Photo Analysis

Jenna McNeill

Depth of Field•Range of acceptable sharpness on either side of the line of focus

•aperture = DOF

•camera/Subject Distance = DOF

•Shallow Depth of Field

•objects in front or behind unfocused or blurry

•directs viewer’s attention to sharp subject

Microsoft ClipartMicrosoft Clipart Jenna McNeill

Depth of Field•Wide Depth of Field

•foreground, middle ground, background in focus

•viewer can choose what part of frame to look at

www.earthwatersky.com/Sierra/images www.earthwatersky.com/Sierra/images

Shutter Speed•Length of time light passes through lens

•Slow Shutter Speed

•movement seen as blurred image

•shutter open for a long time

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Because the movement in this picture is clear,

the photographer must have used a strobe flash

during a long shutter speed to capture the

body image at several points of action

The photographer panned the camera with these bikers during a slow shutter speed because the background is blurry while they are pretty sharp

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A slow shutter speed can turn an ordinary street light into a dancing phenomenon

Roy Boswell

Shutter Speed

•Fast Shutter Speed

•freezes action

•shutter opens and closes quickly

•more light required

Jenna McNeill

Jenna McNeill Jenna McNeill

Film Stock

/www.peterlindbergh.net/gallery3.html

•High Speed vs. Low Speed film

•Sensitivity of film to light (ISO/ASA)

•High Speed Film (Grainy)

•very sensitive to light

•bigger grains (less silver halides)

•requires little light (smaller aperture)A digital image can also look grainy. Setting the ISO to a high number mimics a high film speed and produces a grainy image. This image was taken with little light visible and at an ISO of 800

Lindbergh is famous for grainy imagesJenna McNeill

Film Stock•Slow Speed Film (Fine Grained)

•less sensitive to light

•smaller grains (more silver halides)

•requires more light (larger aperture)

Fine grained is automatic for digital camerasJenna McNeill

www.heartfactory.org

Color vs. Black & White•Black & White

•elevates a bland snapshot to an interesting landscape.

•recreates nostalgia of a bygone era

•conveys antique, sentimental feeling

•shape, lighting, contrast, texture and tone become the dominant elements

•Color

•reality

•Stimulating

•Separates subject from background if two different colors

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Color vs. Black & White

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Camera Angle

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www.deviantart.com/view/10898714

•High Angle

•orients viewer by showing all elements in picture area

•minimizes strength of subject

•Low Angle

•distorts scale

•adds strength to subject

•emphasizes certain elements of picture

•separates subject from background

Framing

The branches of this plant frame the sun

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Jenna McNeill

•how the central image is framed within photo

Faces are framed by the gloves and hair

Composition• shot size

• wide shot• long shot• medium long shot• medium shot• medium close up• close up• extreme close up

• closure• psychological desire for

wholeness• avoid natural cutoff points

www.heartfactory.orgExample of close up shot

• Frame Weight• subjects have psychological

weight• lack of balance = uneasiness

• symmetrical balance• asymmetrical balance

• rule of thirds• lookspace• leadroom

• Magnetism• center draws greatest attention• edges pull subject off frame• proximity effect

Composition

Jenna McNeill

Jenna McNeill

Sydney is positioned on the left third. Her

mom’s legs make a strong

diagonal that leads

to her face

These two are positioned on the left and middle thirds. Their heads make a diagonal and there is sufficient lookspace to right

Lighting

http://www.heartfactory.org

•Quality

•hard, direct, spotted

•soft, diffused, flooded

•Direction

•key light

•fill light

•back light

•Color

•indoor “tungsten” = orange

•outdoor = blue

•florescent = greenish

Jenna McNeill

Jenna McNeill

If an image is taken under outdoor light, or if the whitebalance is set for “indoor” and it is taken outside, the image will be blue

The candle and a diffused light setup gives the image

above a romantic look. A backlight and an absence of fill and direct light causes a

silhouette to the right