The Art of Capturing A Photo: Perspectives and Subjectivity

A couple weeks into January, we were told about a future assignment that focused on the detail of camera operations. These operations included shallow depth of field, wide depth of field, stopped action, panned action, blurred action, slow-motion video, rule of thirds, extreme perspective, silhouette, extreme lighting, symmetry and panoramic. All of these except for slow-motion is included above.

F-stop, shutter speed, and ISO, all extremely important parts of a DSLR camera which I have shot these from. Using a Canon T5i Rebel, I carefully changed the operations in order to create the perfect shot that followed the rubric for the assignment. Instead of taking pictures of one thing multiple times, I decided to get creative. I began to take pictures of my family members to get more comfortable with the shots. I then decided to go out in public and shoot some plants and stationary objects, and then cam the tricky part. I started shooting the fastest living being on the planet... late to class college students.

Although these shots did not make the final cut, it was an important lesson on shutter speed, as shutter speed acts as the exposure time. The faster the shutter speed is, the stiller the image and vice versa for slowing the shutter speed. Shutter speed can range from 2' to 1/1000 and more. The shutter which is the click you hear on the camera also controls how much light is being brought into the camera, similar to the aperture.

The aperture and or F-stop, acts as a focal point with whatever you are trying to film. It also acts - like I have stated previously - as it allows you to control how much light you bring into the camera for the shot. The lower your F-stop, the more light you allow in your camera and vice versa. F-stop typically starts from 1.4-16. The higher you go, the clearer both the background and the foreground is within your shot, and the lower it is the foreground is in focus as the background is blurry.

For a sunny day, I recommend using an ISO of 100, depending on how bright it is, with a aperture of f/16, and a shutter speed of 1/100. This will allow your photo to be beautiful without too much sun glare or whiteness.

For a rainy day, I recommend using an ISO of around 800, with an aperture of f/4.0, and a shutter speed of 1/250. This allows the rainy day to look bright and not dull.

Finally, ISO. ISO stands for International Standards Organization. ISO is the main operation for light control in a picture. It is said by professional photographers to set the ISO first before the F-stop and shutter speed, this it affects the shutter speed and F-stop significantly. Before shooting all of these photos, I always started with changing the ISO first, then the F-stop, and then shutter speed. It took a few shots to get the right operations for my pictures, but I believe it turned out great for one of my first camera operation assignments. I continue to shoot everyday to better my camera skills, and someday I hope it pays off.. Hey, maybe I won't need anymore professional headshots for jobs, if I am the professional photographer.

(The following descriptions below are in order of the shots above)

The first picture of my father working on our basement is a shallow depth of field shot | Lens: 135mm | ISO: 1600 |Shutter Speed: 5.6 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/40

The Wayne State University statue is a symmetry shot | Lens: 28mm | ISO: 100 |Shutter Speed: 4.5 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/1000

The leaf picture is a extreme lighting shot | Lens: 180mm | ISO: 200 |Shutter Speed: 11 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/60

The man hitting a volleyball over the net is a rule of thirds shot | Lens: 75mm | ISO: 3200 |Shutter Speed: 4.5 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/320

The worker in Wayne State University's greenhouse is a silhouette shot | Lens: 75mm | ISO: 100 |Shutter Speed: 11 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/60

The two male college students walking on Warren is a wide depth of field shot | Lens: 90 | ISO: 100 |Shutter Speed: 4.5 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/1000

The hallway leading up to the greenhouse is a extreme perspective shot | Lens: 18 | ISO: 6400 |Shutter Speed: 1/30 | Aperture (F-Stop): 4.5

The girl and guy walking on Warren is a stopped action shot | Lens: 150 | ISO: 100 |Shutter Speed: 5 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/1000

The girl running towards the camera is a panned action shot | Lens: 110 | ISO: 400 |Shutter Speed: 4.5 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/30

The three sandhill cranes standing is a blurred action shot | Lens: 300mm | ISO: 100 |Shutter Speed: 9 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/640

The panning of the native section of Wayne State University's greenhouse is a panoramic shot | Lens: 5.7mm | ISO: 80 |Shutter Speed: 1.5 | Aperture (F-Stop): 1/991