Campus Connection

Free ebook: Smashing Magazine 5th anniversary offer

2012-01-10T15:36:00.006+08:00

This free ebook contains the best articles that have been published on Smashing Magazine in the last five years. It is available in PDF, ePUB and Mobipocket formats. Topics include:

Thirty Usability Issues to Be Aware Of
Ten Principles of Effective Web Design
Clever JPEG Optimization Techniques
Typographic Design Patterns and Best Practices
Ten Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines
Setting Up Photoshop for Web and iPhone Development
The Ails of Typographic Anti-Aliasing
Mastering Photoshop: Noise, Textures and Gradients
Better User Experience With Storytelling
The Beauty of Typography, Writing Systems and Calligraphy
Web Designers, Don’t Do It Alone
Making Your Mark on the Web Is Easier Than You Think
Responsive Web Design: What It Is and How to Use It
I Want to Be a Web Designer When I Grow Up
Persuasion Triggers in Web Design
What Font Should I Use?
The Design Matrix: A Powerful Tool for Guiding Client Input
Why User Experience Cannot Be Designed
Dear Web Design Community, Where Have You Gone?
Make Your Content Make a Difference
Two Cats in a Sack: Designer-Developer Discord
Print Loves Web

“Pencil vs. Camera” by Belgian artist Ben Heine

2011-09-30T08:19:00.003+08:00

View all photos from “Pencil vs. Camera” project by Ben Heine

The idea of mixing drawing with photography came to him in 2010. Heine says it was the result of a long graphic exploration and a logical consequence of his artistic evolution. “Pencil vs. Camera” mixes drawing and photography, imagination and reality, through illusion and surrealism. In this project, Heine usually focuses on architecture, portraits and animals. Among many others, the main themes approached in “Pencil vs. Camera” are love and friendship. Heine says: “I just make art for people. I want them to dream and forget their daily troubles. I used to write poems many years ago, I want to convey a poetic meaning into my pictures, each new creation should tell a story and generate an intense emotion, like a poem, like a melody”. This series had a large impact on the graphic design community. Heine says the initial idea of this “Pencil vs. Camera” concept came by coincidence while he was writing a letter. Some of his “Pencil vs. Camera” creations have also been related to optical illusions. (From Wikipedia)

Sports Journalism Today, from AtGoogleTalks

2011-07-22T07:48:00.003+08:00

Tim Kawakami (San Jose Mercury-News), King Kaufman (Salon.com, Bleacher Report), and Ethan Sherwood Strauss (Salon.com, ESPN TrueHoop, WarriorsWorld.net) discuss the state of sports journalism today. From traditional newspaper coverage to the competitive business of professional blogging, Tim, King, and Ethan share their experiences and give some insight into this high-profile industry. Each will speak for about 15 minutes, followed by a Q&A session.

Free PDF on journalism for the Internet

2011-03-08T14:27:00.003+08:00

“Journalism 2.0: How to Survive and Thrive, A digital literacy guide for the information age”, by Mark Briggs (Assistant Managing Editor for Interactive News, The News Tribune)

PDF English version now available for download; also available in Spanish or Portuguese. You can also order hard copies.

Topics include: Chapter 1: FTP, MB, RSS, Oh My

Chapter 2: Web 2.0

Chapter 3: Tools and Toys

Chapter 4: New Reporting Methods

Chapter 5: How to Blog

Chapter 6: How to Report News for the Web

Chapter 7: Digital Audio and Podcasting

Chapter 8: Shooting and Managing Digital Photos

Chapter 9: Shooting Video for News and Feature Stories

Chapter 10: Basic Video Editing

Chapter 11: Writing Scripts, Doing Voice-overs

For continuing discussion of new technology for journalists, check out Mark Briggs’ Journalism 2.0 site.

Using plain language in government websites; free book on website design and usability

2011-02-15T08:10:00.008+08:00

How To Use Plain Language on a Government Website on Howcast

Free website usability guidelines book, from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Throughout your Web design or redesign project, you should take advantage of what is already known about best practices for each step of the process. The Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines (PDF, 20.64MB) brings you these best practices compiled through an extensive process of research and review. (From usability.gov)

You can also download specific sections of the book:

design process and evaluation (PDF - 1.9MB)
optimizing the user experience (PDF - 9.1MB)
accessibility (PDF - 2.4MB)
hardware and software (PDF - 2.8MB)
the homepage (PDF - 12.1MB)
page layout (PDF - 21.9MB)
navigation (PDF - 13.1MB)
scrolling and paging (PDF - 4.5MB)
headings, titles, and labels (PDF - 7.8MB)
links (PDF - 17.1MB)
text appearance (PDF - 11.2MB)
lists (PDF - 6.6MB)
screen-based controls (widgets) (PDF - 15.1MB)
graphics, images, and multimedia (PDF - 16.8MB)
writing Web content (PDF - 11.0MB)
content organization (PDF - 10.1MB)
search (PDF - 9.1MB)
usability testing (PDF - 1MB)

Free journalism resources from www.hsj.org

2010-12-10T00:01:00.001+08:00

“Reaching Generation Next: A News Media Guide to Creating Successful High School Partnerships” from ASNE by Lisa Frazier Page (PDF book how-to for editors, newspaper advisers and principals to come together to create good scholastic journalists; complete book 41mb; also available 200+ lesson plan archive for journalism teachers)

Chapter 1 Hooking Them Early: The Rewards of Investing in Scholastic Journalism (5.4 mb)

Chapter 2 Getting Started: Creating a Successful Print or Broadcast Partnership (9.2 mb)

Chapter 3 Resurrecting Scholastic Journalism: A Look Inside Some Model Newspaper-High School Training Programs (8.3 mb)

Chapter 4 Turning Students On To Television And Radio: Broadcast Partnerships That Work (5.6 mb)

Chapter 5 Teaching The Teachers: Print and Broadcast Training Programs for High School Teachers (5.8 mb)

Chapter 6 Resources (553kb)

