Mastering Exposure 1.0

Introduction to Photography

During this week's lecture, we are exposed to 3 ways in mastering exposure / brightness.

Aperture

is the iris of the camera that controls the amount of light to enter the camera lens. The smaller the f-stop, the wider the diameter of the aperture. This allows more light to enter, hence producing a brighter photo.

Shutter Speed

is the time taken for the shutter to open and close. The faster the shutter speed, the darker the photo is as less light gets to enter in time. A fast shutter speed is used to take sharp photos of moving objects as to freeze them in the frame. A slow shutter speed however is used to create a bokeh effect photo and a light trail.

ISO

is the sensitivity of the camera sensor towards natural lighting. The higher the ISO value, the brighter a photo will be. ISO is usually the last resort to brighten the photo when all attempts failed. However, a higher ISO value can affect the quality of the photo produced (grainy).

Exercise 5: Exposure Photography Exercise

Take 5 monochrome photos around campus while adjusting the exposure of the camera manually.

Best of 5

Entangled

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/100

ISO: 1600

I took this sculpture which is situated at the entrance to the parking lot below the Tangerine Restaurant. This sculpture by the seniors shows how entangled we are and portrays the stress of life through repeating and intersecting lines. I like this photo as I get to play with the focus manually and choose my own interesting composition, selecting a part of the overall sculpture and eliminating unnecessary details. I increased the ISO to brighten the photo since the location is a dimly lit area. Besides, I like how this photo evokes a stressful city life feelings and emits an impulsive energy ambiance. The entangled lines quickly fades at the left, indicating the strings of worrying thoughts mixed together that they no longer matter anymore.

Shoutout

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/100

ISO: 800

This was a taken on one of block E's unremoved posters that turned into an art billboard. There is an interesting drawing of a sunflower by an unknown "Banksy". Hence, the title "Shoutout" as if the students wanted to express their childhood creativity and shoutout their manifestos about the openness to wall art vandalism. I like this photo because of the two posters which balanced the long strip of paint at the right, creating an asymmetrical balance. I liked how underexposed this photo is, which helps to highlight the two white posters at the same time raising up the lighter textures on the wall. Basically, I increased the aperture f-stop to reduce the amount of light entering the lens and increased the contrast to make the white posters stand out.

Stairs to Nature

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/640

ISO: 100

I love how off- centered this photo is for an interesting composition. There is also sufficient contrast between the grass and the stone-paved staircase. Besides, this photo is so simple yet elegant at the same time. I increased the shutter speed so that less light gets into the camera lens to decrease the contrast due to the bright daylight.

Plane and Void

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/80

ISO: 100

I decreased the ISO value to 100 although this setting should be for an outdoor space (indoor aprox. 400) just to capture the natural light from the rooftop (decrease exposure) at the same time making sure that the darkness of the ceiling is maintained. This helps me to create enough striking contrast between lightness of the outdoor space and the darkness of the indoor ceiling. I decrease the shutter speed from 1/100 to 1/80 in order to increase the exposure of the ceiling so that it will not be too underexposed. I really liked how crisp the lines are, the geometry of the interior space, the contrast between the direction of diagonal lines as well as the interesting composition with the light source off-centered.

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/400

ISO: 100

I took this photo at the Taylor's Lakeside waterfront. The reason I'm in love with this photo is because the manipulation of manual focus is on point and the blurry fern leaf adding excitement to the composition. The eyes are easily drawn to the sharp, brightly lit rock, which contrast against

For this exercise, I kind of did it in a rush and benefitted some exercising in terms of running due to my battery running extremely low. Because of that, I missed some interesting spots behind block E. Nevertheless, I'm thankful that I get to shoot more than 20 different shots with just a 2-bars battery. A great reminder to charge my battery to the max for next usage and probably consider a spare Canon battery. In terms of this exercise, there are still many areas that I need to polish, especially in adjusting the picture to be brighter. But hey, dim pictures do turn out good! And this journey have only just begun....

Oh, not forget to mention some extras for fun!

Uncertainty

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/250

ISO: 100

From the looks of it, it is hard to guess where was this taken. This was in fact taken at the University Square's black cube. I saw a reflection of block C and thought it will be something different and interesting. I liked this picture because of the contrast of organic and geometric shapes. The reflection on the small puddle of water creates an interesting subject for this photo and I liked the clouds reflected on the puddle. It adds a foreign texture to the otherwise smooth surface of the cube. The building on the reflection is blurry (out of focus) although the water is still, implying that there are always uncertainty in the future as the future is always changing. The future is hard to predict although at the moment there may still be beautiful clouds and still waters hanging around. Hence, life has to be taken lightly as things that we hold on dearly will soon fade away, just as the puddle slowly evaporates and the reflections fades...

Aperture: f/5

Shutter Speed: 1/100

ISO: 100

I liked how the goose's neck outlines the curve of the leaf at the exact moment! This photo felt like a photo taken in the 1900's due to its blurriness.

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/60

ISO: 100

Simple designs are my favourite! Minimalist!

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/400

ISO: 100

Love the wood texture and the short field of depth.

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed: 1/20

ISO: 100

Another graffiti art that corresponds with the lines of the cement slab. Harmonious!