Double Exposure

This process just takes two photos, but you should choose carefully which one you want on top and will make transparent. Remembering to copy your background image, copy and paste your top photo over the background to create a second layer. Then drag the transparency slider until you have the "combined" look you like. If the top layer doesn't quite line up to be where you want it, adjust it to where it fits properly and then crop the two layers together and save the image as one image. You can also play with the settings of each layer to darken/lighten, adjust gamma, or even add a filter. I like doing this best in grayscale, but some interesting color effects can be had as well.

Try it! Things like faces over landscapes or figures floating on the water make interesting "multiple exposures"! Here's my quick sample.

Long Shutter Speed

The first three photos here were done in my room this morning with the lights off and using a seven second shutter speed. This in-camera image manipulation opens all sorts of possibilities around creating a photo with "special" content. If you are all caught up with class assignments, try this... it's something else to add to your portfolio and can be a lot of fun!

You'll notice that with each pose I stood more and more still and so became more and more "solid". The last one was done in the darkroom (the TV studio would do) with the same seven second exposure.

Jackson Johnson

I know I have proudly presented images of my little grandson to you all before, but I had the pleasure of a surprise visit from him (and his parents of course) this weekend. Needless to say, I fell behind on my school work but it's not every weekend I get to see him.

My proposal to you all is this... what do you see in this photo that you might correct or do differently? Seriously, you all are so nice about what you like in these posts, but step up and tell me what you might do differently or change or add to! The process of criticism does not have to be "harsh" words, but simply a matter-of-fact personal response to an image you see. Whenever all of you ask me what I think, I am always up front and tell you exactly what I see and would "fix" in your images. I am delighted how well you all respond to that sort of criticism, and I think it has made many of you better photographers!

So, I've left some things, most of them minor, that I could see I would "fix" or change, but what do you see? No particular context here, just take it from the subject. I'll take things you like as well, if you want to "balance" your criticism! Thanks.

Landscapes... Mud Creek Road & School

OK, so I "sold out" here and went with the "sunrise". We've talked some in class about how the sunrise (or set) can be such a cliché when you don't really "work for it". Here I break my own advice and sit in my car, shooting out the driver's window. Yes, I was pulled over and stopped. I did creep ahead and alter the zoom factor to get some other POVs, but honestly, I didn't work it very hard because I liked what I saw the first time. That happens sometimes, but work for a different shot anyway because you never know, and thinking your shot is always good makes you complacent as a photographer!

The last one here I took on the way into school yesterday morning, around 7 a.m..

A Different Perspective?

How about trying to shoot through a magnifying glass? Or perhaps a drinking glass side or even bottom? Look for some things that you might use to "alter" your perspective on things. Here I used a "fisheye" or very wide angle, but the most remarkable thing to me is that the background is really the ceiling in my classroom. Shake up that "point of view" and get a new perspective on your photographer's vision!

First day of Spring, so the Hawiian shirt comes out... let me know what you think below.

Theater and Photography

We just finished up an assignment with portraits, many of which were very well done.  I just attended the Reach Theater (Deer Isle) production of Dahle's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", and went equipped with my Sony Alpha DSLR and a 55-200mm lens, figuring we might be in the back of the theater. Uh-uh, row three, but rather than move back for a wider angle of the stage I found myself zooming in on the players. I was struck by the emotion and focus of attention to the play by all the characters, whether they were in the main visual focus of the plot or simply in the background.



I would strongly suggest attending our musicals, plays and show choir performances to try and capture the best of that sort of facial expression and body language that only a theatrical production can bring out! (Don't forget the telephoto lens if you have one.)

Some comments on these photos?

What Makes a Great Yearbook Photo?

I'm sure there are many great answers to that question, but as a former yearbook advisor, I know that you can never seem to get enough pictures for the yearbook that are "full" of a variety of kids. Students may be out of focus and in the background, but they are recognizable to their friends and others, so it's important to look for "candids" that include crowds or at the least groups of students in them. Focus on a few and look for emotions of all kinds, that's what brings life into your school annual and represents the student body in a positive way.

 OK, so these were taken in the gym under a tough lighting situation, with the speed set at 1600, the shutter at 1/100, and the f-stop was set at f4.5. The top one was obviously "tweaked", and it never hurts to add a little "sharpness" to a yearbook photo as they are done for the yearbook in offset.

Do these qualify as yearbook photos? What (if anything - maybe I blew it with my adjustments) is different about the two pics? What else might you have done? What do you like best about these photos? What would you change or "fix" if you could?

"Tweet" me below!

Round "Stuff"

Emma S., who most of you probably know as a student in our school (class of 2014) came into my classroom excitedly demanding (as she occasionally does) to borrow my camera to take a picture. So I gave her a camera, she took a few shots, and that was the end of it. I opened the flash drive up this weekend, looking for some shot to post on the site, and there was this one. Unusual, but what fascinated me the most was that she saw this image in her mind as a photograph and couldn't wait to capture it! Talk about artistic habits of mind! I hope you all develop this sense in this class! So comment (tweet-sized please!) on this picture, and the first to identify the image will win a prize.

I've also posted a screenshot of the image data from iPhoto, which shows the camera, the size of the photo, the f-stop and shutter speed used to make the picture, and the film speed setting.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your portrait work on your blogs on Wednesday (by the end of school)!