Online youth sections of US newspapers

Alabama: The Tuscaloosa News, Pulse; California: The Modesto Bee, Buzzz; The Press Enterprise, Riverside, Teen Page; San Jose Mercury News, Read This; The Daily Press, Victorville, Fresh!nk; Colorado: Post-News Education, Colorado Kids; Florida: Florida Today, Melbourne, The Verge; The Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach; Today's Teen; South Florida Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Teen Link;
Georgia; The Augusta Chronicle, Xtreme; Illinois: The Herald News, Joliet (and other area sister newspapers in the Suburban Chicago Newspaper group), Web Street Cafe; State Journal-Register, Springfield, Voice; Maine: Bangor Daily News, Youth; Blethen Maine Newspapers, 20 Below; Maryland: Carroll County Times, Westminster, Synergy; Massachusetts: The Sun Chronicle, Attleboro, The Page; The Republican, Springfield, UNlisted; Michigan: Detroit Free Press, Yak’s Corner; Missouri: The Kansas City Star, Teen Star;
New Jersey: The Record, Hackensack, Listen Up; The Jersey Journal, Jersey City, Teen Scene; Asbury Park Press, Neptune, Whatever; New Mexico: The Santa Fe New Mexican, Generation Next; New York: The Buffalo News, NeXt; North Carolina: The Daily News, Jacksonville, CyHigh; The Dispatch, Lexington, FYI; The News & Observer, Raleigh, NandoNext; Ohio: The Columbus Dispatch, Now!; Tribune Chronicle, Warren, Page One;
Oklahoma: Tulsa World, Tulsa, Satellite: Pennsylvania: Erie Times-News, Fresh Ink; Bucks County Courier Times, Levittown, Reality; Reading Eagle, Voices; York Blog, Teen Takeover; Tennessee: The Jackson Sun, CyHigh; Texas: San Antonio Express-News, Teen Team; Temple Daily Telegram, Underage Page; Waco Tribune-Herald, High School Hub; Virginia: The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, it!; The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, 757; The Roanoke Times, The Edge; Washington: The Spokesman Review, Spokane, The Vox Box; Yakima Herald-Republic, Unleashed

Free online books library for students, teachers, and the classic enthusiast

2009-12-17T09:15:00.007+08:00

Read Print offers over 8,000 absolutely free online books by 3,500 authors at your fingertips. Warning: The surgeon general reports that having these many free books at your disposal can be highly addictive.

Top Authors: Agatha Christie, Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, George Orwell, Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, O Henry, Oscar Wilde, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare

Top Books: 1984, Animal Farm, Hamlet, Jane Eyre, Paradise Lost, Peter Pan, Pride and Prejudice, The Canterbury Tales, The Great Gatsby, The Invisible Man

Categories: Essays, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Plays, Poetry, Short Stories

Browse by author’s last name: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Daily writing tips for students, teachers and others

2009-12-14T09:49:00.000+08:00

Whether you are a student, teacher, an attorney, manager, or blogger, writing skills are essential for your success. Considering the rise of the information age, they are even more important, as people are surrounded by e-mails, wikis, social networks and so on. It can be difficult to hone one’s writing skills within this fast paced environment. Daily Writing Tips is a blog where you will find simple yet effective tips to improve your writing.

Categories include Book Reviews, Business Writing, Competitions, Expressions, Fiction Writing, Freelance Writing, General, Grammar, Grammar 101, Misused Words, Punctuation, Spelling, Vocabulary, Word of the Day, and Writing Basics.

Most popular articles are: 40 Yiddish Words You Should Know; The Impotence of Proofreading; 6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know; Let the Word Do the Work; 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals; 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid; 12 Greek Words You Should Know; 34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer; Gross Writing Errors on the Web; Creative Writing 101; Latin Words and Expressions; Usage That Provokes “Blackboard Moments”; and 44 Resume Writing Tips.

You can also measure your writing skills with DWT’s monthly updated tests. Current tests include Vocabulary Test 1, Spelling Test 1, Grammar Test 1, and Vocabulary Test 2.

You can get DWT via RSS Feed, or by email, and stay tuned for your writing tips!

The global village (Did you know 4.0)

2009-12-12T16:09:00.000+08:00

Six in ten people around the world now have cell phone subscriptions, for an estimated 4.1 billion subscriptions globally, compared with about 1 billion in 2002.80% of the world's population live in an area where they can use mobile phones. One billion new camera phones were shipped in 2008.

Thirty nine percent of Chinese Internet users adopt cell phones to surf the Web. Students are the main strength of mobile Internet users: 43.5 percent of them use their cell phones to read online news, download music, check email and perform a variety of other tasks.

In Japan and several other countries, more people access the Web through mobile devices than fixed personal computers, whose usage and sales are declining. In recent years the cellphone industry has seen surging growth in outskirts of China and India, helped by constantly falling phone and call prices, with cellphone vendors already eyeing inroads into Africa's countryside to keep up the growth. (From Web Evangelism Bulletin quoting from Reuters / Helsinki)

There are many innovative ways to use mobiles, as a Nonprofit Technology Network article explains.

How mobile phones are changing Somalia

A November 4, 2009 Reuters news story “Cheap mobile calls help more young couples elope” by Abdi Sheikh relates how mobile phones are changing Somali society.

Somali courtship was different in Hassan Aden’s day. When he was a teenager, you gave the girl’s parents 11 camels and an AK-47 assault rifle as bride price and then waited respectfully.

Now, the 55-year-old said, a mobile phone service that seems to be the only thing working in the failed Horn of Africa state is helping drive a rise in elopements, pregnancies out of marriage and a steady erosion of Somalia’s conservative values.

“The youth of today enjoy modern technology, fast transportation and free-of-charge marriages,” Aden, a store owner, told Reuters at a coffee shop in the capital Mogadishu.

“Today, even reasonable boys pay just $50 bride price and a copy of the holy Koran after making the girl pregnant or seeing her secretly for months.”

In a drought-ravaged land where rebels are trying to topple a fragile government, gun battles break out almost daily and nearly 20,000 civilians have been killed since the start of 2007, cheap mobile communications are one happy diversion.

The entrepreneurial spirit of Somalis, born out of two decades of anarchy, as well as an absence of taxes, have helped domestic mobile companies thrive despite the chaos.

Many older residents say the prevalence of handsets and such cheap tariffs -- among the lowest in the world -- is making the lives of youngsters unrecognizable. A month of local calls costs about $10. International calls can go for $0.30 a minute.

The cheap calls and extended mobile network in the Horn of Africa nation make it easier for Somalis to get in touch with willing partners and arrange quick assignations. (Read the complete article)

Remember a missionary this Christmas

2009-12-10T12:22:00.000+08:00

Missionary Christmas

Christmas was special when he was a child,
food and presents and carols and smiles.

Tree decorating was great family fun,
and cold nights by the fire watching old reruns.

But then one day God spoke to his heart,
and he gave up his culture to make a new start.

Now taking the Gospel to far off lands,
his Christmas is different than what he had planned.

The weather is sticky, with stench in the air,
the needs that surround him are terrible to bear.

Instead of carols and Christmas bells,
he hears chanting and the casting of spells.

The childhood dream of Christmas in the snow,
was left at the altar when he decided to go.

If only the ones who he left behind,
would remember his face during this special time.

And send him a note, or a word of thanks
or maybe even something he could put in the bank.

Then Christmas would not be so tough this year
and even for the missionary it would “good cheer.”

