Part 6. : Let's step forward
"How to view photographs to take your 'masterpiece (!?)'"
A digital photograph originates in an electrical signal. The electric signal is converted to pixels having various tones and colors on a screen and a print. The pixels, as a whole, construct an image, i.e., a digital photograph.
Meanwhile, we often judge whether a photograph is "good or bad", "impressive or common", and "beautiful or not".
But, how do we make such judgements ? Is there any value and meaning that are embedded in a print of the photograph ? No, there isn't. The value and meaning of a photograph is given by consciousness in our mind. That is, the consciousness in our mind recognizes the value and meaning of a photograph.
In this issue, I'll focus on the consciousness in our mind. But don't worry. My stories are not so difficult but rather "light", and I'll fly acrobatically in this article. Please relax and enjoy it.
The images in this issue come from my humor spirit. And there isn't any other meaning in them. I'm happy if you feel fun to smile or burst into laughter. Enjoy these images lightly and deeply.
- 6.1. A failed work is a "masterpiece"
- 6.2. Seeing is "stealing"
- 6.3. A photograph is an apparatus for creating "falsehood"
6.1. A failed work is a "masterpiece"
Conventional cameras and digital cameras have been developed to avoid taking images of out-of-focus and camera shake, and selecting improper exposures. This trend will continue in the future. Nobody likes to take a failed picture.
But it is very curious that many people are often impressed with or interested in a failed picture, particularly, a very failed picture. One reason for this is that the current cameras rarely produce a very failed picture. It's might be an irony of technology.
The images below are taken to attempt to produce fresh effects from so-called failed images, especially very failed images. Though taking these images are a little complicated, they are worth doing so.
6.1.1. Images of out-of-focus and camera shake
Photo 1.1.A.
Even a compact-type digital camera cannot
focus on both subjects simultaneously
Technique guide
To take the image like this, use the focus-locking function (cf. 2.1.2.) or [Manual] in the AF area mode (cf. 2.1.3, some cameras don't have the [Manual] setting.). It's much easier if a digital camera has a function to focus manually.
Point of view
A compact-type digital camera has a shorter focal length lens than a conventional camera because a size of its imaging device is very small. So a compact-type digital camera rarely takes a greatly out-of-focus image. And it is more difficult to discover an out-of-focus image by viewing the LCD display.
Many people probably have experienced they found an out-of-focus images only after they viewed an enlarged image on a computer's monitor or on a print.
Well, how about trying a challenge to take greatly out-of-focus pictures ? If you do it, you'll enjoy unexpected images though techniques are little complicated.
Photo 1.1.B.
This isn't a psychic image
but a merely blurred image
Technique guide
You can take such an image easily by releasing a shutter in a dim place using a tripod.
It's better to set the sensitivity of a camera a little too low. To use a slow shutter speed, select a slow shutter speed in the [S] mode (shutter-speed-priority mode), or make a shutter speed slow by closing an aperture (larger aperture value) in the [A] mode (aperture-priority mode) (cf. 2.2.2.). A shutter speed of Photo 1.1.B. is 1/4 second.
Point of view
I feel a psychic atmosphere for the image such as Photo 1.1.B.
I suppose many readers also have the similar feeling. But the truth is that this is just a blurred image in which a lady in a kimono dress is jumping down from a low rock behind her.
Our consciousness tends to regard such a blurring as a psychic phenomenon. With bamboo trees over her head looking like a rope, it could seem as if she was being hung. But this is nothing more than a blurred image in which a lady in a kimono dress is just jumping down from a low rock.
It's certainly ominous. There are not so many people who like this kind of image. At the same time, it's also fairly interesting. When you happen to take such an image, don't care about so much. Let's burst into laughter.
6.1.2. Strange composition
A photograph is an image that is enclosed by a frame. Composing is to arrange various subjects in the frame. To obtain good composition, people strive to seek a proper camera angle and a proper position.
But we sometimes have a wonderfully attractive feeling for an image that we have happened to take. So it is important to take pictures from various camera angles and positions without considering too deeply.
A photograph will be really recognized only after the photograph has been taken. Though an image is viewed with the LCD display of a digital camera, an impression of the image alters when the image is viewed on a computer in your home. Anyway, take many pictures. And a person who has taken many pictures will become a winner after all. When you use a digital camera, you only need to pay a battery cost or an electricity cost. Let's seek various camera angles and positions.
Photo 1.2.A.
Locating the main subject
in the corner of the image
Technique guide
Use the focus-locking function (cf. 2.1.2.) or the AF-area choosing function (cf. 2.1.3., some cameras don't have it) as well as in Photo 1.1. A. In this Photo, the focus-locking function is used.
Point of view
AF area of a compact-type digital camera generally locates in the center of the screen. So it is proper to locate the main subject in the center of the screen.
On the other hand, if you locate the main subject near the side of an image, the image gives you a non-common impression. In addition, it is also interesting to take an image by holding a camera slantingly.
