Asia Bibi -- the Pakistani Christian woman who was once on death row after a blasphemy conviction -- has relocated to Canada. Bibi was forced to leave Pakistan after repeated death threats from religious extremists. Back in 2010 she was convicted of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during an argument with Muslim colleagues. The workers had refused to drink from a bucket of water Bibi had touched because she was not Muslim. At the time, Bibi said the case was a matter of women who didn't like her "taking revenge." Her conviction and death sentence were tossed out last year, but the constant stream of threats finally forced her out of the country.
Learning targets:
I can respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue;
I can propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence.
I can integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media .
I can present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective.
I can analyze nuances in the meaning of words (images) with similar denotations.
I can make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
I can adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks.
Essentials for taking a good photo
Assignment:
1.Take your time and follow along with the readings,understanding and reflecting upon the image samples for the rule of thirds, phi grid and Fibonacci spiral. (you are responsible for understanding these terms!)
2. At the conclusion of the reading, there is a short video that will support the reading. I suggest that your review the reading, after having watched the video.
3. Application of what you have learned: there are ten images that follow. For each decide on the compositional technique that is used and support your reasoning with specifics from the image that clearly demonstrates you understand the how the photo was organized.
DUE BY MIDNIGHT Wednesday.
SO you want to take a good photo!
1. Think about your shots
Whether that’s physically looking at a sweeping view in front of you or visualizing an image in your head, this is the point when you should start asking yourself questions.
What has drawn you to this image? Why do you want to capture it? And what is it that you hope to achieve?
Photography starts with composition. How you frame a scene is the basic building block of taking a good picture.
Photography starts with composition. How you frame a scene is the basic building block of taking a good picture.
What Is the Phi Grid?
A number of photographers prefer using a grid based on Phi when composing their shots. Naturally, this technique is called the Phi Grid. It’s a variation on the Rule of Thirds, one of the basic principles of photography.
The Rule of Thirds divides a frame into three rows and three columns of equal size, resulting in 1:1:1 vertically and 1:1:1 horizontally. The Phi Grid divides the frame in a similar way, but makes the middle row and middle column smaller according to the golden ratio, resulting in 1:1.618:1 vertically and 1:1.618:1 horizontally.
Here’s a quick comparison:
The intersection of the grid lines is where the eye is naturally drawn to, so use those to align your image.
The horizon is lined up with the top line of the Phi grid. When you line up the horizon with a rule of thirds grid, the separation is too…obvious. I think it would leave a bit too much of what isn’t the subject in the image. In this photo, the sky and clouds are the perfect compliment to what is conveyed in the photo: The church on the bottom right, and the street on the left. But with any more sky than is already present in the photo, the viewer might think the sky is actually the subject.
********************************************************
A number of photographers prefer using a grid based on Phi when composing their shots. Naturally, this technique is called the Phi Grid. It’s a variation on the Rule of Thirds, one of the basic principles of photography.
The Rule of Thirds divides a frame into three rows and three columns of equal size, resulting in 1:1:1 vertically and 1:1:1 horizontally. The Phi Grid divides the frame in a similar way, but makes the middle row and middle column smaller according to the golden ratio, resulting in 1:1.618:1 vertically and 1:1.618:1 horizontally.
Here’s a quick comparison:
The intersection of the grid lines is where the eye is naturally drawn to, so use those to align your image.
********************************************************The horizon is lined up with the top line of the Phi grid. When you line up the horizon with a rule of thirds grid, the separation is too…obvious. I think it would leave a bit too much of what isn’t the subject in the image. In this photo, the sky and clouds are the perfect compliment to what is conveyed in the photo: The church on the bottom right, and the street on the left. But with any more sky than is already present in the photo, the viewer might think the sky is actually the subject.
The Fibonacci Spiral or the Golden Ratio
The golden ratio existed well before the modern camera was invented. It pops up in famous art pieces like Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and Michelangelo’s work on the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel.camera was invented. It pops up in famous art pieces like Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and Michelangelo’s work on the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel.
But it does not stem from painting techniques. The golden ration comes from math. Don’t let that scare you off though! Using the technique doesn’t require any numerical calculations.
The golden ratio, based on the spirals seen in nature from DNA to waves, is 1.618 to 1. With two pieces, if you make one 1.618 times the size of the other object, the pair of them will be pleasing to the eye.
Painters have a bit more freedom to use the idea with perfect precision, but the same concept can help a photographer create a composition as well. Even those among us who hate math!
Painters have a bit more freedom to use the idea with perfect precision, but the same concept can help a photographer create a composition as well. Even those among us who hate math!
The Golden Spiral
If you were to place rectangles at that ratio, increasing in size, across an image, you would end up with a curve resembling the shape of a nautilus shell.
Sometimes called the Fibonacci spiral (after the guy that discovered the pattern), the golden spiral looks something like this:
Sometimes called the Fibonacci spiral (after the guy that discovered the pattern), the golden spiral looks something like this:
The Fibonacci Spiral
In geometry, the golden ratio can also be expressed as a particular type of rectangle. Suppose you take the x+y line above, and turn it a rectangle, where the width is x and the length is x+y.