©Wayne Dillard 2004
www.prayercentral.net

2009-08-10T19:45:00.001+08:00

“Is the Lord going to use in a great way? Quite probably. Is He going to prepare you as you expect? Probably not. And if you’re not careful, you will look at the trials, the tests, the sudden interruptions, the disappointments, the sadness, the lost jobs, the failed opportunities, the broken moments, and you will think, He’s through with me, He’s finished with me, when in fact, He is equipping you.”

(The Mystery of God’s Will, by Chuck Swindoll)

Silver Jubilee Homecoming of the Quezon City Science High School

2009-08-07T10:43:00.000+08:00

Batch ‘84 of the Quezon City Science High School will be celebrating its Silver Jubilee Homecoming on September 12, 2009, 6 pm at the school grounds.

QCSHS is the Science High School for Quezon City, and the Regional Science High School for the National Capital Region (RSHS-NCR). QCSHS is located at Golden Acres Rd., cor. Misamis St., Bago Bantay, Quezon City, Philippines. Founded in 1967, it was appointed as the Regional Science High School for the National Capital Region in 1998.

QCSHS has two school publications: The Electron, and Banyuhay. It holds the District Press Conference championship title for the 14th consecutive year; the school also joins in the Division and Regional Press Conferences, the Teodoro Valencia Awards, and the YMCA Search for the Young Campus Journalists(2007-2008). Also, the school sends delegates to the National Schools Press Conference.

I had the privilege of being the Electron and Banyuhay adviser in 1983-84.

Video: How to create a blog for your school organization or for yourself

2009-01-10T19:31:00.003+08:00

A blog is a free, easy to use form of a website, capable of posting pictures, videos and text. As of May 2008, according to Technorati (a popular blog search engine) there were more than 112.8 million blogs. You can use a blog for posting pictures and articles of your school organization events, announcements, etc.

To learn more about how to create a blog for your school organization or for yourself, please view the YouTube video below.
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Call To Cairo (time-lapse photography)

2009-01-09T15:20:00.004+08:00

Call to Cairo from Oliver Wilkins on Vimeo.

Here’s how Wikipedia defines “time-lapse photography”

It is a cinematography technique whereby each film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will be played back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. Time-lapse photography can be considered to be the opposite of high speed photography.

Processes that would normally appear subtle to the human eye, such as the motion of the sun and stars in the sky, become very pronounced. Time-lapse is the extreme version of the cinematography technique of undercranking, and can be confused with stop motion animation.

Free photos for Christian publications

2009-01-05T22:48:00.002+08:00

ChristianPhotos.net is a leap of faith. Everything is free - you can download high resolution stock photography for Christian purposes without having to pay anything - expenses are covered by donations and ads. The photos can be used freely in Christian advertisements, program booklets, bulletins, invitations, newsletters, religious education materials, flyers, posters and any other project for which photos are needed. The vision of ChristianPhotos.net is simple: it wants to help churches to publish better material for spreading the word of Gospel. You can also submit your own photos.

Photo categories include Religious, People, Animals, Scenery, Plants, Macro, Artistic, Objects, and Uncategorized.

Apply now for a free account.

Footprints

2008-12-15T03:05:00.000+08:00

Leona Lewis’ “Footprints” song is SportRelief charity's official anthem for 2008. The song was written by Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Richard Page and Simon Cowell based on the highly popular “Footprints in the Sand” poem (more on this poem below). Wikipedia reports that "the song appears on Lewis's debut album 'Spirit' which debuted at number one in nine countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, New Zealand and Germany. It also holds the record for the biggest digital album sales in a week ever for a new artist, male or female." There is also a complimentary "Footprints In The Sand" ringtone. The lyrics of the song are posted below:

You walked with me
Footprints in the sand
And helped me understand
Where I'm going

You walked with me
When I was all alone
With so much unknown
Along the way
Then I heard you say

(Chorus)
I promise you
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow
And despair
I'll carry you
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand

I see my life
Flash across the sky
So many times have I
Been so afraid

And just when I
Have thought I'd lost my way
You gave me strength to carry on
That’s when I heard you say

(Chorus)
I promise you
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sorrow
And despair
I'll carry you
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand

When I'm weary
Well, I know you've been there
And I can feel you when you say

I promise you (you)
I'm always there
When your heart is filled with sadness (when your heart)
And despair (and despair)
I'll carry you
When you need a friend (need a friend)
You'll find my footprints in the sand’

(I promise you)
(I'm always there)
When your heart is full of sadness (sadness)
And despair (And despair)
I'll carry you (I'll carry you)
When you need a friend
You'll find my footprints in the sand.

Footprints in the corridor

I took this picture sometime in 1991. A group of students on their way to our school’s Speech Festival had covered their whole bodies from head to foot with some sort of powder. As they walked barefooted, they left footprints along the corridor. I hesitated shooting the footprints because I wanted to save my favorite black and white film Kodak Tri-X for the Festival. But I eventually decided to shoot two pictures (this one) and another from the opposite side. Moments later, our school janitor mopped away the footprints.

“Footprints in the Sand”

I am sure you have heard the song “Footprints in the Sand” several decades before Leona Lewis' version. It became number one in Billboard’s Gospel chart and then crossed over again as number in the pop charts. The song used a poem of the same title as its chorus. Several writers have claimed authorship of this poem, namely, Ella H. Scharring-Hausen, Mary Stevenson, Floyd Keeton, Burrell Webb, Carolyn Joyce Carty, and Margaret Fishback Powers. Whoever the real author may be, here is a version of the poem for your reading and writing pleasure:

One night I had a dream.

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with God and across the sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and the other to God.
When the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that at a time along the path of my life there was only one set of footprints.

I also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of my life.

This really bothered me and I questioned God about it.
“God, you said once I had decided to follow you, you would walk with me all the way, but I noticed that during the most troublesome time in my life there is only one set of footprints.

”I do not understand why in times when I needed you most, you would leave me.”
God replied, “My precious, precious child I love you and I would never, never leave you during your time of trials and suffering.

When you see only one set of footprints it was then that I carried you.”

Wikipedia describes the Footprints poem and its influence in this way:

Footprints, also known as Footprints in the Sand, is a popular allegorical text written in prose. There are three versions of the poem all with the same title but different authors. While critics have debated the literary merits of the piece, it has been enormously popular worldwide, especially among American Christians.
The text describes a dream, in which the person is walking on a beach with God (in some versions, specifically identified as Jesus). They leave two sets of footprints in the sand behind them. Looking back, the tracks are stated to represent various stages of this person's life. At some points the two trails dwindle to one, especially at the lowest and most hopeless moments of the character's life. When questioning God, believing that God must have abandoned his follower during those times, God gives the explanation: “During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you”.

