21st February 2014 (Week 3)
Seow Jie Yi (0318873)
Introduction to Photography
Exercise 2: Aperture

LECTURE
During this week's lecture, Mr Vinod told us that most of us made some mistakes in our eportfolio. Therefore, he explained to us what needs to be fixed so that we would not make the same mistakes again. After that, he talked about aperture in class. From what I understood from the lecture, aperture controls the amount of light entering the lens.

INSTRUCTIONS
General instructions: Use a subject that is repetitive in nature. If you are using a zoom lens keep it fixed at 35mm (50mm). When you mount the camera on the tripod, do not move the framing till the exercise is concluded. The focus must be at the same point (centre of the frame) from the first image right till the last. Do not adjust it. Keep a record of the settings for each image shot.

Marking Criteria: The student must capture the evidence of the Aperture's influence in exposure using the various f-stops. The student must also capture the evidence of the Aperture's influence on the depth of field.

Instructions for Aperture Exercise 2a:
Take a picture of your repetitive subject starting with the right exposure combination of shutter speed and aperture. Start your aperture setting from the lowest number (f1.4/f2.0/f3.5). Compensate the increase of your aperture with your shutter settings as the aperture is increased.

 Aperture: f4.5   Shutter speed: 1/1600   ISO: 200

 Aperture: f5.6   Shutter speed: 1/1600   ISO: 200

Aperture: f8   Shutter speed: 1/1600   ISO: 200

 Aperture: f11   Shutter speed: 1/1600   ISO: 200

 Aperture: 16   Shutter speed: 1/1600   ISO: 200

Aperture: 22   Shutter speed: 1/1600   ISO: 200

Instructions for Aperture Exercise 2b:
Take a picture of your repetitive subject starting with the right exposure combination of shutter speed and aperture. Start your aperture setting from the lowest number (f1.4/f2.0/f3.5). Compensate the increase of your aperture with your shutter settings as the aperture is increased to maintain the right exposure.

 Aperture: f4.5   Shutter speed: 1/1600   ISO: 200

 Aperture: f5.6   Shutter speed: 1/1000   ISO: 200

Aperture: f8   Shutter speed: 1/500   ISO: 200

 Aperture: f11   Shutter speed: 1/250   ISO: 200

 Aperture: f16   Shutter speed: 1/125   ISO: 200

Aperture: f22   Shutter speed: 1/60   ISO: 200

SCREENSHOTS

FEEDBACK
General feedback: Mr Vinod told us that our eportfolio were done wrongly as the feedbacks were written in the wrong posts. We were told to fix it by the next class and he explained how it was supposed to be done in order for us to not repeat this mistake.

14 February 2014 (Week 2)
Seow Jie Yi (0318873)
Intriduction to Photography

LECTURE
All of us did the presentations for our 10 best liked photos in class today. After we finished with our presentations, Mr Vinod presented his own best liked photos. Some of the photos that he chose were taken by himself during his career as a photographer while the others were taken by photographers that he liked and looked up to. The photos taken by him were mainly from India and Malaysia. Mr Vinod told us a few of the photographers that he looked up to such as Herb Ritts, Mark Seliger, Prabuddha Dasgupta, Richard Avedon, Manoj Jadhav and Raghu Rai. Although my knowledge about the photography world was little, I feel like I have learnt more about the photographers in the world after listening to his lecture.

INSTRUCTION
Mr Vinod notified us to bring our own camera with manual and a tripod stand for our next class, which is next week. He also wants us to look through the PowerPoint presentation about aperture which will be the topic of our class next week.

FEEDBACK
General feedback : Mr Vinod said that some of us did some minor mistakes in our blog. Other than that, the clarity of the voice during presentation is very important and we need to be more confident while presenting our work in front of everyone. He said that he understands that we will be nervous sometimes as this was our first presentation ever since we started our course but we will be able to overcome that nervousness after a few more times of doing presentation of our work in front of the class.

Specific feedback: I was the first one to do my presentation, thus being the first one to be given the feedbacks as well. Mr Vinod said that my presentation was clear and concise. He said that he could understand what I said during my presentation. He also commented on my blog saying that everything was done great except that I lacked the format of writing the opening of the post such as the date, week, name and ID number.

