Project Presentation Tips

Below is some advice on what would aid your presentation and a few suggestions of common mistakes to avoid.

What to do During Your Presentation

1. You are not required to memorize your presentation. However, rehearsing it or remembering certain parts is key to the presentation as it aids in flow and delivery. 
2. Ensure everyone knows when it is their turn to speak. A presentation that is not cluttered with random silence or bickering about who says what aids in flow and organization. 
3. Speak loudly so that everyone in the room can hear you. 
4. Do your best to maintain eye contact with your audience. Extra Tip: one thing I have noticed during many presentations is a groups tendency to focus on the teacher only. Focus your attention on everyone in the room as much as possible. 
5. Have a variety of images throughout your PowerPoint. But, do not just have random pictures in various locations without any real rhyme or rhythm. Take time to explain certain pictures (especially ones that are integral to your presentation). 
6. Since this class is required to complete a Worksheet that you created, remember where in the Powerpoint you are directly answering a question on said sheet. This way you can give them a bit of extra time on slides that are key for them finishing their sheet. 
7. This presentation is 15-20 minutes. There are penalties going over or under said time frame. Ensure you have enough information and not too much at the same time. Rehearse! 
8. Start with a minor introduction (names, topic, names of photographers etc.) End with a strong conclusion (summary of everything, idea you want your audience to remember etc.) 
9. Backup your work via email, school account and a USB (in the event the internet is down or your USB is misplaced).  

What to Avoid During Your Presentation

1. Try to avoid using your phone as your notes during the presentation. Often students will be too focused scrolling up and down whilst squinting to read what you wrote. 
2. Do not let one person dominate the presentation. I want to see that everyone knows the material within the group. 
3. Do not cram each slide with a ton of information. I have zero issue (and prefer) you to split a sub-topic into 2-3 slides rather than one mega slide. The rationale behind this is that the audience can be too focused reading what you have to say that there is a chance they may not be listening. Additionally, the more information you put on each slide will lower the font size. There is a chance it could be too small to read (especially within this classroom).   
4. Try to avoid standing directly in front of the projector and/or screen. We do not want you to block what is on the Powerpoint. 
5. Do not have typos throughout the Powerpoint. Have someone else within your group proofread what you wrote. 

Photography History Project

The purpose of this project is to understand how previous photographers have shaped the modern landscape of photography in society today.

Procedure:

1. Form a group of 3-4. 
2. Choose one famous photographer of the past and one famous contemporary photographer. Note: you can not pick the same photographer(s) as another group. Therefore, first come, first served. 
3. You will create an extensive Powerpoint presentation for the class. The presentation should be 15-20 minutes. Your slides must be designed and images must be consistent throughout the Powerpoint. 
4. You will answer a series of questions that must be addressed in your Powerpoint
1. For both the photographer of the past and contemporary photographer, address the following questions. 
2. Provide background information about your photographer (Early Life, Career, Famous Works, Influence then and now)
3. Pick three of their most famous photographs and analyze them  
1. What does the image look like? 
2. What is meant to be the main object or subject in the photograph?
3. Does the photograph provide a sense of time? What clues provide you with this information?
4. What information can you gather about the photographs aperture and shutter speed? 
5. Which type(s) of composition techniques were used to create the photograph? 
6. What type of emotional response do you believe the photograph was trying to convey? 
4. How does photography of the past shape the present? 
5. How does the influence of visual culture impact social and other forms of media? 
6. Add anything else to your presentation that you see fit. 
5. You will also create a worksheet for the class to complete as you are going through your presentation. 
1. You are creating this worksheet yourself for the class to complete. It can vary from multiple choice questions, short answers, crosswords etc. 
2. This worksheet must be based off of your Powerpoint. Therefore, each question you ask on the worksheet you created must be answered at some point during your presentation. 
3. Ensure your worksheet offers a comprehensive review of your presentation. Theoretically, if someone was away for your presentation they should be able to understand the basis of your presentation based off of the worksheet you provided. 
1. NOTE: your worksheet will be due the class prior to your presentation date. This means it is due February 7th, 2019.
6. There will also be a question period for your classmates to ask any questions they may have regarding your presentation. 
7. You are expected to cite all of your work in APA format. You can cite your work directly onto your Powerpoint Presentation. 
8. This will be due February 11th, 2019

Rubric:

Presentation (10 Marks)

Content (20 Marks)

Organization/Design (10 Marks)

Spelling/Grammar (5 Marks)

Worksheet (10 Marks)

Citations (5 Marks)

Overall (60 Marks) 

Photography Quiz Announcement

On Friday, January 25th you will all have a quiz regarding our four lessons for this month (Exposure, Aperture and Depth of Field, Shutter Speed and ISO).

