Week 2/3 – Checklist Task

During our week 2 workshop, our group was given a talk on how the camera operates and how we should use them in more detail. After everything had been explained to us, we were then told to take images of an object that we had brought to our workshop, which we were told to bring the week before. This meant that for the rest of the workshop, we were split into smaller groups and had to individually take turns in using the camera and taking photographs of the object that one of the people in our group had brought in. Unfortunately, we did not save these photographs that were taken, so I am unable to put them on my blog. However, during this workshop we were actually supposed to go outside and stay on the University’s campus and conform to a checklist of various shots to enable us to practice with the camera more. As this did not occur in week 2, we were told in week 3 that we would have to do all of these shots in our own time – however, it was optional whether we did complete the checklist or not. We did not complete the checklist in our workshop in week 3 due to the fact that we were taken through the process for our seminar task as there had previously been a confusion about it. Nonetheless, I wanted to complete the majority of the shots on the checklist to enable me to practice with the camera and become familiar with all of the elements that are featured on it.

Before actually going out on campus and taking pictures that conform to the checklist, I decided to test the camera out in my bedroom to ensure that I know what all of the controls do and that I would basically be familiar with the whole of the camera before I actually went out and took any images. When doing this I believe that I did take both good and bad images – however, I was getting familiar with the camera, so there were bound to be issues when I took these images.

Here are some of the images I took that I believe to be good for my first attempt:

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Although these photos are not perfect, I believe that they good for a first attempt – especially due to the fact that I was in a badly lit bedroom and the only lighting I had was my main bedroom light, my lamp and the natural light coming from the window. I like how I have used a shallow depth of field in some images to make a particular object stand out more in the images, or even a particular feature on a specific object to stand out. I decided that I just wanted to practice with the camera, so I decided to get any object that I could find in my room and then photograph it to enable me to practice with the camera. Overall, I believe that these are the images that came out well when it came to using the camera before I actually went out and took shots that were on the checklist.

Here are some of the images I took that I believe did not turn out well:

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From looking at these images you are able to see that the main reason they turned out bad is due to the fact that the lighting is either really dark or the camera is out of focus which is one of the main issues that occurs when it comes to bad photography. I mainly shot these type of images when I first started taking photographs and this was mainly due to the fact that I did not have the camera set on the options that were needed for the location I was sitting in, but also I was still trying to get used to the camera and all of the features on it, so I was unsure on what options needed to be selected when I was taking certain photos. Overall, I am able to see where my main issues may lie when it comes to taking photographs and I will be able to keep these in mind when I come to taking more photographs in the future.

Once I had practiced with the camera in my bedroom to get more familiar with it, I then decided to actually leave my bedroom and take images of the majority of the shots that I had been asked to do that were on the checklist. When I went out to take these images I knew that all of the photos would not turn out perfect as this was still my first time using the camera – however, by taking all of these different shots I was able to become more familiar with the camera and just keep practicing to hopefully ensure that I will improve the more I practice. Below you will be able to see the photos I had taken for this task, where I have included the name of the shot that was on the checklist under each specific image, so you are able to see which image corresponds to which shot on the checklist.

Here are the images I took that conform to the checklist:

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Wide Angle
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At the closest focus distance possible
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A huge depth of field
A shallow depth of field
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Freezing a moving object
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Using the on board flash
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A low angle
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A high angle
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Blur a moving subject, keeping the background sharp

From looking at these images, you are able to see that there are issues with some of them – these issues are are mainly the lighting, focusing and positioning of the camera. Again, this was my first attempt at using the camera, so I knew that I would be making mistakes when taking these images, but the whole reason I took these shots that were on the checklist was to enable me to become more familiar with the camera and to ensure that I knew what I was doing when using it. In some of these images I noticed that they were either quite dark or too light and this meant that I should have changed the ISO on the camera to ensure that I had the right amount of light sensitivity for my images. Overall, some of these images are actually reasonable and others not so – nonetheless, I believe that doing this task was beneficial to me as it enabled me to become more familiar with the camera and enabled me to see where my main issues may lie and how I will need to improve on these for my final project.

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