And the bride wore white ... Seven secrets of sexual purity

2008-12-10T05:30:00.000+08:00

Note: I first posted this article December 10, 2007 in my Salt and Light blog. I am reprinting it here to include the results of the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study conducted by the UP Population Institute and in view of the raging controversy over HB 3773 or the “Integrated Reproductive Health and Population Reduction Bill”. Please surf to the PRO-Life Philippines website for its critique of HB 3773.
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Statistics on teenage pregnancies and sexual experiences

Dr. James Dobson, I think, said that a million teenagers in the US get pregnant every year. In the Philippines, according to the 2003 National Demographic and Health Survey, one out of four women become mothers by age 19 while four out of 10 women in the 20-24-year-old bracket have already engaged in sexual activity.

The 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS 3) conducted by the UP Population Institute and the Demographic Research and Development Foundation, Inc. revealed the following alarming statistics:

[1] Twenty-three percent of youth have engaged in premarital sex. A considerable number of sexually-active youth have had multiple partners, with almost half of the males (49%) and 11% of the females reporting more than one sex partner. One in five of the sexually-active males had paid for sex while 12% had accepted payment for sex. Prevalence of commercial sex is negligible among females, with less than one percent of the girls having paid or been paid for sex.

Over time, there has been an increase in the proportion of sexually active youth in the country, from 18 percent (among those aged 15-24) in 1994 to 23 percent in 2002. The age of first sex is also getting younger. Based on the 2002 survey, 1.2 percent of both young males and females have already engaged in sex before they turn 13 years old. Before reaching 18 however, the probability of engaging in sex increased sharply for males (28 percent) while 12 percent would have done so among females.

Previous analyses conducted by the UP Population Institute on the sexual behavior of Filipino youth have highlighted the increasing influence of peers on young people's decision whether or not to engage in sex. Peers have also been cited as important source of information regarding sex and reproductive health matters, along with the media.

[2] While nearly all (95%) young adults have heard of HIV/AIDS, 73% believe there is no chance of them getting HIV/AIDS.

[3] The percentage of young adults who think that AIDS is curable more than doubled between 1994 and 2002. In 1994, only 12.5% thought that there was a cure to HIV/AIDS. This increased to 28% in 2002.

[4] More males than females are familiar with sexually-transmitted diseases (70% vs. 63%) although males are more likely to think that AIDS is curable (30% for males vs. 26% for females).

[5] Thirty two per cent of Filipino teenagers (15-19 years old) knew that their single female friends are sexually active while 38 percent said that their single male friends have already engaged in sex. This interesting information provides yet another clue on the extent of sexual activity among Filipino teenagers.

In addition, their report on their friends' sexual activity also shows some degree of awareness on the possible consequences of sexual activity. They said that half of their female friends who have engaged in premarital sex got pregnant. Of this proportion, 4 out of 5 pushed through with the pregnancy and slightly more than half of those who went through with the pregnancy eventually married the father of their kids.

Among their unmarried male friends on the other hand, 4 in 10 claimed that their friends got somebody pregnant. Out of this number, 2 in 5 ended up marrying the mother of their kids.

On a more personal note, I have known of incidents involving unwed pregnancies and premarital sexual activities involving pastors’ kids and teenagers who grew up in church. One pastor asked me if he could solemnize a marriage between members of his church (both minors), the girl having gotten pregnant. I informed him that under the Family Code, no person below 18 can get married, even with parental consent. One pastor in Cavite who has become frustrated by what was happening to the young people in his church once asked me what to do.

I strongly support sexual abstinence and purity programs such as True Love Waits and Silver Ring Thing. One author I highly recommend to you (whether you are a mother or father, a teenager, a pastor or youth director) is Dannah Gresh.

Resources on sexual purity before and during marriage by Dannah Gresh

Dannah’s websites are www.purefreedom.org, www.secretkeepergirl.com and www.dannahgresh.com. Her books on sexual purity before and during marriage are “And the Bride Wore White”, “Pursuing the Pearl”, and “Secret Keeper Girl”.

November 2006, I gave a lecture for the BMP-HELP pastors conference in Tagaytay City. Rushing home to Manila in the afternoon, I got to OMF Lit Bookstore in Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong just before 5 PM. From the love gift given to me by the pastors, I was able to buy at nearly seven hundred pesos the very last copy of “And the Bride Wore White”. March 2007, I gave this book as a graduation gift to the love of my life. She is the second most beautiful woman in the universe. Who is the most beautiful woman in the universe, you ask? Well, who else but movie actress Angel Locsin!

In the Purefreedom website, Dannah and her husband Bob, explain what their ministry to young men and women is all about:

It is the mission of Pure Freedom to equip men and women of all ages to live a vibrant life of purity, to experience healing from past impurity if it exists in their lives, and to experience a vibrant, passionate marriage which portrays the love Christ has for his Bride the church.(Ministry verse: Ephesians 5:31,32)

Pure Freedom provides resources with radically-unique approaches to focus on specific issues that teen girls and/or guys face in the area of purity and holiness. Our events, the hallmark of our ministry, are about sexual purity and yet they are much more about the totality of a life submitted to the will of God in a quest to enjoy the blessings of His plan.

We believe that the temptation to fail sexually comes in different forms for girls and for boys. We also believe that they will one day enjoy God's gift of sex within the confines of marriage for different reasons. Whereas the girls are primarily emotionally driven, the guys are primarily driven by sight. Because of this dichotomy, it is vital that we educate them separately and emphasize different areas of temptation.

In their seminars for young men and women, Dannah and Bob have expounded on the Bible’s principles on sexual purity through their discussion of the Hebrew word "yada". In their website, they explain that "yada" is used to both refer to holy sexuality as in that between Adam and Eve AND to refer to the holy knowing that a man can know with God. It speaks of the emotional and spiritual nature of a relationship.

Seven secrets to sexual purity

Dannah, in her book “And the Bride Wore White”, discusses the following secrets to maintaining sexual purity:

[1] Purity is a process.
[2] Purity dreams of its future.
[3] Purity is governed by its value.
[4] Purity speaks boldly.
[5] Purity loves its Creator at any cost.
[6] Purity embraces wise guidance.
[7] Purity watches burning flames.

Dannah does not simply discuss things at a theoretical level. One of the very practical tips she gives in her book on how teenagers can stay sexually pure is to "stay public and stay vertical."

The quest for a pure, passionate marriage

The second book by Dannah Gresh which I have read is “Pursuing the Pearl” (it was a gift from Bro. David Witta and his family from Massachusetts, USA). In this book, she discusses what she calls “The Enemy’s Fake Pearls” which are [1] status and stuff; [2] social acceptance; [3] giving up and starting over; [4] pride and dreams.

