Week 10: Final Project 4.0

6.4.2017 (Week 10)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Week 10: Weekly Updates


Lecture:

I was not able to attend class this week due to unforeseen circumstances. However, Jean updated me that everyone continued to have their weekly updates reviewed by Mr Vinod.

Below are my weekly updates on my Final Project:

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/30 sec

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec

Feedback:

There are no feedback yet for this week's exercise.

Reflection:

Experience:

It was difficult for me to come up with new ideas and angles for shots even though I had done research on this topic as every church has it's own differences and characters.

Observations:

While working on this Final Project, I noticed that I grew more and more fond and comfortable with this subject.  

Findings:

I found that the ISO I used for most of my work inside the church remained the same. I also found that constantly trying and practising taking photographs of my topic has helped me improve a little bit better.

Week 9 : Final Project 3.0

30.3.2017 (Week 9)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Week 9: Weekly Updates

Lecture:

We did not have any lecture for this class today. Mr Vinod reviewed our follow up images for our Final Project and gave us all some personal feedback as he checked our work individually. He told me that I needed to get much more variety in my shots and that I have to act quick as there is not much time left before the final submission.

Here are this week's updates:

ISO: 400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec

ISO: 3200
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec

ISO: 3200
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/15 sec

ISO: 400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec

ISO: 3200
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec

ISO: 400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec

ISO: 800
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/1000 sec

Feedback:

There are no feedback yet for this week's exercise.

Reflection:

Experience:

I felt like I was getting used to taking pictures of the church both inside and outside. I felt a little bit more comfortable as well.

Observations:

I had to learn how to take decent pictures under below satisfactory lighting in the church. It was not easy but I did what I could and tried my hardest.

Findings:

When I was taking pictures for my final project, I found that my interest in this topic has continued to grow each and every time I visited the church to take pictures. I enjoyed doing it.

Week 7 : Final Project 1.0

16.3.2017 (Week 7)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Week 7: Weekly Updates on Final Project

Lecture:

There wasn't much lecture for this week's class. However, we went through our previous week's work. Mr Vinod guided us into selecting our final topic for the Final Project. Mr Vinod also went through the portfolio with us again to confirm the format involved.


I decided to add a new topic into my list of possible topics for the Final Project. I am also leaning more towards this new topic which is on the Church in Taiping, Perak. I found interest in this topic as it was the church which I spent 20 years of my life attending. Here are some of the shots I took:

ISO: 3200
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec

ISO: 3200
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec

ISO: 2500
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec

ISO: 400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec

ISO: 6400
Aperture: 4
Shutter Speed: 1/50 sec

Feedback:

There are no feedback yet for this week's exercise.

Reflection:

Experience:

I found it a little difficult to take proper pictures as I was not too familiar on how to capture the Church as a whole.

Observations:

While working on this topic, I notice that I have some interest in this topic. Slightly more than the rest of the other topics. Even though it required me to travel a little bit to get to this church, I was fine with it because I was interested in this particular topic.

Findings:

I found that it was not easy to take pictures in this church due to the limitations on lighting. It was not every day that I got to go to this church to take pictures and had to carefully plan my journey as well as arrange with the Church officials.

Week 8 : Final Project 2.0 & Photoshop

24.03,2017 (Week 8)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Week 8 : Photoshop

Lecture:

Mr Vinod began the class by asking us to submit a compilation of our exercises. We were required to send in our e-portfolio. After that, Mr Vinod gave us a short lecture on photoshop. He taught us the basics of photoshop and showed what some tools in photoshop does to the image. He then proceeded to check our individual exercises and then gave his feedback personally to those he felt needed improvement. He gave us an extra week to look into those which wasn't satisfactory and replace those. 

As for my final project, I decided to stick to the topic of 'Church'.

Reflection:

Experience:

Observations:

Findings:

Exercise 6: Consistency

09.03.2017 (Week 6)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Exercise 6: Consistency

Lecture:

We were suppose to learn how to use the Adobe Photoshop but due to unforeseen circumstances, the lecture for that was postponed to next week. Instead, we learnt how to properly compile and arrange our own Portfolio. Mr Vinod then briefed us about our final project and proceeded to show us many wonderful examples of how we can conduct our final project and the topics which we can go for. Mr Vinod also taught us about consistency through the different examples he showed us.

Instruction: Final Project

Theme-based project: Presentation of a series of 5 images.

Student, you have by now completed various exercises on Exposure and composition. This means that you are now able to:
1) Control your exposures after pre determining the desired result ala The Zone System (To be able to anticipate the final result before making the exposure)

2) Use The Rule of Thirds or principles underpinning composition to identify and compose potential points of interest within the frame.

3) Understand and achieve consistency

4) Edit at a basic level (next week)

With the above done and understood, it is now time to put your mettle to the test.

Your Task:
Choose a Subject of Interest, i.e.: Architecture, Landscape, Peoples, Person, Still Life, etc. and capture a series of 5 images. You will present the final result in your MS Doc. along with a rationale. You will also update your eportfolio with the said.

To elaborate further:
If the subject is Architecture and the topic is KLCC, you will shoot a series of 5 pictures on that topic only. This work will then be edited in Adobe Photoshop and presented to the class. Of course to achieve a series of 5 pictures you will have to visit the topic several times before achieving pictures of good quality (Exposure, composition, consistency and editing). It is through this process that you will learn to plan your shots before actually photographing them.

Exercise 6 - Consistency / Topics for final project


1. Droplets 

2. Shadows

3. Trash

4. Second Sun

5. The Sun

Feedback:

There are no feedback yet for this week's exercise.

Reflection:

Experience:
I had troubles and difficulty in choosing and deciding what topics I should venture in. I was very afraid of choosing a wrong topic and am still quite uncertain.

