Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams was a photographer who was best known for his black and white pictures of Yosemite National Park in California. He was born on February 20, 1902 and died on April 22, 1984. Adams father gave him his first camera, a Kodak Brownie Box Camera before. In 1916, with his camera in hand, Adams and his family visited Yosemite National Park; where his interest first began.  He spent his own time reading magazines and books about photography and also attended meetings and joined clubs to get a better knowledge about photography. 

Adams is best known for his landscape pictures of Yosemite. He made the pictures black and white to add more affects and emotion into the photo. His passion for photography and landscape portraits have truly left an impact on other photographers and have inspired many people to do the same thing as he did. 

The Tetons and the Snake River, 1942

Yosemite National Park

Line, Value, Emphasis; I like how the river 

leads your eyes to the mountains that are 

centered in the middle of the picture.

Chapter 9 (203 - 217) Blog Notes:

Landscapes

"A good photograph is knowing where to stand." -Ansel Adams

Landmarks in Landscape

• Photography invented in 1839.

Photographing the Landscape
Thinking Artistically:

• Composition is one of the most important aspects of landscape photography and viewpoint is the most important part of composition.
• An inch or two can make a huge difference in a photo
• Images with a wide range of tones can be more dramatic while those with a narrower range seem quieter and more contemplative.
• Goal for composition: achieve a balance between unity and variety.
• Unity results when all the individual parts of your image come together and support each other to make one cohesive image.
• Variety refers to all the diverse art elements found in a picture.

Camera Settings:

• Most landscape photography has been characterized by maximum depth of field
• Stop down a lens as far as it will go (f/16, f/22, f/32)

Light:

• Two times of the day where most photographers do their work:

• Just after sunrise and just before sunset
• It's easier to deal with direct lighting than it is for closer subjects.
• direct lighting creates the highlights and shadows that make a landscape seem 3D
• For closer views, photographers choose overcast days to reduce the highlights and shadows to show more detail.

The Grand Landscape

• Grand Landscape: the "big view" for pictures of the great outdoors; wide-open expanses that showcase the majesty of the natural world.
• National, state, or city parks are great locations
• Always include a large expanse of the scene; Rule of Thirds, the horizon should be placed either one third from the top or bottom of image
• To make the clouds stand out, use a polarizing red, yellow, or orange filter.

Chapter 8 (179 - 197) Blog Notes:

Architecture and Urban Landscapes

• Indirect portraits: when you take pictures of the buildings and homes in your neighborhoods, towns, and cities.
• Architectural photography is a great way to examine the formal aspects of design, because people, using the elements of art and principles of design, created the buildings that make up our cities and towns.
• Can be formal and informal

Looking Back

• Reasons why architecture was a popular subject:
• early films were slow, often needing hours of exposure for one image
• buildings were stationary = photographers had ready subjects with lots of details, varied tones and values, and their camera exposures could last long

Photographing the Built Environment

Thinking Artistically

• You can use line to lead the viewer's eye through an architectural image
• Vertical and horizontal lines - help divide images into different sections, separating areas of different values or textures.
• Pattern: the repitiion of any of the elements of art, is uaully a part of every image.

Film

• Color films - emphasize values, shapes, and textures.
• Architectural photos: commercial and artistic
• black and white is usually the medium of choice for artistic photographers

Lighting

• Different types of lights used inside buildings:
• Incandescent lights (regular household bulbs) (more orange)
• quartz lights (modern spotlights) (somewhat yellow)
• Fluorescent lights (greener)
• Each light provides different version of white light
• Use deep blue 80A filter (incandescent) 
• FL-D filter (fluorescent)

Lenses

• Big view = wide-angle lenses because you can't get back far enough to get the entire scene you want with normal lenses; the wider the lens, the more distortion you get; keep lens level if you want limit perspective distortion.

Camera Support

• Tripod --> slow, fine-grained film and lots of depth of field

Filters

• Using a yellow or orange filter it will make the clouds stand out more in big view shots
• Filters can also bring out textures in stone and concrete

The Big View

• Big View: the wide-angle, overall view
• Perspective Distortion: appears as strong converging lines in a building, where the sides of the building angle in toward each other instead of looking parallel as they are in reality.
• The farther you are from the building, the less distortion you'll see.
• If you shoot straight on the building, it will look 2D and flat.
• If you shoot from the side, the photo will reveal better textures, forms, and shadows.
• Naturally creates a 3D view; reveals depth and width and height.

The Detail Shot

• Detail Shot: features the individual architectural elements of a building's interior or exterior.

In Class Lecture (Jan. 19):

3 Main types:

• The Grand Landscape
• Details
• Abstract
• Study the natural world without the presence of humans

Landscape Photography

• Composition is crucial - edges of the frame and focus are key
• Rule of Thirds
• Lighting either warm/cool, and shooting at specific times of day will improve images
• 100 ISO will help give you more details
• Tripods

Ansel Adams (1902 - 1984)

• Black and whites
• Yosemite National Park
• founded group f/64 with Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham
• Lead to the Museum of Modern Arts Photography Department
• Born in SF
• Kodak Brownie (first camera!)
• Small apertures and long exposures
• "Pure Photography" - relying on the art and form of photorgaphy, not attempting to manipulate other art forms
• Commissioned by Jimmy Carter to take the first portrait of a president using a photograph

Timothy O'Sullivan (1840 - 1882)

• Documenting the Civil War
• Provided initial photographs of Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and Colorado River
• Responsible for "New Topographics"

11 Tips for Great Landscapes:

• Maximize depth of field
• Tripod
• Focal point
• Think foregrounds
• Consider the sky
• Lines
• Capture movement
• Work with the weather
• Work the golden hours
• Think about horizons
• Change your point of view

Architectural PowerPoint Notes:

Architectural Photographs:

3 types: big picture, small details, and interior

• Indirect portraits
• Materials, style, and scale provide the clues about who they were and what they did/what their lives are like
• Early films were notoriously slow and needed hours of exposure for one image.
• Perfect subject for photography because it didn't move; it's stationary; it has history; many different ways to look at it, have different perspectives and view points; mainly, the designs because elements and principles exist in architecture

Frederick H. Evans

• One of the greatest architectural photographers in history
• He mainly focused on cathedrals in London; depicted motion with the use of light
• "Try for a record of emotion rather than a piece of photography."
• Worked in platinum papers
• Used for making bombs and munitions during WWI
• Because of that...he gave up!

