POST 2:LEARNING HOW TO RESEARCH EFFECTIVELY

FOCAL POINT

DEFINITION: A focal point is the place that the human eye is naturally drawn too when they look at a photograph or the central point of interest. Focal point is something that you must consider every single time you take a photo because you will always need a point of interest in a photo. In this photo, Cinderella is running down the stairs, she is the point of interest, and her face is the thing that is most focused. Because of the colour difference, her face, neck, and arms stand out from the rest of her because her dress is blue. In this photo the first thing that i notice is her face and neck.


FOCAL POINT RULES:

• Focal Position
• Motion
• Breaking The Rules
• Leading The Eye
• Negative Space
• Explore Issues

FACTUAL: This is a photograph of  Disney's 'Cinderella' and was taken in 2007. This photograph was, along with many other Disney characters, taken by Annie Liebovitz. The title of this photograph is 'where every Cinderella story comes true' and Annie used Scarlett Johansson as a model. This is another photo from the 'Disney Dream Portraits' collection all done by Annie Liebovitz.

CONTEXT: This photo is set on a stair way in front of the castle where Cinderella dashes away from when she has to make a quick exist at midnight, and in her haste, she leaves behind her glass slipper which is in this shot, at the top of the stairs. It is set at night time because we know from the story that Cinderellas' fairy god mother granted Cinderellas' wish to go to the ball, but the only condition was that she was to be home by twelve o'clock because the spell will then begin to wear off.

TECHNICAL: In this photo the lighting is all shining towards the castle, despite this Cinderella is still the focal point of interest. The main thing in this photo is Cinderella, but Annie has used the castle to show that she is a princess, and used the stairs leading up to it, and the plants/ bushes and the dark sky to ensure that the background is kept busy, and everywhere you look in the photo there is something going on.

AESTHETICS: This is one of my favorite photographs taken by Annie Liebovitz, i really the way the castle has been illuminated, but Cinderella is still the focus in this photo. I love how this photo tells the story of Cinderella, and the glass slipper that she left behind at the ball is included, at the top of the stairs and has a beam of light shining onto it.The castle and other various things in the background are good because they provide alternative points of interest in the photo.

EXAMPLE:

NEGATIVE SPACE: Negative space is the space that surrounds the main subject in an image. Mostly when taking photos, we focus ourselves more on the main subject of the image, and don't take as much care and put as much thought into the space surrounding it. The extra space around the picture will either make your picture amazing, or make it inadequate. Negative space can strengthen the composition in your piece. Negative space can also bring balance to your photograph. It also helps to make your main subject more eye catching.

LEADING LINES: Leading lines might be the most obvious way to lead the eye- and they are not to be ignored. Leading lines are very good to help point the viewer in the right direction (to the main point of interest). Although this isn't the only way to make your focal point more attractive and noticeable.In this picture, there is a log bridge that enables your eye to follow it all the way to the end. Although there isn't really a focal point at the end of this, it is more at the beginning of the bridge that the focus is on, but your eye still follows down to the end.

Links for websites that i found useful in the process of making this post:
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2013/07/25/using-focal-points-in-photography-how-to-get-perfect-composition-every-time-you-shoot/
http://digital-photography-school.com/using-focal-points-in-photography
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/create-a-focal-point-in-your-digital-photograph.html
http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/focal-point-in-photo-compositions/

I had some trouble with slideshare, and could not add my presentation on focal point onto slideshare. So this is the link to the presentation i made using Google Docs:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1X0Z8ifLNdJYxGgVx4ITIoJiwMp2AO_rSOowQOww7PsM/edit#slide=id.g11ccbb952_0112

POST 1: LEARNING HOW TO RESEARCH EFFECTIVELY

COMPOSITION

COMPOSITION DEFINITION: Composition is the way in which you place or arrange the person or thing in your photograph. In this photograph, when considering the rule of thirds, Disney's Ursula is placed along one whole line, and it is a considerable amount of space away from the center, this provides an additional point of interest.

PHOTO COMPOSITION RULES:

• Rule of thirds
• Balancing elements
• Leading lines
• Viewpoint
• Background
• Depth
• Framing
• Cropping
• Experimentation

FACTUAL: This is a photograph of 'Ursula' from the Disney film 'The Little Mermaid'. Over the last couple of years, Annie Liebovitz has partnered with Disney to create stunningly colorful pictures, using celebrities posing as Disney characters from classic animated Disney films. Through her partnership with Disney Annie has worked with many celebrities such as: Jenifer Hudson, Taylor Swift, Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Jason Segel, Russel Brand, Johnny Depp and many others.

CONTEXT: This photo was taken by Annie Liebovitz when she was hired by Walt Disney in 2007 to take a series of photographs. It is set in a studio, but the final picture was turned into a sort of cartoon, and was set in the rough sea.

TECHNICAL: The most complicated form of technicality is the lighting. For this shot they used many

different lights and props to make this shot possible. To the cameras right,there is a large octobank shooting through the large diffusion panel towards the queen. There are two large strip banks on either side of the camera, low, illuminating the underside of the tentacles. There are two large octobanks, one above an slightly behind the queen to the cameras left, and the other handheld by an assistant at 45 degree angle to the queen also to the cameras left. Another large octobank is boomed over head, an umbrella illuminates the background, and a reflector held by an assistant to the camera right. 


AESTHETICS: I really like this photo because it is all different shades of blue, except Ursula's arms, face and hair. This is good because it makes us focus on her whilst we are looking at the picture. The fierce sea keeps the background busy and provides an alternative point of interest. The dark mountains make the picture more mysterious. The clouds in the sky fill up the rest of the picture taking us away from Ursula and her tentacles, the splashing sea, and the shadowy mountains.

EXAMPLE:
RULE OF THIRDS: The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to break the photograph down into thirds, both horizontally and vertically so that you have 9 sections. The theory is that if you place your point of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced, and will enable the viewer to interact more with the photograph.

FRAMING: Framing in photography is very self explanatory, It is the same as you would put a photograph in a photo frame. The idea of framing is used so that you frame an image that you want to be the point of interest. Framing can make an image more aesthetically pleasing, and keep the viewers focus on the framed item.

This is the presentation i produced on 'Composition'

http://www.slideshare.net/ifyouseevi/composition-26502299

In the making of this post, i have found the following websites very helpful:

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

http://digital-photography-school.com/5-elements-of-composition-in-photography

http://photofocus.com/2009/11/30/25-photo-composition-tips/