Locally, this book costs around four hundred pesos. That is quite steep, but what Dannah says in page pages 62 and 63 are worth the price of the book. She warns her readers, “Sexual impurity is a zero tolerance arena. You are on shaky ground if there are emotional bonds being created between you and another man (or your husband and another woman).” Dannah explains that these bonds begin with little things like:

Innocently having lunch alone with a man

Seeking advice from a man about personal issues, especially marital issues

Seeking or accepting frequent praise or affirmation from the same man

Being or becoming comfortable with being alone in an office or a home together

Intentionally seeking out time to be with this man

Manipulating your schedule to see him

Spending time fantasizing about him

If you are parents concerned about your teenage kids and their sexual purity, a pastor or youth leader seeking to help your youth group, or a man or woman thinking of the best Christmas gift to give the love of your life, consider giving them any of Dannah Gresh’s books.

The only book by Dannah Gresh I haven’t read yet is “Secret Keeper Girl.” Two problems. One, as far as I know, there are no copies of this book locally. Two, even if it were available, how do I go about buying the book? Hey, I am a guy and I’m thinking, what would the store clerks say if I bought a copy of this book?

Free online resources on creative and journalistic writing for teachers and students

2008-10-16T09:55:00.009+08:00

WritingFix is a global resource for Writing teachers and students with hundreds of free interactive writing prompts, lessons and quality resources for classrooms where writing is taught, not just assigned.

Some of the interactive writing prompts are:

Daily Writing Prompts
Interactive Writing Prompts for K-6th Grade
Right-Brained Writing Prompts using serendipity and creativity to launch a piece of writing
Left-Brained writing prompts
Writing Lesson of the Month Network for teachers around the world

How to give better presentations (The Morgan Freeman Rule)

2008-07-01T08:32:00.002+08:00

Great video on how to give better presentations (uses Hollywood movie posters and discusses among others the Morgan Freeman Rule)

PresenTired: "The Voicemail" from Scott Schwertly on Vimeo

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-13T02:36:00.001+08:00

The world celebrates Father’s Day on Sunday, June 15. This early, I’d like to share with you a very popular selection entitled “Father’s Love Letter”, the video version of which has been viewed by million of people around the world. Father's Love Letter is a compilation of Bible verses from both the Old and New Testaments that are presented in the form of a love letter from God to the world. The website’s home page describes FLL in this way:

Father's Love Letter is a selection of paraphrased Scriptures. Each line in the Father's Love Letter message is paraphrased, which means we have taken each scripture's overall message and summarized it as a single phrase to best express its meaning.
The Power Of God's Word
This message has the ability to change lives because it is God's Word. The Bible describes God's Word as living & active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) and promises not to return empty (Isaiah 55:11).
Countless Stories
We have heard countless testimonies from thousands of people all over the world who have had a life-changing encounter with God while experiencing the message found in Father's Love Letter.
This Letter Was Written For You ...
... and its words are penned from a God who loves you and desires to be the Father that you have been looking for all your life. Wherever you are in your journey, we hope that this love letter will encourage you, comfort you and guide you on your way home.

The Flash movie version (around eight minutes long) is available in English and more than 80 other languages. In a world of absentee or abusive fathers, FLL provides abundant hope, indeed a very rare commodity these days. I do have misgivings about FLL’s message. As Ptr. John Piper says in his book “The Passion of Jesus Christ” (page 29),

“There is only one explanation for God’s love for us. It is not us. It is ‘the riches of his grace’ (Ephesians1:7). It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty.”

Be that as it may, below is the text of Father’s Love Letter. To view the Flash movie (English version), click here.

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11

One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4

And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is…Will you be my child? John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad.

Review: Depth of field and ways of conveying depth

2008-04-21T16:00:00.000+08:00

A photograph is two-dimensional, with width and height but no depth. Oftentimes, when we look at our pictures, they look so disappointingly different from what we saw with our eyes. The primary reason for this is that we have failed to adequately and deliberately play up the illusion of depth in our pictures.

There are several other ways to create and more adequately convey the illusion of depth in your pictures. These are (1) converging lines; (2) selective or differential focusing; (3) sidelighting or backlighting; (4) atmospheric haze; (5) contrast of same-sized objects; (6) natural frames; (7) overlapping objects or forms; (8) diminishing detail; and (9) the difference in the intensity of tones or colors.

Simply put, “depth of field” is the distance between the nearest and farthest point from the camera that appears in focus (meaning sharp and clear). In practical terms, the depth of field extends, in terms of area, about 1/3 in front of the subject and about 2/3 behind the subject. Any object or portions of the subject below this 1/3 area and beyond this 2/3 area will appear blurred or out of focus.

A “wide depth of field” means that everything is sharp and in focus from the foreground up to the background. You need a wide depth of field in the following situations: (1) to convey the mood and atmosphere of your subject; (2) for landscapes, sceneries and interiors; (3) for group shots; (4) when focusing is difficult; and (5) to give maximum visual information about your subject by bringing out the details. Below are some examples of pictures with a wide depth of field.

On the other hand, a “shallow depth of field” means that the area of sharpness or clarity is very limited, and the background (and/or the near foreground) is blurred or out of focus. You need a shallow depth of field in the following situations: (1) for portraits, so that your subject will “pop out” of the background; (2) to hide a cluttered background; (3) to avoid distractions or obstructions in the background or foreground; (4) to convey depth; and (5) to isolate certain details of the subject.

The pictures in this post have great depth of field. Notice in the first picture above that the image is clear from the bottom portion (where you can see two men walking past each other), to the middle ground (where you see various houses and structures), up to the deep background (where you can see the various skyscrapers dotting the Ortigas Complex in Pasig City).

Please review our lessons "Photojournalism (22): Conveying depth" and "Photojournalism (37): Depth of field."

Note to blog visitors: Blogger.com is having problems

2008-03-08T13:50:00.000+08:00

Please take note that Blogger (a free service provided by Google) is currently experiencing numerous bugs (missing page elements, server cannot be found, cannot post comments, etc). If you surf to http://groups.google.com/group/blogger-help, you will see a lot of angry comments by a lot of angry bloggers over this breakdown in Blogger.com’s service. I am thankful for Blogger.com’s free service and I just have to wait until the bugs have been fixed.

If you have any legal inquiries, please e-mail me, instead of using the Post Comments dialog box. Thanks!

Photojournalism (40): Where do we go from here?

2008-01-27T22:00:00.000+08:00

Remember the 1990’s movie “Jerry Maguire” starring Tom Cruise and Cuba (Show me the money!) Gooding Jr? After Tom’s character gets fired from the sports management company, he desperately tries to convince other employees to come along with him to form another company. But, besides the goldfish, the only one who responds to his call is the lovestruck accountant, played by the absolutely! gorgeous! Reneé Zellwegger! (If National Artist José Garcia Villa had his “comma, comma” poems, I also have my own “exclamation point” poetic device, okay?) Anyway, what did Tom Cruise say? “This could be the start of something fun!”

