Photo Research
Aperture.
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The aperture is the hole in the camera lens that light travels through. The larger the opening, the more light travels into the camera. This also creates a shallower depth of field, making the background look blurry or unfocused in comparison to a photo captured with a smaller aperture opening.
Aperture is recorded in f-stops. |
Shutter Speed.
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Shutter speed is how quickly the camera takes a photo. This can have a dramatic impact on the quality and sharpness of a photo, especially when using extremely slow or extremely fast shutter speed. A slower shutter speed will also allow much more light to enter the camera, which can produce intriguing results if a light source is moved while the shutter is open. On the opposite end, an incredibly fast shutter speed can capture a moment in time in a way no other medium can. Motion is completely stopped, and objects can appear as though they are floating in a photo taken with a quick shutter speed.
Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. |
ISO.
ISO, named after the International Organization for Standardization, controls the camera sensor's sensitivity to light. The lower the ISO setting, the less sensitive the camera is to light, and the darker the picture will be. ISO was unchangeable on film cameras, however, digital cameras have the ability to change their sensitivity at any time. Regardless of the actual brightness of the photo subject, the photo will result in a different amount of light depending on the ISO setting. ISO will also affect the noise or grain in a photo, so keeping watch on your ISO is important to keep your image quality consistent.
ISO is recorded in stops, where ISO 200 is double the sensitivity of ISO 100.
ISO is recorded in stops, where ISO 200 is double the sensitivity of ISO 100.
White Balance.
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White Balance affects the tone or hue of a photo. When setting white balance, the photographer tells the camera what it should consider "white". In video, this usually means putting a white card in front of the camera that reflects the light of the environment being filmed, and telling the camera to consider that white. In photo, there are many presets on the camera that the photographer can switch between to get the best hue for their photo. White balance ranges from gold to blue to reflect the differences in indoor and outdoor environments, and setting white balance properly is often crucial to getting the right look for a photo.
White balance (or color temperature) is measured in Kelvins. |
High Contrast.
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High contrast photos consist of strongly contrasting colors. This is especially noticeable in black-and-white photography where there are often many grays and not too many whites or blacks. Increasing the contrast in these photos creates a dramatic effect where many darker grays become very dark and many lighter grays become very white. A "graphic" photo is one with very few grays compared to the amount of black and white in the picture.
Contrast is edited after the photo is taken. |
Richard Avedon.
I was chosen to research Richard Avedon, Known as a revolutionary photographer, Avedon was known for evoking a broad depth of emotion and action from his subjects, something unique for the time in which he was a photographer. The photo I chose to recreate is a photo of Steve McQueen, a famous actor from the 1960s. In this photo, harsh lighting from above the subject lights up much of the face and creates dramatic shadows on the neck, especially on the right side. I set out to recreate this angle in the dark room, turning the photo black and white in editing. My settings for this photo were set at f/6.3, 1/25s, and ISO100. This allowed me to get as much light as possible in a relatively dark space with a relatively soft light. I dramatized the whites of the photo during editing.