Re: Re: Assignment 1 by Silvermyst part 3

#18861
Duncan Rawlinson
Keymaster

Hello and let me begin by saying “wonderful first assignment”. I noticed you uploaded 2 other alternatives to this assignment. However, we only accept 1 submission per assignment. Otherwise we would have to increase the cost of the course to cover the additional grading. That is not something we want to do.

So I’ve removed your other two posts and kept this one because I feel this is the best out of the three you submitted.

I like this example because it provides a lot of teaching opportunity and it relates to light. For starters, both shots are fairly well composed. However, both shots have subtle elements that take away from the overall artistic and technical merit of these pictures. In your first picture, the white balance is great. Your camera settings were optimized to capture the colors in their best form under your lighting conditions.

However, in your second shot the color of light is warmer meaning that your white balance is off. In some cameras this setting can be changed manually and giving you a lot of control over this technical element. In other cameras you’re settings are limited to “auto” “indoor” or “outdoor”.

You have to remember, that the color of light changes depending on the location of your shoot and the time of day. It’s not a problem to exaggerate the “warmness” (i.e. orange) or the “coolness” (i.e. blue) of a photograph if that is your intention. My concern here isn’t that the second picture of the close-up of the clock is bad, it’s that the warmness of the shot was unintentional. What I want you to pay attention to is the color of lighting in each of your shots. By being aware of this you’ll be better able to manipulate and change your images to your liking. Not just accepting the default picture that you camera provides is very important. You have to learn how to control the picture and the light settings. Many photographers and filmmakers call this “image building”.

Secondly, the hard lighting in your first photograph casts very dark and noticeable shadows behind the clock. These shadows end up creating subjects in and of themselves. I feel that these shadows detract from the focus of the picture and look unintentional. They are distracting to the eye. You need to not only be aware of the color of your lighting but also it’s strength (hard or soft) and it’s direction. This will be discussed in a future lesson on lighting. But nevertheless, it’s important to start thinking about now.

Other than that, I think you’re off to a good start. In the next lesson you’ll learn about composition and be able to fix the few little mistakes that were made in these photographs.

I look forward to seeing your next assignment.