Thursday, 29 March 2012

Capturing The Moment


“If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips your heart out, then that’s a good picture”
Eddie Adams

This week's lecture particularly grabbed my attention, being a keen photographer myself it was exciting to start learning about how to effectively capture moment's that "tell a story." Bruce took us on a journey that visited the foundations of photojournalism, touching on ancient cave paintings in Australia and France, to the first colour photograph in a Newspaper, finally arriving at what photography has advanced to today - digital capture, digital manipulation and digital publishing. 

Just one example of the progression of photo images - the new apple iPad - New iPad

We then discussed what makes a great photo, the elements of which are
  • ·      Framing
  • ·      Focus
  • ·      Angle and point of view
  • ·      Exposure (or light) – the way light falls on someone’s face
  • ·      Timing (shutter speed)
  • ·      Capturing “The Moment”
  • ·      the rule of thirds (golden mean)
  • ·      inclusion of sound dimension
hThis in mind I couldn't help thinking back to an essay I produced in high school art, discussing Dorothea Lange's photograph "Migrant Mother," which depicts a poverty stricken pea farmer in South America surrounded by her children, this photo for me really sums up what bruce said about a picture only having a meaning if it tells a story.





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