Seeing everything as a picture

I knew nothing about photography, and even thought the following may be basic for some of you, these small pointers have me looking at the world through a different lens. 

We’ve all heard the old saying a picture is worth a thousand words, but nobody is going to look at a picture on the front page news to come up with that many words. “This is not a museum piece- this is 3 seconds, in and out. We need to do good story-telling images that hit the heart,” Dave Seibert said.

Here are the pointers I gained from photography & photoshop sessions:

1)      Raw film is your friend.

2)      Compostion, light and emotion come together.

Composition- I can’t stop seeing leading lines, textures, patterns. I’m seeing opportunities for rules of thirds, selective focus, natural frames.

Light- Front light, back light, open shade- those are the big three. Side light and window light are good, too.

Emotion- There is not chart for emotion. F8 and be there. Boy Scouts motto- Be prepared.

3)      Zoom with your feet.  Do a sequence- wide, medium, tight.

4)      Develop a playbook- shooting stills, gallery/slideshows, slideshows/audio, multimedia videos & stills, it’s ok to use your phone for the right now moment.

Photoshop

1)      1Image- Levels, Curves, Exposure & the histogram

2)      Image size for print and web- resolution 72 (width & height estimate around 800 & 527)

3)      Red eye bandaid tool, dodge & burn (lighten and darken), filter (sharpen, unsharp mask, 90-120 max maybe even 175)

I’m definitely adding a photography unit to my Intro to Journalism class. I’m certain I’ll have some students who will know more than me, but I’m looking forward to the learning!

We’re gonna #Shakeitlikeapolaroidpicture  #OutkastATLiens

Andrea Lyons
Marietta High
Marietta, Georgia