Monday 7th October 2013

Cameras and Compositions

In today's Media Studies lesson we were learning about cameras and compositions. We started of the lesson by going through a powerpoint and learning about different camera types and compositions.

Firstly, I learnt about 'getting a good picture'. There are many different things you need to avoid when trying to get a good picture (composition). These include- Avoiding distractions, eye placement and the rule of thirds.

Avoiding distractions: Keep the photo as basic as possible! Are there distraction lines, lights, objects? Be aware of lightpoles, phone lines etc.

Eye placement: should be in the top third of the screen

Rule of thirds: relies on the photographer imagining the frame slit up by a line into thirds, both vertically and horizontally. Placing objects and people along these lines will create a composition that is more interesting and engaging
 

After I learnt about compositions, I then learnt about different camera angles. This part of the lesson really helped me as I will be able to apply what i learnt in that lesson, to my coursework when I have to make my magazine cover. This lesson helped me develop my skills as I didn't know about many of these camera angles before today's lesson. Some of the camera angles i learnt about were:

• Wide shot-Shows the entire person or area. They establish the scene.
• Medium shot-Frame the subject
• Medium close up-Shots show the subject in more detail
• Close up-Show a particular part of your subject
• Extreme close up-Much tighter, close up shots
• High angle shots-The shot is higher than the subject of the picture
• Flat angle shots-The camera is on the same level as the subject of the picture
• Low angle shots-Camera is lower than the subject of the picture
• Long shot-Subject of the picture is surrounded by other material
 



Once we had gone through all of the different angles and compositions we were set a task. Our task was to go around the school and develop on the pictures that we had taken from the last lesson (4th). This time when taking our pictures we had to use all of the different camera angles that we had just learnt in the lesson. We had to take 10 pictures, below, you will find the best three pictures that I took:

 

This photo is a close up photo. The subject is the only material in the picture.

 

 

This photo is a wide shot. This image is a wide shot because it shows the entire area and establishes the scene.

 

This picture is a low angle shot. This image is a low angle shot because the camera is lower than the subject of the picture.