Ezra Stoller (1915-2004)

• Started out as an architect, but found photography to be better for him
• Line, space, shape

2nd Semester Video Notes:

• Newspaper = 6-7 editions a day
• Take photograph and having the people pose and then later posting words/captions into it
• Had camera strapped to his ankle and capture pictures

1920's:

• Photographs were replacing drawings and art
• Public responded more to photos rather than drawings (Drawings could lie, photographs couldn't)
• Camera can elevate a lonely object into something better and more interesting
• Taking pictures can make an object become more wanted and needed (cigarettes, lighters, etc.)
• Photography added new demention to fame = celebrity
• Babe Ruth was the most photographed at that time; sports celebrity
• Photos created stars
• Photographs were being sent around the world through telephone lines

Baraka Film:

Watching this film in class was both interesting and boring. When the film first started, I was confused on how this related to photography and didn't understand the point of it. As the movie went on, different slideshows of different places around the world began to interest me and I started to pay closer attention to what they were showing and all of the little details in the background. Some of the images shown with people in them were disturbing because of the facial expressions they showed or even what they were wearing, but I can't judge because that's their culture. I never really paid attention to other cultures besides my own so seeing all of the different images of different countries was kind of cool to see. 
I enjoyed seeing all of the different landscapes and the colors in all of the images. The movie made somewhat of an impact on me because it made me realize what I had and what others in the third world countries didn't. I never researched or had an interest in seeing different peoples cultures, what they did on a daily basis, or what they had to go through. But after watching this film, it has caught my interest and made me realize that I need to appreciate and be thankful for what I have and I also need to realize that what I consider "terrible", isn't that bad. 

Thanksgiving Dinner:

Stuffing. 

Salad. 

More stuffing!

Fruit Salad.

Candy. 

Turkey!!!

Studio Portrait Head Shot:

Anne Angeles: Removed

Shadow:

Pathway, Mercy Burlingame

One Shot:

I took this picture in the Rose Garden at Mercy Burlingame. It was the only petal in the fountain and I thought it would be nice to emphasize the color.

Photography Video:

-Kodak "Brownie" camera = $1.00
-Photos are visual records of peoples lives; capture way of life
-Before, people have pictures taken once or twice in their lifetime
-Postcards
     --events, death, family, disasters, county fairs, political parties, etc
-Pictures were hand processed
-19th Century - no pictures in magazines or newspapers because of how long process was
-1905: National Geographic (Wentzel)
     --Pictures informed impressions of the world; got to see what was happening in different parts of world.
     --Went from 3,000 subscribers to over 1,000,000 in five years
-Edward Curtis: took pictures of what he believed would disappear
-People aregued whether photography was an art or not
-Straight Photography: no manipulating the photo; photo is what it is

Nature Walk:

Pages 114 - 125:

How to shoot a Formal Portrait: 
1. Place background close to wall; about 10 - 20 feet space; put stool in front of background 4-6 feet in front.
2. Place light about 45 degrees to right side of subject
3. set camera directly in front of subject 6 - 10 feet away; talk to person, tell them emotions or how you want them to pose.
Camera Settings:
1. Better to shoot with wide open aperture to make background out of focus.
2. Using wide open aperture has other benefits besides shallow depth of field that emphasizes the subject; it increases shutter speed on camera.
Lighting for Formal Portraits:
Indoors:
1. For single-source indoor lighting set-up place one light at approximately at 45 degree angle on on side or other side of object/subject.
2. Use reflector (white cardboard)
Outdoors:
1. direct sunlight isn't the best lighting for portraits; can bee too harsh and make subject squint
2. Shoot with open shade (shadow of building, tree, but avoid deep shade)
3. Include cloudless blue sky, not direct sunlight
4. Cloudy days are great for photographing; flattering for portraits
5. Pay attention to everyone in frame; avoid busy/distracting backgrounds; look at people's heads
The Candid Portrait:
1. Candid Portrait: capture a person going about everyday life and activities
2. Don't POSE! More effective if natural
3. Include background - gives context and meaning and explain what is happening; be sensitive to expressions
4. Take as many photos!
The Environmental Portrait:
1. Environmental Portrait: uses a subject's surroundings to help tel that person's story; combination of formal portrait and photojournalism; show's subject's life; background helps provide additional details to the story image tells.
How to Retouch a Digital Portrait:
1. Use close stamp tool or healing brush
Self-Portrait:
1. Self-Portrait: become your own subject; don't have to be totally revealing; show who you are and something about your life; autibiography; it's all about you.

Self-Portraits:

This is a picture of me and my friend Caitlin Philpott. We've been good friends since Freshman year and this shows exactly how our friendship works, we're constantly laughing and making jokes. (Samantha Marinos took this picture)

This is a picture of myself! I'm always smiling and laughing so this picture proves who I am.

(Samantha Marinos took this picture)

This is a picture of me and my brother, Zackary (2). When I'm at home I'm always taking care of my brothers and playing with them. They make living in San Ramon fun (I HATE San Ramon!)