This series is merely an introduction to photojournalism and I sincerely hope that by browsing the 39-plus articles, you’ve been inspired to learn more about photography on your own. This could really be the start of something fun for you! A lot of people however will surely discourage you from pursuing your interest in photography by saying that it’s a very! expensive! hobby! (Okay, okay, Enough of this José Garcia Villa wannabe stuff!)

Photography is indeed a hobby to a lot of people, but it is also a bread and butter profession for others, a lifelong pursuit for some, and a deliberately chosen means of self-expression for a very few. Whatever photography may be to you, certain sacrifices have to be made if you want to excel in this art, or in any art form, for that matter. N.V.M. Gonzales, a literary giant among Filipinos (my favorite among his stories is “Blue Skull and Dark Palms”), during his teenaged years, walked five kilometers a day in getting to and from the town hall which had the only typewriter in his place. Talk about dedication and sacrifice!

But “expensive” need not be the word to describe photography. You can always use “re-loaded” film which costs less than the regular films. Or you can hone your skills by volunteering to take pictures of birthdays or programs where other people naturally would have to shoulder the expenses. Of course, with the advent of digital cameras, there’s no need to even buy film; you just have to shoot your pictures, download your images through your computer’s USB cable, and you’re ready to shoot again!

In terms of SLR cameras, there are relatively inexpensive manual camera models on the market. Or you can choose to buy a second hand camera ... Me, I really started learning about photography by borrowing the camera of my staffer, but you already know the story from the Introduction to this series, right? Right!

Photography is an art form that is accessible for all. You don’t need formal studies in order to be a good photographer. As Ernst Haas said, “If art is aristocratic, then photography is its democratic voice.” This statement however is not meant to disparage (Boy, I love these high sounding words!) photography as an art form. Anyone can learn photography but not everyone can be a good photographer. There aren’t that many Vic Valencianos, Lita Puyats, Mandy Navaseros,Toch Arellanos, Vic Sisons, or Ed Santiagos, among us, you know!

The best way to improve yourself as a photographer is to show your pictures to people whose opinion you respect like your teachers, classmates, or the pizza delivery guy! These people, if they’re honest enough, will tell you not only what’s good but more importantly, what’s bad with the photographs you have taken. Avoid people who only say good things about your pictures; they probably just want to borrow money from you! Wig Tysman, a well-known fashion photographer, once said that his best critic is his wife who would lovingly ask him over breakfast, “Were you sane when you took this picture?” She’s my kind of woman!

Richard Avedon, circa 1996, is the most influential photographer in the world, ranking number one in an American Photo survey of the 100 most important people in photography. By the way, model Kate Moss, along with other super models like Cindy Crawford, was ranked number 82 in that survey! Anyway, not very many people know that Avedon learned about photography when, as a merchant marine at age 19, he was given the job of shooting ID pictures. Avedon, in the book Evidence 1944-1994, stated, “I must have taken pictures of maybe one hundred thousand baffled faces before it occurred to me I was becoming a photographer.” From IDs to fashion and portraits - way to go, Mr. Avedon!

Sebastião Salgado, an economist considered as the world’s best photojournalist, practically didn’t know anything about photography until his wife, Leila, an architect, gave him a camera as a gift. The first time he looked through the viewfinder, however, Salgado was hooked on photography! Boy, I wish I had a wife who will give me a camera! I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, boy, I wish I had a wife!

By whatever way you fall in love with photography, OR if you do have the talent for it, use it, nurture it, share it! Starting now! As Julia Roberts’s best friend in the movie “My Best Friend’s Wedding” says, “If you really love someone, you’ve got to say it, out loud! Otherwise, the moment will just pass you by.” Me, as I mentioned in the Introduction to this series, I fell in love with photography when I fell in love with a beautiful actress named, what’s her name again? Beth Tamayo? No, already spoken for! Sandra Bullock? No, too intense! Ally Macbeal? No, too weird! Buffy, the really cute Vampire Slayer? No, no, too violent! Julia Roberts? Wow! Cameron Diaz? Wow! Oh, yes, now I remember, Murphy Brown! Yes!

A spark of the divine fire

Martha Foley’s short story “One With Shakespeare” chronicles a young girl’s exquisite discovery of her talent for writing. Through the encouragement of her high school teacher, the girl realizes that just like Shakespeare, she also had that creative potential, that “spark of the divine fire.” She begins to savor the emotions, the expressions, the ideas her words could bring forth. She begins to learn how to create memorable images in the mind’s eye through words. Looking out the windows of the library, she sees the flower filled trellis and her mind is filled with images of “black sentinels against the sky.”

Perhaps your talent isn’t in photography but in creative writing or journalism. But this series on photojournalism can still help you through an activity known as “writing through seeing.” Sometimes, you run out of ideas or topics to write about. What you can do is to look at the pictures in this series, and use them as your inspiration, as starting points for writing descriptions, narration, expositions, dialogues, short stories, etc.

For example, you can write a description of your feelings as you look at the solitary branch against the sunset above. Write about the glorious sunsets in Boracay when you went there last summer. Write about how you felt, what you thought about as you and your family spent time together along Baywalk. Write about how you felt getting turned down for the tenth time by the same girl (ouch!)

You can use the picture above of the guy up on a tree to learn how to write dialogue; notice that the girl with a white T-shirt is looking up at the guy, and there’s a heart-shaped piece of paper with the words “Happy Valentine” on the tree.

In my 12 years of teaching, two of the best student writers I ever had the pleasure of teaching were Mylah Reyes-Roque (from Rizal High School in Pasig, Class ’87; she recently won a UNICEF award for her Newsbreak magazine article on child prisoners), and Cyrille Cucio from Quezon City Science High School Class ‘84. But Cyrille went into medicine rather than journalism or creative writing. (She is now working in a New York City hospital.) When we met several years after high school, I told Cyrille that I was disappointed with her because she wasted her talent for writing. Well, writing’s loss is medicine’s gain, I suppose... or she could be the next Arturo B. Rotor of Philippine literature! In case you’ve forgotten, Rotor, a medical doctor, wrote the classic short story “Zita.”

Whatever your talent may be, nurture it, share it. That talent, that "spark of the divine fire" is a gift from God.

“The Rose”

2008-01-01T11:33:00.001+08:00

Where do we go from here? 2007 is over and we’re on the first day of 2008. We don’t know what this year will bring as these verses tell us:

Joshua 3:4 “that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore.”

James 14-15 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.”