Photo 1.2.B.
You probably can't quickly
understand what is taken
Technique guide
This is an image that is take by aiming a camera from her upper body toward her feet. The upper AF area is used and "tabi" (Japanese socks) is focused on.
Point of view
People tend to take a picture so as to explain objects in the picture.
Though this is an important point, it is also interesting to take such a picture as you cannot understand quickly.
It is unexpectedly difficult to take a picture that you cannot understand quickly. At the same time, such a picture gives us unexpected appearance of a subject and a pleasant experience.
6.1.3. Unrealistic colors and tones
When you use a digital camera, many of you probably keep the various settings to automatic positions. Recent digital cameras certainly have very excellent automatic performance. On the other hand, if you attempt to take a good picture with a manual setting, you probably fail to take a picture.
But if we assume that we enjoy failed photographs, we can take many pictures with the manual setting. So using the manual setting may be a short path to master a digital camera. In this case, the white balance function (cf. 2.3.) and the exposure compensation function (cf. 1.3.3.) will be very helpful for you.
Photo 1.3.A.
Gloomy blue
Technique guide
Setting the white balance to Tungsten lamp, if you take a picture outdoors under sunlight or in a shadow, the resulting image has an appearance of a blue cast.
Point of view
Blue is a cold color and gives us a bleak feeling. Blue also gives us a feeling of morning.
And blue is a gloomy color as the words "a blue mood" suggest.
It is a fundamental of photography to reproduce correct colors of a subject. But if we make an attempt to enjoy various nuances in color, we can feel various tastes in color even if they are "strange". On the detailed function of white balance, read 2.3. "Adjusting color with White Balance function".
You can easily enjoy various nuances in color by creating various colors with an image processing application (cf. 3.3.3.).
Photo 1.3.B.
It's a very high-key image,
but not bad
Technique guide
By using the exposure compensation function (cf. 1.3.3.), you can adjust tones of an image fairly freely. On Photo 1.3.B., I make a compensation of +3EV or more in the manual mode of COOLPIX 885/880. About the manual mode, I'll introduce it in the next issue.
Point of view
Though many people misunderstand that subject's tones in an image relate to the amount of light illuminating the subject, it isn't true. Regardless of the amount of light, the AE function of a digital camera automatically controls the tones of an image. The image has proper gray tones between white and black.
But if you want to alter an entire image to a high-key image, set the exposure compensation to a plus value. Or if you want to alter an entire image to a low-key image, set the exposure compensation to a minus value. I hope you to master the exposure compensation function (cf. 1.3.3.).
Note that the exposure compensation performance of COOLPIX 885/880 is up to +2EV. To use the exposure compensation value corresponding to +3EV such as in Photo 1.3.B by COOLPIX 885/880, you have to use a manual combination of a shutter speed and aperture value. Thus taking high-key or low-key images may be a little difficult than expected.
6.2. Seeing is "stealing"
We view many photographs in magazines, advertisements, and photo albums. They are almost taken by professional photographers. They are very beautiful and sometimes very impressive.
When you feel images are "how beautiful !", or "how fantastic !", you should analyze them like this, what is a focal length of zoom ? or what are a shutter speed and an aperture ?
By analyzing photographs in such a way, you can "steal" various photographic techniques. And when you use the stolen techniques, you'll have pro-level photographic techniques.
6.2.1. Estimating focal length and subject distance by analysis
Viewing point
If you carefully observe an image perspectively and three-dimensionally, imagining a real scene, you can roughly estimate the focal length of a zoom lens.
If an image has an appearance of enhanced perspective and three-dimensional aspect, the used focal length of the zoom lens is near the [W] (wide angle) end. If an image has an appearance of enhanced perspective and three-dimensional aspect, the used focal length of the zoom lens is near the [T] (telephoto) end.
And by assuming a size of a subject, you can roughly estimate a distance between a subject and a camera (focusing distance).
Many people commonly use a zooming function only to change a size of a subject.
But the size of a subject can be altered by changing a distance between a subject and a camera (focusing distance). By using both two ways, your photograph fairly gets close to a pro-level photograph. (cf. 1.3.2. and 1.3.3.)
Photo 2.1.A.
An image taken away from a subject,
setting a focal length of a zoom lens
to the [T] (telephoto) side
Photo 2.1.B.
An image taken close to a subject,
setting a focal length of a zoom lens
to the [W] side (wide angle) side
6.2.2. Estimating shutter speed and aperture by analysis
Point of view
One function of shutter speed and aperture is to adjust tones of an image. But shutter speed and aperture give different expressional effects to an image. The shutter speed can alter the amount of camera-shake effect. And the aperture can alter the amount of blur effect. (cf. 2.2.1.)
This means that you can roughly estimate a shutter speed by checking the amount of a camera shake, and an aperture value by checking the amount of blur. Observe an image carefully, considering a distance between a subject and a background.
