Lenses

Introduction to Photography

This week's lecture is about DSLR lenses! There are many types of lenses: Wide angle lens, standard lens, tele lens and prime lens. This is the summary of what I learned:

f= Focal length

Wide angle lens

- f<50mm

- Enable shooting of a deep depth field ( can see objects in detail even though it is far )

- Perfect for group picture and scenery

Standard lens

- f=35mm-50mm

- similar to the human eye

- Slight bokeh effect at non-focused object

- Best for portrait pictures

Tele lens

- f>50mm

- Expensive

- Similar to a telescope

- Shallow depth of field

- Blurry background (space flattening)

- Ideal for nature photojournalism

Prime lens

- f fixed

- cannot zoom

- sharper because it has less lens

Exercise 4: Outdoor Portrait Photography

I am required to:

1. Take 5 portrait photos with standard lens or tele lens.

2. Make sure the background is far from the subject.

3. Take the photos covering three angles of shooting: front view, side view and 45° angle view.

Below are the pictures which I took with the subjects permission.

Here is a portrait photo of Jayne, a friend and a committee member of TUCF (Taylor University Christian Fellowship) and Husna Nassuna, my fellow classmate!

Front View

Hey there! This is Jayne. Jayne and I love this photo because of the short depth of field behind her and that her smile looks so natural. I love how the shades of green turns out to be a wonderful background for her. In fact, I felt that this photo matches the style of most Taylor's University advertisement! When looking at this photo, I can't stop visualize some graphics typography on the top left corner shouting:"Come study at Taylor's!"

Side View

This photo is definitely an experiment on different side postures and using a higher point of view! Basically, I stood on a ground higher than her and took this picture. I love how the shot is taken to show an aura of bliss, lifted and happiness (head looking up). The blurry tree leaves at the top left corner balanced the whole composition.

45° View

I liked to take candid photos, hence I told her to look to the trees. This creates an interesting content as the viewers will wonder what is she smilling at. I also like how standard lens helped me to push away any unwanted background details in order to emphasize on Jayne's smile.

45° View

This is the fun side of Husna the Loner. I liked the background as it is colourful and blurry. The pond railing at the bottom left of this picture serves as an interesting second subject. I purposely shot Husna at the side of the frame to create an interesting composition.

Front View

This is another experiment on playing with composition. I took a half of Husna to add some sentimental feeling to this photo as it somehow portrays the mysterious story behind Husna. This photo looks lonely emphasized by the vast pond behind her.

Encore!

Extra:

45° View

This picture looks awesome because of Husna's smile and the short depth of field of the commercial block. This helps to focus on the main subject and bring out the liveliness of this picture. Besides, landscape styled portraits is also as interesting as vertical portrait ones as it can add more details into the photo and tell a story.

Overall, I enjoyed this exercise very much and learned a lot on how to use DSLR lens. Because of this exercise, I have plenty of quality time with Jane and Husna, as well as posing as a model for Husna's shooting.