Observations:

While working on this task, I came to notice that I am quite into the scenery of the skies. But, I am still quite fearful towards that topic as I know that it is not a topic that was anywhere near easy.


Findings:

When I was doing this exercise, I found that it was quite difficult to get good consistent images with different variations along with it. It definitely requires much practise and time to achieve a decent range of photos.

Exercise 5: Composition- Principles

2.3.2017 (Week 5)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Week 5: Composition- Principles

Lecture:

Mr Vinod began the class by checking everyone's blogs. He checked them one by one and gave each one of us feedbacks based on our own personal work. After that, Mr Vinod proceeded to teach us about the different principles underpinning composition in photography. A few examples are such as:

• Domination/Emphasis
• Isolation
• Balance
• Repetition
• Alignment
• Contrast
• Rhythm
• Symmetry/Asymmetry
• Harmony

After briefly teaching us the basics of these principles, Mr Vinod assigned us a task to go out and capture 4 images which contains at least 1 of the principles. Each picture needs to contain a different principle from the previous. After we have taken the images, we were required to show them to Mr Vinod. Below are the images I captured for the in-class activity.

Contrast

Repetition

Isolation

Alignment 

Symmetry

Mr Vinod ended the class without giving us a take-home exercise. We took the same lift down to SEGi Tower Lobby. Fortunately(or unfortunately), he remembered right before we exited the lobby. He gathered us together at the lobby and informed us that we need to do a take-home exercise similar to the task he gave us during class.

Instructions 

Exercise 4b: Principles underpinning composition

Capture 4 Images adhering to any of the mentioned principles below:

Domination/Emphasis • Isolation • Balance • Repetition • Alignment • Contrast • Rhythm • Symmetry/Asymmetry • Harmony • Perspective

(Put to use what you have learnt in the Zone system exercises here)

Ensure the results are recorded as instructed on MS Word (using tables and the instructed font and font size).

Exercise 4b: Principles underpinning composition

1) Repetition

2) Harmony/Contrast

3) Symmetry

4) Isolation

5) Alignment

Feedback:

There are no feedback yet for this week's exercise.

Reflection:

Experience:

I found this exercise quite interesting. It definitely helps build an individual's interest towards photography. It made me try my hardest to achieve a certain principle related to composition, especially when the subject matter in it's natural appearance does not portray itself to have a certain principle related to composition.

Observations:

While working on this take-home exercise, I noticed that there are many everyday objects which looks plain and ordinary until we find the right angles and perspectives to get the best out of that subject matter. 

Findings:

When I was doing exercise 4b, I found that we need to get out of our comfort zones in order to get the principles underpinning composition. In order to capture a well-composed image with certain specific principles, we must put in effort to look for them and be ready to travel and explore a little bit.

Exercise 4: Composition- Rule of Thirds

23.02.2017 (Week 4)
Adrian Charles Chee Yew Chen (300666425)
Introduction to Photography

Exercise 4: Composition- Rule of Thirds

Lecture:

In this fourth week, Mr Vinod taught us about composition. He mentioned that from now onwards, it will be slightly more difficult for us and for him as well because there are no more technicalities to be taught. Lessons would be a little bit more subjective. As an example, composition cannot be taught efficiently and perfectly in class but more through personal experiences, trials and errors. Mr Vinod told us that images have energy. It can give off a certain vibe or feel. That, is what he calls it as, emotional and compositional value. Mr Vinod taught us about the Rule of Thirds. The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. An example of the Rule of Thirds is shown below. 

After teaching us about the Rule of Thirds and giving us examples to look at, Mr Vinod then instructed the class to go out of the class and capture their own images using the Rule of Thirds to try and come up with a well composed image. He also wanted us to bear in mind the zone system while capturing the image. Below are the images I took to try out the Rule of Thirds: 

ISO : 3200 Aperture : 5.6 Shutter Speed : 1/50 sec

ISO : 400 Aperture : 5.6 Shutter Speed : 1/100 sec

ISO : 3200 Aperture : 5.6 Shutter Speed : 1/30 sec

Instructions:

Exercise 4a: Rule of Thirds
Capture 3 Images adhering to the Rule of Thirds
Using 1 person
Using 3 persons
Using a scenery
When placing the image on the document for printing; place one image with the Rule of Third lines visible and another without the lines side by side (as instructed in class)

(Put to use what you have learnt in the Zone system exercises here)

Exercise 4a: Rule of Thirds



1) 1 Person

ISO : 800 Aperture : 4 Shutter Speed : 1/160 sec

2) 3 Persons 

ISO : 3200 Aperture : 4 Shutter Speed : 1/80 sec

 3) A scenery

ISO : 400 Aperture : 4 Shutter Speed : 1/250 sec

Feedback:

There are no feedback yet for this week's exercise.

Reflection:

Experience:

I was a little bit confused at first about the Rule of Thirds. Slowly, through the explanations of Mr Vinod, in-class exercises and our own weekly assignments, I began to understand the use of the Rule of Thirds more. It amuses me that an image does not need to be perfectly symmetrical or well balanced on all sides to be a well-composed and eye-catching image. Perhaps, it also depends on the style and type of image we aim to achieve.

Observations:

While working on this task, I came to notice that it was not easy at all to take a well-composed shot that is also spontaneous. It took me a lot of trials and errors and practice to even get something decent looking.


Findings:

When I was doing exercise 4a, I found that the Rule of Thirds is something which we can only learn properly through practical trial and errors. I also found that a photograph can still look very well-composed and well-balanced even if the subject matter is not in the centre of the picture. In fact, sometimes being along the Rule of Thirds line brings about more pulling factor that draws a viewer's attention towards the subject matter.