Digital Photography Class 3

If you place every element of interest in a photograph on one side or another, or more commonly by the beginners in the center of the image, you are leaving little or nothing to look at on the opposite side. This will be a unbalanced and most likely an uninteresting image.

There are basically two types of balance in photography. The first is formal balance, also called symmetrical balance. As the name suggest it is when one or more identical or similar subjects are repeated symmetrical on each sides of a given point. The formal balance is most often recognised by subjects that are uniform in shape.

The second type of balance in photography – radial balance. This is when all the elements of the design “radiate” from a center point in a circular fashion. Radial balance is a great way to lead the eye into the focal point in the center of the ad.

Having looked at some of the 'Rules' of Photography. I set the class a task to take a series of photographs around the school based on Symmetrical Balance and Radial Balance.

After break, I demonstrated the functions of my camera to the class by plugging it into the class interactive board. I talked the class through the various 'scene modes' the camera had, and drew parallels to the kind of settings you would find on the majority of digital cameras. Digital cameras offer a variety of useful modes that are optimised for specific scenes and photographic conditions. Scene modes are preprogrammed by the manufacturer to automatically give the best exposure and settings for each scene.

When selected, a scene mode can often give better results than shooting in a standard full automatic mode. Some digital cameras have an Intelligent Mode that analyses the type of scene and shooting conditions you’re photographing and then automatically selects the scene mode.

Below is a image of the Scene Mode on a Panasonic Digital Camera:

Click the below link for further information:

Why use a Digital Camera Scene mode??

Next week we will be having a practical session where I have asked the students to bring in some Autumnal foliage and bits and pieces, so that we can take some still life shots and compositions. Should be fun!