photography lesson #1

in this week's photography class, we will be exploring the P setting. P stands for program. the camera will automatically chose the shutter speed and fstop, but turning the wheel with change the program up or down the scale for the same exposure. in this way, the camera will choose the ideal exposure, but the photographer can choose the shutter speed or fstop within the limits given by the amount of light available.

for my first homework assignment, i took photos with extremely long exposure times. this gives the subject time to move within the frame. as you know, cats are excellent for this because they hold very still, but also walk out of the frame before the shutter closes.


now, i thought a ghost cat should have a ghost owner.


taking these self portraits made me want to explore moving in the frame during the exposure time, instead of just moving into the frame, so i set the timer and did this self portrait as shiva:


for my second assignment, i took photos with as large an apeture as possible, to give the shortest depth of field. i also used the zoom to make the shortness as obvious as possible.



i also used sunbeams as another way of separating my field of focus:


finally, i did a study on a library book. the page shot most clearly indicates the blurry backround, the focused middle ground, and the blurry foreground.

these two contrast focus on the spine vs. focus on the text


and as for this photo.. well, i had to include it in my presentation because i just like it. it's my favourite from this week's shoot.


here ends today's lesson. tune in next week when we explore the "Tv" setting.