The two images below are taken with the same exposure value by COOLPIX 990 (/COOLPIX 995). But the two images have the different shutter speed and aperture by four steps each other. Since the blur effect of a compact-type digital camera is not greater than that of a conventional camera as described earlier, the background of Photo 2.2.A is not blurred so much.
The fan in the image, strictly speaking, repeats movement and instant pause. So an appearance of the fan in the image does not always reflect the effect of shutter speed. But the appearance of the fan roughly corresponds to the effect of shutter speed.
Photo 2.2.A.
Taken with a faster shutter speed
and an opened aperture
(small aperture value)
Photo 2.2.B.
Taken with a slower shutter speed
and a closed aperture
(large aperture value)
6.2.3. Finding a light source by analysis
Point of view
First, guess the direction of the sun in the images below.
In Photo 2.3.A, there are white shined areas at the top of her head and on her shoulder, and her face is shaded from the sun. So it is thought that the sun locates back of and above her. For further information, refer to 4.3.3, "Variations in highlights and shadows".
Photo 2.3.A.
Taken only with natural light
Photo 2.3.B.
No light is reflected from her eye
If you focus attention on her eye in Photos 2.3.D. and 2.3.E, you can recognize a type of light source or reflector in front of her.
Photo 2.3.C.
Taken with built-in flash
Photo 2.3.D.
Flash light is reflected from her eye.
This state is said that a catchligt
is produced in a subject' eye
Photo 2.3.E.
Taken using a reflector
Photo 2.3.F.
An ellipse-shaped reflector
is reflected from her eye
If you analyze photographs of landscapes and small objects as well as portraits to get information on light and shadow, and reflect the result of the analysis to your photographs, your technique will become a pro-level one.
6.3. A photograph is an apparatus for creating "falsehood"
Honestly speaking, I hope you not to view the three images below seriously. These images are in joke, hoping you will feel very fun. I think these images are fairly good.
Syashin (photograph) in Japanese literally means copying the truth. But actually, a photograph is just a thing in which an image that is constructed with light rays by an optical lens is recorded. In such a photograph, it is difficult to judge whether content in the photograph is true or not. And I dare say that the aim of a professional photographer is just to show a photograph as if it were true, though my saying might be a little exaggerated.
And if it is so, we may be allowed to enjoy a false world in photography.
6.3.1. Enjoying "borrowed landscape"
Photo 3.1.
This is my house and my car......
It's false
Point of view
In Japan, there is a great gardening idea of "borrowed landscape".
According to Kojien (Japanese dictionary), the "borrowed landscape" is an outside landscape, such as a mountain and trees located outside a garden, which is exploited as if it were a part of the garden.
So, in photography, I translate this idea as a photographic technique that exploits other's possessions as if they were mine. Okay, this is just a joke. Don't think seriously.
Anyway, I took a picture in front of other's house and car. This is a typical "borrowed landscape".
6.3.2. Producing "relation"
Photo 3.2.
Producing a feeling of autumn,
wearing a kimono of wool ???
Point of view
By the way, in this series of article, kimono (Japanese clothes)-wearing persons, she and I, often are taken.
You may ask me why she and I wear kimono so often. Because this series aim to be read worldwide......This answer may seem to be true. But in reality I have no decent answer. I just like kimonos.
Anyway, this couple looks nice, though it's a little ashamed of saying so. But actually she is just a model for this work. Don't misunderstand us !
And let's analyze this image more deeply. This couple looks too couple-like. If they are a real couple, they sometimes express a kind of embarrassment for such a too typical scene. Or they sometimes express some atmosphere associated with their daily life. This image doesn't have such feelings. Considering like this, this image appears to be false. But at a glance, this image looks very true. In this meaning, it could be said that a false thing looks true in an image.
6.3.3. Playing "masquerade"
Photo 3.3.
A great writer and his wife ???
Point of view
They look to be a typical good husband and wife. So it's false. This is just a play......
Meanwhile, except for the background, illumination is only a fluorescent lamp on the ceiling. I think this image is taken very well in such conditions.
This monochrome image is taken using the Black and White option of the Image Adjustment menu. If you want a color image, of course, you can do it easily with your digital camera. How great the digital camera is !
Anyway, the most important matter for taking a portrait is to enjoy a false world in an image. The more seriously you take a picture, the more uncomfortably you change the atmosphere. If you try to enjoy the false world, shooting becomes joyful, whether you take a good picture or not. Of course, the same is said about images of a landscape and small objects. If you try to only enjoy the false world in an image, detail arrangement and coordination of things, and lighting become joyful works.
In addition, "A photograph is an apparatus for creating falsehood" implies that "a photographic image of a subject is not a real subject (i.e., an image itself is not true) ".
The story has become a little confusing. But you probably have had a mood to enjoy photograph manyfold.
The next issue is Part 7 "Using the function of a digital camera completely"
Wait and see !
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