If you divide the area of that rectangle into a series of squares, it forms a spiral of the Fibonacci sequence, as LiveScience demonstrates:
If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code, you know the Fibonacci sequence: you start with the number 1, add the previous whole number, and make an endless series of numbers with that pattern. So the series looks like this:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89…
Fibonacci discovered that this “golden spiral” appears in several places throughout nature, from DNA molecules to flower petals, from hurricanes to the Milky Way. More importantly, the Fibonacci spiral is pleasing to the human eye.
In geometry, the golden ratio can also be expressed as a particular type of rectangle. Suppose you take the x+y line above, and turn it a rectangle, where the width is x and the length is x+y.
If you divide the area of that rectangle into a series of squares, it forms a spiral of the Fibonacci sequence, as LiveScience demonstrates:
If you’ve read The Da Vinci Code, you know the Fibonacci sequence: you start with the number 1, add the previous whole number, and make an endless series of numbers with that pattern. So the series looks like this:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89…
Fibonacci discovered that this “golden spiral” appears in several places throughout nature, from DNA molecules to flower petals, from hurricanes to the Milky Way. More importantly, the Fibonacci spiral is pleasing to the human eye.
Adrian Bejan, professor of mechanical engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, says the golden ratio is aesthetically pleasing because of the evolution of human vision.
Long story short, our brain has to process everything our eyes see. The quicker it can process something, the more pleasing it is. Any image with the golden ratio is processed faster by the brain, so it sends a signal that such an image is aesthetically pleasing.
Adrian Bejan, professor of mechanical engineering at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering, says the golden ratio is aesthetically pleasing because of the evolution of human vision.
Long story short, our brain has to process everything our eyes see. The quicker it can process something, the more pleasing it is. Any image with the golden ratio is processed faster by the brain, so it sends a signal that such an image is aesthetically pleasing.
How to Use the Fibonacci Spiral
In terms of actual photography, you don’t need to worry about the technical explanation. Fibonacci Spirals are useful for nearly every kind of photography, but they’re especially good for landscapes and wide shots.
In terms of actual photography, you don’t need to worry about the technical explanation. Fibonacci Spirals are useful for nearly every kind of photography, but they’re especially good for landscapes and wide shots.
Here is a foggy, late afternoon during fall and you want to capture the colors of the sunset that are filtering through the fog as well as the beautiful crimson color of the fall foliage. You want to incorporate one person who stands out walking along the path, the fall foliage in the foreground, and the tree line as the central point of focus in the frame. To do this position these aspects in the center of your imagined rectangle, knowing that it contains several of the key focus points associated with the ratio, and incorporate the fog into the scene along the wide arc of the spiral.
As you can see, the spiral basically has a way of leading your eye naturally from the focal point outwards.
Here's two other examples:
Here is a foggy, late afternoon during fall and you want to capture the colors of the sunset that are filtering through the fog as well as the beautiful crimson color of the fall foliage. You want to incorporate one person who stands out walking along the path, the fall foliage in the foreground, and the tree line as the central point of focus in the frame. To do this position these aspects in the center of your imagined rectangle, knowing that it contains several of the key focus points associated with the ratio, and incorporate the fog into the scene along the wide arc of the spiral.
As you can see, the spiral basically has a way of leading your eye naturally from the focal point outwards.
Here's two other examples:
In terms of actual photography, you don’t need to worry about the technical explanation. Fibonacci Spirals are useful for nearly every kind of photography, but they’re especially good for landscapes and wide shots.
Here is a foggy, late afternoon during fall and you want to capture the colors of the sunset that are filtering through the fog as well as the beautiful crimson color of the fall foliage. You want to incorporate one person who stands out walking along the path, the fall foliage in the foreground, and the tree line as the central point of focus in the frame. To do this position these aspects in the center of your imagined rectangle, knowing that it contains several of the key focus points associated with the ratio, and incorporate the fog into the scene along the wide arc of the spiral.
As you can see, the spiral basically has a way of leading your eye naturally from the focal point outwards.
Here's two other example:
Please watch this 4 minute video to review composition techniques; this should help solidify your understanding of the phi grid, rule of thirds and Fibonacci spiral.
The golden ratio or phi grid, golden spiral and the Rule of Thirds are all three separate composition techniques. The ‘right’ answer as to which one to use depends on the subject and the look you are going for
1.
2
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8
9.
10
In terms of actual photography, you don’t need to worry about the technical explanation. Fibonacci Spirals are useful for nearly every kind of photography, but they’re especially good for landscapes and wide shots.
Here is a foggy, late afternoon during fall and you want to capture the colors of the sunset that are filtering through the fog as well as the beautiful crimson color of the fall foliage. You want to incorporate one person who stands out walking along the path, the fall foliage in the foreground, and the tree line as the central point of focus in the frame. To do this position these aspects in the center of your imagined rectangle, knowing that it contains several of the key focus points associated with the ratio, and incorporate the fog into the scene along the wide arc of the spiral.
As you can see, the spiral basically has a way of leading your eye naturally from the focal point outwards.
Here's two other example:
Please watch this 4 minute video to review composition techniques; this should help solidify your understanding of the phi grid, rule of thirds and Fibonacci spiral.
The golden ratio or phi grid, golden spiral and the Rule of Thirds are all three separate composition techniques. The ‘right’ answer as to which one to use depends on the subject and the look you are going for
1.
2
3.
5.
6.
8
9.
10
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