Photography & Journalism
Sunset High School
assignment 6: landscapes
Target: Learn to shoot broad landscape or cityscape views with deep depth of field.
Directions: Take images in locations where you have a broad and deep view far into the distance. Choose what is included in your view for interesting composition, combining what is close and distant, and placement carefully. Set your camera to a larger f-stop/smaller aperture (f10 or above). Do not underestimate the impact of light and time of day on a landscape image. Turn in your best 4-6 images with a deep depth of field. Extensions are: sunflares, starbursts, using leading lines for creating depth
-
consider your composition, making thoughtful decisions about the arrangement of subject matter, balance, lack of distractions, and general feeling of the image
Tips:
-
time of day and light is essential for landscapes (dawn, dusk, fog, night, etc. will make for the most compelling images), try not to shoot mid-day
-
consider the foreground, look for a focal point, consider using the rule of thirds
-
use a tripod
-
shoot from different points of view, get down low or change the level of your horizon, place the horizon low if you have a dramatic sky or high if the sky is boring
Tandem Projects: During the landscape unit, you will engage in 2 tandem projects that should be completed during class time. Project 7 Timelapse & Create your own LR Preset
“I hope that my work will encourage self expression in others and stimulate the search for beauty and creative excitement in the great world around us.”—Ansel Adams
Depth of Field (DOF) is the front-to-back zone of a photograph in which the image is razor sharp. As soon as an object (person, thing) falls out of this range, it begins to lose focus at an accelerating degree the farther out of the zone it falls; e.g. closer to the lens or deeper into the background. With any DOF zone, there is a Point of Optimum focus in which the object is most sharp. There are two ways to describe the qualities of depth of field - shallow DOF or deep DOF. Shallow is when the included focus range is very narrow, a few inches to several feet. Deep is when the included range is a couple of yards to infinity.