Your quiz will be a combination of multiple choice, true/false and short answers.

The quiz will be taken at the start of class and will be out of 15 marks.

ISO Lesson

What is ISO?

ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. It is measured in numbers (100, 200, 300, 400, 500 etc.)

The lower the number, the less sensitive your camera is to light. This will also cause the grain in the image to be finer. Higher numbers means your sensor becomes more sensitive to light which in turn allows your camera to be used in darker situations.

Below are two examples of using low and high ISO and how they can change the outcome of your photo.

Strategies When Using ISO

1. If you keep your camera on auto mode it will permit your camera to adjust the ISO settings for you. Tip: it will aim to keep your cameras ISO settings as low as possible.
2. Your shutter speed/aperture will get changed if you manually change your ISO settings
3. Look for these four things when you are adjusting the ISO settings
1. Light (is the subject/object well lit?)
2. Grain (do you want a grainy shot or one without noise?)
3. Tripod (if you need your camera to remain steady)
4. Movement (do you want your object/subject to be moving or be still?)

ISO Video

If you would like to review ISO and how to take a perfect image with the correct settings, follow this video.

Shutter Speed Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to take two completely different photographs of objects or subjects that are moving.

Procedure:

1. Take two different photographs at both faster and slower shutter speeds. 
2. One image needs to be frozen whilst the other must have blur to show higher speeds. 
3. They do NOT have to be the same object/subject for both photos. 
4. You can choose any shutter speed you wish, but I recommend 1/30 or 1/60 (for blurred image that shows speed), as well as 1/1000 or higher (to freeze the frame).
5. Write a 150-250 word description that clearly answers the following questions: 
1. Which Shutter Speed did you use on each photograph? 
2. What happened to the aperture settings when altering the shutter speeds? 
3. Do you notice a difference between the exposure of your photographs? Why or why not?
4. Describe two positives and one negative about each of your images. 
6. This will be due Friday, January 25th 2019

Rubric:

Photographs (10 Marks)

Description (10 Marks)

Overall (20 Marks)

Shutter Speed Lesson

What is Shutter Speed? 

Shutter Speed is the amount of time that the shutter is open.

In order to understand Shutter Speed it is important to remember all of the following rules/guidelines.

1. Shutter Speed is mainly measured in fractions of a second. For example, 1/1000, 1/60, 1/30 etc. 1/1000 is much faster than 1/60 and 1/30. An easy way to determine which is faster is to simply look at the denominator (bottom of the fraction) and see which one is a larger number. 
2. For both the purpose of this class (and in general) you will use 1/60. This is because anything larger will be more difficult to take a photograph of. This is due to camera shake which indicates that there will be a blur in your photos as the camera is moving to take its shot. 
3. When using most cameras (including our school ones) the shutter speed will double (approximately). For example: 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60 etc. Warning as you increase the shutter speed your aperture settings will be affected. Therefore, depending on how much light you want into the image, you may need to adjust the aperture settings manually.  
4. Know how you want your image to look before you take it! Shutter speed can make an image look faster or can freeze the frame of something moving quick. If your intention is to show movement, then you may want to decrease the shutter speed to show blur. However, if you want to freeze something that moves fast (car, snowboarder) then you should increase the shutter speed. 

Images of Shutter Speed

Both the images of the bird and surfer below are using a higher shutter speed as the photographer's intention was to freeze the frame (1/1000 and 1/4000). 

Moving onto our next photograph, we have a vehicle that looks like it is moving really quickly due to the blur. This photographer used a much lower shutter speed (1/30) 

Shutter Speed vs. Aperture Explained

When you increase your shutter speed (for example 1/30 to 1/60) you are letting half as much light into your photograph. In order to balance out the exposure of your photograph, you may need to adjust your f numbers (for example f16 to f8). Reminder: the lower the f number, the bigger the opening is for light to get in. Use the photograph below to review. 

