Tonal value for exposure - run a bracket if you need to - he emphasised again how important 'getting it right in the camera' was. For a red car, you need to overexpose by 1 stop to get the exposure right. For bright yellows, it's +1.5, and for rich blacks, underexpose by 2 stops.
Some suggestions for macro - use a tripod, mirror lockup and a remote release, and the smallest aperture you can on your lens. Important to remember that DOF reduces with short lens-to-subject distance.
Environmental portraiture - your background should match yoru subject, eg the photo below by Arnold Newman shows a portrait of a pianist. Strong lines, the figure is barely there, but he is obviously a pianist! A google images search of his work comes up with many great environmental portraits.
He also suggested trying to use lighting to emphasise character of a person.
We went down to the studio to shoot some window light portraits. The three below show how important it is to meter (partial or spot) off the lit side of the face.
Photo 1: Metering off whole face
Photo 2: Partial metering off lit side of face
Photo 3: Partial metering off lit side of face, reflector held on other side to even lighting somewhat
They do look slightly underexposed to me, but the message is clear to be careful about how you meter - important to control the highlights on your subject (apart from catchlights etc which are only spot points). Obviously a dedicated light on the background would improve these images.
Week 8 is the final week and we reviewed some topics we had covered before.
More macro and landscape suggestions by way of a short video (Tony Sweet). Warm and cool tonalities look good together. Line up to be parallel with subject (for DOF), and look for patterns. For sunrise landscapes (shooting into the sun for example), use a polariser. Important to bracket with landscapes.
We also discussed our final assignment, which was 'movement'. I include my photos below. It was interesting to see the variety of shooting styles and experience of the group, which was quite varied.
Photo 1: Girl at Roma St Bus Station.
Photo 2: Small child learns to fly. Rear curtain flash.
Photo 3: Shower showing movement of water frozen.
Photo 4: The steering wheel goes round and round.
Photo 5: Zooming during the photo to give a sense of movement
Photo 6: Moving the camera whilst photographing the Christmas lights on a neighbours house
I have enjoyed this course and got lots of good tips and tricks and definitely feel more confident with my flash, which was one of the main reasons I did the course in the first place. I'm not sure if I'll do another course, I was a bit disappointed that there was not much chat amongst the group, perhaps that is unusual. I also wanted to meet some other keen photographers here in Brisbane. Nonetheless, it was a fun and worthwhile experience to do this short course.
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