As a way of saying thanks for all of you who browsed my blogs and websites (Legal Issues and Family Matters; Better English for Filipinos; and English for Asians and Africans) this year, please let me share with you this story entitled simply “The Rose”. Max Lucado popularized this story in his 1992 book “And The Angels Were Silent”. It surfaced in the Internet sometime in 1996 and has since then achieved the status of an urban legend. It has even become sermon illustrations (please see for example “Easter After Tremors: The Call to Love” by Mark Daniels).

Most reproductions of this story (whether in print or the Internet) state either that the story’s author is unknown or that it originally came from Max Lucado. However, the real author is someone named S. I. Kishor and the story was first published in Collier’s magazine sometime in 1943. In Lucado’s book, it appeared without attribution and was entitled “The People with the Roses.’ In the 1996 Canfield and Hansen collection “A 3rd Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul”, S.I. Kishor was correctly identified as the author. Be that as it may, “The Rose” has become a runaway favorite among Internet users.

“The Rose” by S. I. Kishor
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.
His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner's name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.

During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was budding. Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.

When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting - 7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You'll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I'll be wearing on my lapel.”

So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he'd never seen. I'll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened:

A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I started toward her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose.

As I moved, a small, provocative smile curved her lips. “Going my way, sailor?” she murmured. Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes.

The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own. And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.

This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. “I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?”

The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. “I don't know what this is about, son,” she answered, “but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”

It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive.

Happy New Year!

Season’s greetings

2007-12-25T09:14:00.000+08:00

Photojournalism (39): Correct exposure

2007-12-14T10:40:00.001+08:00

Aperture and shutter speed combinations, also known as the ugliest topic in photography!

What is the basic nature of photography as a medium of artistic expression? In 1839, when William Henry Fox Talbot presented the process of photography to the Royal Society in London, he described the image he produced as having been “copied from nature,” that is, it looked exactly like the way it was in real life. Basically that’s what photography is all about – recording in film or in memory sticks (if you’re into digital photography) what exists out there in the empirical world.

Perhaps, this is the reason why some painters and sculptors look down on photographers. But as you may know by now, good photographs are not just record shots of what exists out there. Photography is definitely not an art form secondary to painting and other visual arts, and we should not feel inferior to those who draw or paint. Photographers are artists in the fullest sense of the word. As the title for an André Kertész biography puts it, photographers are “poets with a camera.” As Jacques Lipchitz said, “Copy nature and you infringe on the work of our Lord. Interpret nature and you are an artist.” Or as Georges Braque stated, “Great art picks up where nature ends.”

(While we’re in the quotation-citing mode, here’s my favorite quotation I made up myself: “Pizza is the best thing to ever happen in human history.”)

What “exposure” means

The term “exposure” means allowing the light to reach or strike the film inside your camera. With single lens reflex (SLR) cameras, exposure involves the following mechanical procedures: you depress the shutter release button; the lens opens to whatever aperture you have set; the mirror flips up out of the way; the focal plane shutter curtains open and close according to the shutter speed you have set; the mirror returns to its original position; and the lens is fully open again.

The proper exposure is achieved by the correct combination of shutter speed and lens aperture. The shutter speed controls the duration of the exposure, and the aperture controls the brightness of the image. The shutter speed and the aperture must always work hand in hand. The correct or proper exposure isn’t however a single shutter speed/aperture combination. For example, if the proper exposure for a particular scene or subject is 1/250 sec at f/11, you can achieve the same result by using the combination of 1/125 sec at f/16.

For a more detailed discussion, please refer to the Wikipedia article on “exposure.”

Here are the general rules on exposure:

[1] Bright lighting conditions - use a fast shutter speed and a small aperture;

[2] Dim lighting conditions - use a slow shutter speed and a wide aperture;

[3] The slower the shutter speed, the smaller the aperture should be;

[4] The higher the shutter speed, the bigger the aperture.

The Sunny 16 Rule

You’re shooting a subject that is lighted frontally by direct sunlight; in simpler terms, your subject is facing the sun. What’s the correct shutter speed and lens opening? Simply follow the Sunny 16 rule expressed in the formula - 1/ISO at f/16. Here are the steps:

[1] Set your aperture ring to f/16;

[2] Set your shutter speed dial to whatever speed is closest to your film’s ISO rating; for example, if your film is ISO 100, set your speed at either 1/125 sec or 1/90 sec; if your film is ISO 400, set your speed at 1/500 sec.

[3] Shoot your picture. That’s it. Piece of cake! (or should I say, piece of pizza!)

Overexposure and underexposure

When you hang around professional photographers or serious hobbyists, you will very often hear them talk about “overexposed” and “underexposed” shots. A picture is “underexposed” when you use either too fast a shutter speed or too small an aperture. The result is a picture that is too dark, loss of details in the shadow areas and grayish highlights. On the other hand, a picture is “overexposed” when you use a shutter speed that’s too slow or an aperture that’s too big.

Please take note also that the term “stop” refers to either the aperture or the shutter speed. When you set your lens to an aperture between f/11 and f/16 for example, that’s a half-stop. The phrase “stopping the lens down” simply means setting your lens to the smallest aperture or opening possible under the prevailing lighting conditions.

Errors in setting the shutter speed or aperture could lead either to overexposure or underexposure. “Underexposure” is produced either by too fast a shutter speed or, and results in a picture that is too dark, with loss of detail in the shadows and gray instead of white highlights. “Overexposure” on the other hand, may be produced either by a shutter speed that’s too slow or by an aperture that’s too big. Overexposed pictures are too light, with grayish shadows and “bleached out” highlights.

Please take note that slight errors in shutter speed and aperture combinations can be offset when you have your pictures printed, or when you edit your pictures with your photo editing software (I prefer Macromedia Fireworks). It is usually better when pictures are overexposed rather than underexposed. Why? Because it is easier to correct overexposed shots. The subject details may be faint but they’re there and can be easily be brought up in the photo studio.

Difficult exposure conditions

1. Shooting against the light: As a general rule, the sun or your light source must always be behind you (the subject is therefore frontally lit). If the source of light however is behind your subject, you’ll be shooting against the light. Your camera meter will be fooled by the brightness of the situation and your subject will come out too dark. Thus, if you’re shooting portraits, the background will be light and the faces of your subjects will come out too dark.

How do you remedy this situation? Open your lens by one to two stops. If your meter tells you to use f/11, turn your aperture ring to f/8 or f/5.6. Or, if your camera meter tells you to use 1/500 sec, set your shutter speed dial to 1/250 or 1/125 sec.

In the picture above, I had no choice except to shoot my high school students Dindo and Gracie. Why? They were too young to get married. Just kidding! Just kidding! Rewind! Rewind!

