance or diminish the subject? From: Picture Perfect - The Perfect Print The Happy HistogramBeginner Homework
Advanced Homework Do you understand the fundamentals of exposure? Then this is your assignment:
From: The Happy Histogram The Photo Taking ProcessThis homework exercise is easy! Pick a date for a photo safari and do your best to follow steps 1-7 from the article. Let me know how it goes! From: The Photo Taking Process Holiday Picture How-to: Tips for Vacation PhotographyThere will probably be more groans if you pack more camera equipment than clothes for the trip. If this is a family vacation it's time to make some choices and sacrifices for the family. There is a silver lining and a challenge brewing! On a family vacation, or anytime luggage is limited, force yourself to minimize your camera equipment. This fits nicely with your vacation homework: Choose one camera body and one focal length lens for your trip. If you choose a zoom lens pick one specific focal length (ie 50mm). No tripod. No filters. No flash. For your whole trip you may shoot using that camera and that 50mm lens - ONLY! Your challenge will be to compose and capture stunning pictures with your chosen, limited equipment - and nothing else! Easy? Report back in two weeks! Achieving your task (of composing and capturing stunning pictures with a simple camera and 50mm lens) will keep your camera juices pumping. You will really need to use your creative brain to capture the award winning photo - it IS possible with very little equipment. This exercise will make you a better photographer if you explore ways to make it work. Your family will smile, too, because they will not be lugging your arsenal of camera equipment! From: Holiday Picture How-To: Tips for Vacation Photography Inter-Galactic Light: a Guide to Effective LightingYour homework this week is simple! Set your white balance to manual or load a roll of regular (daylight balanced) film. Choose a multi-coloured, moveable object - perhaps a teddy bear, cushion, etc. - and photograph it under different light sources:
How does your teddy bear change? Do you like the different effects? What if... Sometimes rules are made to be broken! Try deliberately using an incorrect white balance setting or load tungsten film under normal light conditions. Conversely, try photographing under artificial light conditions without compensating. This is where things start to get fun! Fireworks use pyrotechnical wonders that light up the night sky. The creative light potential in fireworks photography is huge! How do you compensate for the brilliantly diverse and ever-moving lights? Practice and experimentation helps! Take your camera and tripod to a fireworks display and keep your fingers crossed. You can also take the Fireworks Photography Workshop to fast-track your results at an annual international fireworks competition! From: Inter-Galactic Light: a Guide to Effective Lighting Ladders, Cameras, Perspective!Safety first!Before any ladder climbing or belly crawling remember to respect your physical limits and check for safety:
Please be careful! Find a finite but static subject such as one specific flower blossom in the garden or the left shoe of your best friend.
How are the photos different? Where could each photo be effectively used? From: A Ladder, Six Canoes and the World Championships - Maximizing Perspective in Your Photos People Pictures - Portrait PhotographyYour job has more to do with managing people than it does with cameras! You cannot tell your subject what your homework assignment is - other than you must photograph portraits. Turn your camera to fully automatic - not something I usually suggest! Let the camera do the technical work. Concentrate on the person. Your job is to draw the following emotions from your subject simply by interacting with them. Ahem: "You cannot ask them to smile - you must make them smile!"
You may need to tell them a joke, tell them a story, or ask them to tell YOU a story! You should end up with a range of emotions in your pictures. They should be true emotions rather than cheesy smiles. Learning to interact with your subject and draw emotion will make you a better portrait photographer! From: People Pictures - Portrait Photography Making Mistakes Work for YouYou have two scenario assignments - you must do both! To start you must find a willing subject - a friend, family member or pet will do.
This is a great opportunity for you! A national magazine is in your "studio" and has decided to give you a chance. You must produce a portrait of your willing subject for the cover of their next edition. The art director and photo editor are sitting at the back of the studio waiting for results. They need three options and you have ten minutes. "Get to it!" Assignment 2 The magazine editors leave and your phone rings. A big stock agency says they want some portraits of your willing subject. You must produce something fresh, new and inspiring. They need a selection of imagery. You have one month. "We need something different - make us smile!" Do both of these scenario assignments following the instructions explicitly! Have a look at the results.
From: Whoops! and Other Photography Mistakes Keeping Snow WhiteIf you are using a film camera try this exercise with slide (positive) film. It will show errors or successes in exposure better than print film (negatives). Slides are the actual (positive) film in your camera whereas prints are corrected interpretations of the actual (negative) film in your camera. Please make notes, too. Your first job is to find a predominantly white scene to photograph - a snow-covered farmer's field, a white wedding dress, etc. While in manual exposure mode fill the viewfinder with snow and find an appropriate exposure. What does the meter say? Without changing the exposure settings what happens to the meter if you fill the viewfinder with blue sky, grey asphalt from the road, the flat palm of your hand? Even though they should all be in the same light the snow will give you a very different reading than the other average grey tones. Remember what the white snow does to the camera's meter! Now set your camera on a tripod to make sure all the pictures in this exercise have the same composition. Make sure the viewfinder is mostly filled with white.
The first two steps should produce pictures with grey snow. In step three the snow should get whiter. As a general rule, one to two extra f-stops of light should make the snow look good. From: Why is the snow grey?!? Understanding Your Equipment's Potential
Question: Based on this information please answer the following: What elements of the blur are caused by motion? Answer: The blur is all from motion. With the conditions described, a relatively small aperture (big F number) would be used. Combined with the effects of using a very wide-angle lens there would be massive depth of field. If I had shot this in an automatic mode the bike photo would have been very different and likely disappointing!! Now go and get comfortable with manual mode! Auto-focus is allowed, auto programs are not! If you want better photos, more of the time consider the Creative Fundamentals Workshop. From: A little fuzzy: the importance of learning photography's fundamentals Practicing Event PhotographyYour homework is to attend an event as the "official" photographer. Document a party, family gathering or a New Year's Celebration. Bring the camera equipment you enjoy using and start shooting. Experiment with flash and available light photography. Use a telephoto lens and your widest-angle lens. Use an ISO 100 setting or film and then photograph with 1600 ISO film or setting. Use a tripod or handhold the camera. Experiment with motion. Have fun! From: Down the Aisle: Photographing Weddings and Events Staying FocusedThis edition’s homework is simple but challenging. Go, by yourself, to a place where you spend a lot of time - your office, the kitchen, family room. Get comfortable. For 1 hour (and not a minute less!) be in that room just to be there. No reading. No radio. No tv. No kids. No interruptions. Sit. Stand. Lie down. Look. Smell. Listen. Notice details. Wonder. Be curious. Ask why. Keep your thoughts in the room - your mind will wander away to your life - bring it back to this exercise. What happens? It will be difficult to stay focused. At the end of your hour you must create some photo art based on your experience. That may be a photo of your kitchen sink with a new creative perspective or a series of photos in New York City based on some new insights inspired by your imagination hour in the kitchen. From: Imagination: The Most Valuable Photo Tool Using TIFF vs JPEGThis issue we will be exploring the stability of a TIFF & JPEG file. Take one of your photo files and save as 2 new, additional files - one as a JPEG and one as a TIFF. You should keep the original file, also.
Your original file and the TIFF should remain the same. How has the JPEG changed? From: Your Photo Warehouse Buying Digital vs Film EquipmentThe following exercise is designed to help create awareness around your needs, desires and photo costs. Answer the following questions:
From: Digital Decisions: Choosing film or digital work Encouraging CreativityHere is a creativity exercise:
This exercise is designed to encourage you to come up with alternative ways of doing things - some call this creativity! From: Creativity and the Camera |
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