Shutter Speed Video

Watch this helpful video to better understand how to take shutter speed photographs.

Aperture and Depth of Field Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to show an understanding of how to use a camera and its functions. 

Procedure:

1. You will take 5 of the same photo using different f numbers (f/1.4, f/2.8, f/5.6, f/8, f/22) 
2. Compare and Contrast your different photos. What do you notice that is different? Is there a significant difference between one level and its next f number? Are there any similarities between the photos? Which f number do you believe gave you the best image and why? (150-200 words total)
3. Title this assignment "Aperture and Depth of Field Assignment 1." 
4. This will be due Thursday, January 17th 2019

Rubric:

5 Photos (10 Marks)

Description (5 Marks)

Overall (15 Marks) 

Aperture and Depth of Field Lesson

Aperture and Depth of Field 

Now that you understand that aperture, shutter speed, and ISO can control your exposure, it's time to take a deeper look at each of these settings.

Remember that aperture is the size of the opening in the lens when a photo is taken. The opening controls how much light can enter your camera when the shutter is open. The aperture settings are called f-stops and are represented by numbers (i.e. f/1.8, f/2, f/8, etc). The bigger the number, the smaller the lens opening. 

The other primary function of aperture is controlling the depth of field of your image. This is why aperture can be important to the artistic aspects of your compositions. 

Depth of field is a measure of how far the field of focus is in a photograph. It is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in sharp focus in a photo. 

The size of the aperture opening determines the depth of field, or how much of your scene is in focus. Lower (smaller) f-stop number means less depth of field or "shallow" depth of field. When your aperture is wide open (smallest f-stop number), your focus will be much shallower and there will be fewer things in your photo that will be in focus. Moving on from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the size of the amount in your opening lens (and the amount of light getting through). 

Note: a smaller f number means a bigger aperture. For example, a f/2.8 will be bigger than a f/22.

On the opposite end, higher f-stop number, which means smaller lens opening, will allow for a deeper focus which means that more things in your photo to be in focus.

Exposure Assignment

The purpose of this assignment is to clearly show the difference a correct exposure can make to your overall photograph.

Procedure:

1. Take the same photograph three times. Use different levels of exposure for all three of these images. 
2. You can pick whichever f numbers and ISO you please. Ensure they are different across all three photos. 
3. Once you have done this explain how one picture is under exposure, how one image is over exposure and why the third picture is using the correct exposure. (100-150 Words)
4. Title this assignment "Exposure Assignment." 
5. This will be due on January 11th, 2019

Rubric:
Photographs (5 Marks)
Description (5 Marks)
Overall (10 Marks)

Exposure Lesson

What is Exposure?

In photography, exposure is the total amount of light bouncing off a subject that is allowed to enter through an opening in the camera lens for a certain period of time until the light (image) is recorded onto the camera sensor.

A photo that has "good" or "correct exposure" is a photo that has the ideal amount of light for the subject. Meaning, it is not too dark or too light.

There are three elements that effect exposure: 

1. Aperture
2. Shutter Speed
3. ISO

Aperture:
The size of the opening in the lens when a photo is taken. The opening controls how much light can enter your camera at once. The larger the hole, the more light that gets in. The smaller the hole, the less light that gets into your photograph. 

Shutter speed: 
The amount of time that the shutter is open. This amount of time controls the amount of time that light is allowed to hit the sensor. The bigger the denominator, the faster the speed. Therefore, 1/1000 is much quicker than 1/60. Depending on how you want your image to look, this could drastically effect the outcome of your photo.  

ISO: the sensitivity of the photographic medium to light. In film cameras, this refers to how sensitive the film is to light and in digital cameras it refers to how sensitive your camera's digital sensor is to light. More sensitivity to light means less light is needed for a good exposure of a photograph.

These 3 elements are tightly related. A change in one of the elements will impact the other two. Coming up with the correct exposure means combining the right blend of aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings.

If you want a more detailed over-view of all of these settings, check out this video.