REFLECTION
Although I was very nervous when I was about to present my work in front of the class but I overcame it while I was in the middle of my presentation. Therefore, I have learnt to be less nervous while presenting my work in front of the class and have to be more confident while presenting so that I could improve my presentation skills as well as my communication skills.

Introduction to Photography - My First Class

7th February 2014 (Week 1)
Seow Jie Yi (0318873)
Introduction to Photography
Exercise 1

LECTURE  
Mr Vinod introduced himself as the lecturer for the elective that I have chosen - Introduction to Photography - and he gave us a briefing about the subject.

He taught us how to choose a good camera that is both suitable and affordable for us. I have to be honest that I have never heard of CCD until Mr Vinod talked about it in class. He shared information regarding CCD sizes, the power of the lens and how it effects the quality of the pictures.

Other than that, Mr Vinod showed us some of his photographs that he took during his career as a Professional Photographer. The lecturer told us to join a Facebook group that was made for students who are taking Photography classes so that we could share information with one another to gain more knowledge on what we are learning.

INSTRUCTION Almost to the end of lecture, Mr Vinod gave us an assignment. Choose 5 photos that you like which were captured by yourself and 5 photos that you like which were taken by professional photographers. Next, prepare a slide show of all the 10 photos with its descriptions and explanations as to why and how I came to like the photos that I have chosen. All of us will have to do a presentation in our next class.

EXERCISE 1

  Bali, Indonesia

2013
Canon EOS 600D
I have always liked playing around with monochrome in the settings as the picture gives me a sense of nostalgia. In my opinion, I think that this photo is one of my favorite because it is a candid photo and it has a touch of serenity to it.

  My classroom in High School

2013

Canon EOS 600D

Although this photo does not have any beautiful scenery or an array of colors but it captures my attention because of the meaning  to the words on the board. I think that this statement is true.

  Osaka,  Japan

2012

Canon EOS 600D

This photo holds a piece of my memory when I visited Japan. The white colored thing which were wrapped around the tree branches are words of encouragement from the shrine. If a person likes the words of encouragement and hopes that it would come true, they have to tie it onto the tree branch.

  Osaka, Japan

2012

Canon EOS 600D

This old man sat  on the bank of the river and started drawing the scenery in front of him. This photo depicts that his passion for art has no limits as he was willing to draw on a freezing day during winter season.

 

  Osaka, Japan

2013

Canon EOS 600D

The scenery at Hachiman-bori has been one of the hot spots in Osaka, especially this river where it is famous  for being in various television programes. However, it being a famous destination is not the reason as to why I chose this photo. The reason is simple, this photo reminds me of the saying that goes ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’.

   

  Botswana, Africa

Frans Lanting

The color of the sky is truly jaw dropping. Besides that, the silhouette made by the elephant the trees and the shadow that was casted onto the river  just made the photo even more mesmerizing and breathtaking.

 

  Minnesota, United States

2013

Tom Sameulson

This photo amazes me to no end. The photographer must have failed quite a number of times before he was able to take this photo, especially setting the shutter speed. Although it is sad to see the mouse being taken away to be made the owl’s lunch but I have to admit that this is one great photo.

  Jaipur, India

2013

Leeuwenberg

Holi Festival is an ancient hindu religious festival celebrated no matter friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders. These children may be a bunch of strangers but in this photo we can see that they were having fun. Most of all, the bright colored dry powder is the one that caught my eye when I was browsing through photos.

 

Celebes Sea, Indonesia

2013

Liang Huan Chuan

I fell in love with the color of the ocean when I first saw this photo. Then, I realized that there was a mother and her child on a small boat, probably used to fishing. This is a small fishing village and most of the villagers make a living from fishing in this ocean. Thus, this photo made me think that there are always a pro and con in life.

Beech Forest, Germany

2011

Martin Hertel

Even though the only colors found in this photo is blue, white and black but it intrigues me. The branches that comes in from all angles made it look as if the photo was actually taken with the fisheye effect. To me, this looks more like a shattered screen and that is why I chose this photo because it somehow gave me the optical illusion feeling when I am looking at it.

SCREENSHOTS