Exercises for Week of February9th 2009

In case you left early and forgot what the last exercise was in Sunday's workshop, here it is again:

Choose a few objects and COMPOSE a still life. Make it one that you actually like so you can have some FUN with it - you could use a bowl of eggs, a sock, and 6 peacock feathers; a bouquet of flowers; you could use a set of building blocks; you could use your secret stash of creepy dollies (my fave) or whatever floats your boat! It might be Once you have your still-life composed, try and take any 3 or 5 (or more) pictures that are DISTINCTLY different from one another WITHOUT moving the objects. Consider things like: how little or how much negative space you want, depth of field, perspective, exposing for details in the hightlights vs. exposing for details in the shadows. Challenge yourself by trying to take the pictures in Manual and applying the Law of Reciprocity.

THIS WEEK's metering exercise is:

In daylight, a creepy dolly (I swear Goodwill and Value Village have an almost decadent supply!) near a window - use a person if you must... ~smirk~ With your camera in Av mode, create the next 4 images:

A headshot with the face as evenly lit as possible.
A headshot lit from the side - choose whether you prefer the highlights blown out or really deep shadows.
A headshot in silhouette.
A headshot that's backlit.

(Hint - you will need to move your subject in relation to your light source.)

THIS WEEK's composition exercise is:

Choose a landscape to shoot - whatever you feel like shooting whether that's urban, residential, the forest, your backyard is fine as long as you can distinctively identify a horizon. Without moving from the position you've chosen or changing your focal length (read: no zooming in or out once you start), take a series of 4 different pictures. The first one should have the horizon precisely in the middle of the image, the second one should have the horizon in the top third of the image, the third one should have the horizon in the bottom third of the image, and the last one should have the horizon cutting across the image diagonally.

When you post or email me a link to your online album, please comment on which of the images from each set are your favourites, and why. Also, please share any challenges you had and how you resolved or conquered it.

I'm hoping to visit everyone's blogs more this month - if you haven't signed up as a follower, please do (top right corner of this page) as it makes it easier for me to find you all!

Happy shooting!!!

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