What is the meaning behind Pictures ?

BTEC LVL 2 EXTENDED CERTIFICATE

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Introduction

For this task I have decided to analyze several pictures : why they have been produced, what is the meaning behind them and understand the mise-en scene of these pictures and how to produce high quality pictures.

Throughout the world’s history pictures have been used in various ways to express thoughts or emotions. Some pictures are produced mainly for artistic purposes others to inform some for both. Each picture has story behind them for example this picture below; The baby which is being passed through the barbed wire fence to his grandparents at a camp for refugees of the Kosovo war.

This picture was photographed by Carol Guzy in 1999.The mise-en-scene of this photo is to first of all clearly show the baby’s fear and emotion while going through the barbed wire. The baby is the main focus point of this picture, viewers are automatically drawn to look at him going through the wire and his face in fear.

The use of colours in this photo clearly displays the baby as the frontal image as the blue of his clothing contrasts with the grey clothing around him and the background environment.The blue sky above him is also used in the framing of the shot, as it may represent the hope and freedom of the Kosovo refugees as they reunite.

Magazines can use pictures in informative and creative ways.

It’s main purpose is to influence audiences to buy the product just by being attracted by it’s cover.

Magazine choose specific colors , font sizes and cover photo to make their product be eye catching and interesting to the consumers.

The way the individual on the photo is illuminated changes the way they are presented and how consumers will view them. The font most often tries it’s best to fit with the person on the magazine cover.

Not only the question but woman on the magazine cover may imply that this product is targeted to audience from a black/afro American ethnicity.

The font size and color is chosen to be eye catching to consumers.

Main topics and key words appear in a bigger font, these key word are therefore more intriguing to consumers.

Magazine is targeted to young audiences

In this case the lighting is soft no shadows are created so the person is presented in a bright way.

Some magazines can also use harder and darker lighting to influence consumers perception on the individual used on the cover.

into his own darkness. Some claims went even further to say that the photo was a manipulation of Simpson rendered his blackness both unequivocal and menacing, which may also relate to the murder case which some say is linked with race — with Simpson, ‘’the black defendant, accused of murdering his blonde white wife’’

Time Magazine was found to be guilty of creating their own inauthentic version of this story although TIME claimed : “no racial implication was intended, by Time or by the artist who edited the picture.How to take a photo :

In order for a photograph to be of its highest quality the right settings must be used on the camera.D-SLR’s offer various shooting modes to take particular shots with.

into his own darkness. Some claims went even further to say that the photo was a manipulation of Simpson rendered his blackness both unequivocal and menacing, which may also relate to the murder case which some say is linked with race — with Simpson, ‘’the black defendant, accused of murdering his blonde white wife’’

‘’ 1. Auto/Green squareThis is the ideal mode for complete beginners. The D-SLR is practically converted into a compact point-and-shoot, with exposure settings, aperture and shutter speeds all taken care of. 2. ProgramHere, aperture and shutter speed are set automatically. However, you control ISO, Exposure Compensation (ie, going lighter or darker) and other settings. You can override the D-SLR’s suggested settings if you wish. 3. Aperture PriorityThis semi-automatic mode enables you to choose an aperture value for your desired effect (blurred backgrounds, for example), and the camera then selects the shutter speed that’s needed for a correct exposure. 4. Shutter PriorityThis mode is similar to Aperture Priority, but you select the shutter speed you require and the camera takes care of the aperture. This is perfect for freezing high-speed action by choosing a fast shutter speed, or for creating motion-induced blur using a slow shutter speed. 5. ManualIn Manual mode, you set both the shutter speed and the aperture for any given scene, which places you in total creative control. You’ll now have

A brief look at the different shooting modes available on D-SLR’s

When it comes to taking photographs with a D-SLR Aperture plays a major role on the lighting of the picture.

The Aperture is opening through in the available in the lens of the camera which allows light through the camera’s lens. The wider the aperture is the more light will be let into the lens and therefore the picture will look brighter.

‘’ 1. Auto/Green squareThis is the ideal mode for complete beginners. The D-SLR is practically converted into a compact point-and-shoot, with exposure settings, aperture and shutter speeds all taken care of. 2. ProgramHere, aperture and shutter speed are set automatically. However, you control ISO, Exposure Compensation (ie, going lighter or darker) and other settings. You can override the D-SLR’s suggested settings if you wish. 3. Aperture PriorityThis semi-automatic mode enables you to choose an aperture value for your desired effect (blurred backgrounds, for example), and the camera then selects the shutter speed that’s needed for a correct exposure. 4. Shutter PriorityThis mode is similar to Aperture Priority, but you select the shutter speed you require and the camera takes care of the aperture. This is perfect for freezing high-speed action by choosing a fast shutter speed, or for creating motion-induced blur using a slow shutter speed. 5. ManualIn Manual mode, you set both the shutter speed and the aperture for any given scene, which places you in total creative control. You’ll now have

Aperture settings are called f-stops which indicate the size of the aperture opening.The standard lens on a D-SLR will range from about f/2 to about f/16.

After understanding the main function of the aperture it can then be adjusted depending on what type of environment the picture is being taken, or kind of effect the user is trying to obtain.

Depending on what lenses are being used on the camera the aperture can become wider than standard lens for example a 50mm lens f-stop is (f/1.8- f/22) whereas 18-55mm lens ( basic lens kit ) f-stop (f/3.5 -5.6 ).Therefore a 50mm lens allows in much more light thanks to a wider aperture.

Two picture’s below show how to adjust these settings on the two most popular D-SLR’s available today.How to adjust aperture f-stop on Canon D-SLR :

How to adjust aperture f-stop on Nikon D-SLR :

A small aperture also increases depth of field so foreground and background are sharp and a large aperture decreases depth of field so the background is soft.

Depth of field is explained in more detail further on in this task.

An other aspect of D-SLR’s that come into the exposure of the photograph is ISO.When adjusting the ISO settings on the camera it adjustes the camera’s sesitivity to light. The standard ISO manual settings for a D-SLR starts from 100 up too 6400 ISO speed. Moving from one ISO to the next value changes the exposure by half or double.ISO may be helpful to use in low light environments or using a small aperture lens although increasing the ISO too high will add too much noise to the picture which will then lower the quality of the picture.100 ISO will give you sharp images whereas 3200 ISO will show quite a lot of noise.

Example of 4 different ISO setting values : ISO 100 giving a clear and sharp picture whereas 3200 shows a lot of noise.

To get high quality pictures in low light environments the ideal is to use wide aperture lens with flash bulb or LED light and lowest ISO possible.

Flash bulb. A flash bulb can be used for dark environments, the main point the flash is to recreate the same light the sun will give.

FOCUS & ZOOM : Focus and zoom are the two basics of photography which both take a major part in the quality and composition.

The most basic step is to adjust the zoom on the subject which is being photographed using the zoom ring found on the lens.

The second step is to adjust the focus to the subject.

When using the right lens, aperture and properly focusing on the subject a depth of field effect can be created. Separating the subject from the background. Here’s some examples by student Tariq Gibson using a 50mm lens ( f1/4 )