Okay, okay, rewind, in the picture above, I had no choice except to shoot my high school students Dindo and Gracie against the light. They were performing on an outdoor stage at 3 in the afternoon. The camera’s light meter, seeing all that background light, called for f/11, so I used f/5.6, giving my subjects two stops more exposure. If I had used f/11, the background would have come out all right but Dindo and Gracie would turn out too dark, their faces totally engulfed in shadows. Their light toned bridal costumes added to the problem on what the correct exposure was, but I didn’t want to go crazy thinking about this. I simply opened up the lens two stops more because of the bright background.

2. Light subject against a dark background, OR a dark subject against a light background: Your SLR camera’s reflected light meter will be fooled by either the brightness or the darkness of the background. Most of us can’t afford to buy a handheld light meter and so we can’t do any incident light reading which is the right solution for these situations. What’s the practical solution? Come very close to your subject so that it more than fills the frame and then measure the light through your camera’s TTL (through the lens) meter.

These friends in the picture above, wearing dark toned shirts, were standing against a light toned wall. Here’s what to do. Mark your location. Come in close until your subjects’ faces fill up your viewfinder viewfinder. Meter your subjects and set your lens opening or shutter speed accordingly. Move back to your original location. Shoot! (If you’re using a zoom lens, zoom in on your subjects’ faces, meter, set your aperture, zoom out and then shoot.)

As rules of thumb, if your subject is against a bright background, set your camera two stops more than what the TTL meter indicates. If your subject is against a dark background, set your camera one stop less than the meter reading.

3. High lighting contrast: The scene has a higher brightness range than normal film can handle. While our eyes can differentiate objects in a scene with a brightness range of 1:1000, normal film only has a brightness range of about 1:100. Solutions? Use a graduated filter (please see the Wikipedia article on photographic filters) to help you deal with the high contrast, as when you’re shooting landscapes. Or, work with the situation, not against it, by coming up with a silhouette.

The two pictures above are situations that call for “averaging” your exposure. In the first picture, if you base your exposure on the bottom portion of the picture, the sky will be completely burned out, and the clouds won’t record at all on the film. On the other hand, if you meter for the clouds, then the building will turn out too dark. Solution? Average your exposure; if the sky calls for f/16 and the foreground is at f/8, use f/11 as your opening.

In the second picture above, where should you base your exposure - on Richard, the bearded guy on the left, or on the guy on the right who obviously has used too much skin whitener?

If you meter for Richard, he’ll come out okay but the guy on the right will turn out too light, with no details on his face or shirt. But if you meter for him instead, Richard will turn out too dark. Solution? Average your exposure.

In the first picture above, the student had a white shirt, white spots all over his hands and forearms, and too much skin whitener on his face. In the second picture above, the students had white shirts and white gloves. In this kind of situation, your camera meter will be over-influenced by all that whiteness. Result? The students’ faces in, and everything else about this student in the first picture, could turn out too dark. Solution? Set your aperture one stop wider than what your camera meter indicates. If your meter calls for f/5.6, use f/4.

In the picture above, the students were wearing dark toned shirts and some had gold paint on their faces. If I followed the camera’s meter reading, the shirts will turn out properly exposed but the faces of the students could turn out too light. Solution? When your subjects have predominantly dark tones, use an opening one stop less than the meter reading. If the meter calls for f/8, set your lens to f/11. OR, instead of 1/250, use 1/500 sec.

Bracketing your shots

Bracketing is a technique professional photographers always use. It simply means taking extra pictures with one-half to one stop more exposure, and one-half to one stop less exposure than that indicated by the camera meter. If the reading is f/8, you should take another shot at f/5.6 (more exposure), and another shot at f/11 (less exposure). With some lenses, you can set the lens between apertures (e.g. between f/11 and f/16); that’s a half-stop.

Bracketing is absolutely essential when you’re using slide film. With color negative/color print films, it isn’t necessary since this kind of film has a wide latitude for exposure errors. Errors can be offset during the printing stage, as I mentioned above.

What if you have to maintain your aperture like when you really need the depth of field? In our example, maintain f/8 as your lens opening; if your shutter speed is 1/250 sec, shoot one frame with 1/125 (more exposure), and another at 1/500 sec (less exposure). Some camera models have an auto-bracketing feature; there’s no need to fiddle around with settings!

Photography is a technology-based art form

“From today, painting is dead!” This was the cry of doom and despair by French painter Laroche way back in 1839 when photography was introduced to the world. History has proven him wrong, however; painting is still a flourishing art form. With the advent of personal computers and their revolutionary impact on almost all aspects of life, it seems it’s now the turn of photographers to exclaim, “From today, photography is dead!”

Photography is a technology based art form. Since 1839, it has always been a silver halide based art form, meaning we’ve got to have film in order to have pictures, until today that is. Now, computers and cameras have been fused together to produce film-less digital cameras, and this is the kind of camera most of you are using right now. (Even cellphones now have cameras!) The quality of pictures produced by digital cameras, measured in megapixels, are quite good. With the pictures I have posted in my "Baptist Churches in the Philippines” blog, for example, I shot them all with a Sony 5.1 megapixel digital camera. And I didn’t have to fiddle around with shutter speed and aperture settings; the camera with its automatic functions took care of everything. All I really had to do was to point and shoot.

The camera doesn’t take the picture, you do!

Please take note however, that a lot of professional photographers look down on “auto-photography” or what is sometimes called as “decision free” photography. These terms refer to the heavy, oftentimes complete reliance on the automatic features of today’s cameras brought by computers, microchips and electronics.

These photographers feel that relying on automation and electronics is a hindrance to a person’s creativity. They want the best of both world, actually. They value the information, the assistance given by the automatic features of today’s cameras but they also want what is known as “manual override,” that is they want to be able to turn off the camera’s automatic functions and rely on their brains, their experiences, their feelings, their sensibilities. In other words, they don’t want their cameras to take the pictures for them; they want to take the picture themselves.

Or in the words of Richard Avedon, ranked number one in a 1996 survey of photographers and photo editors, “It’s not the camera that makes a good picture but the eye and the mind of the photographer.”

Photojournalism (38): Shutter speed

2007-12-07T16:44:00.001+08:00

“Shutter speed” is one of three ways we use to discuss the term “speed” in photography. The two other ways are “lens speed” which refers to the maximum aperture a given lens has, and “film speed” which is the measurement of the film’s sensitivity to light.

Please remember that in our discussions, I am referring to film-based, single lens reflex cameras, and not to digital cameras, okay? And before going through with this lesson, please read the Wikipedia article on shutter speed, okay?

The shutter is a device used to control the time that light is allowed to act on the film. Besides controlling the duration of the exposure, the shutter more importantly, controls the exact moment the film is exposed to the light.

Like the ISO (International Standards Organization) numbers and the f/numbers (please review the Wikipedia article on photographic lenses), the shutter speeds are a universally adopted series of numbers. The ISO numbers are an index of the film’s sensitivity to light, while the f/numbers, on the other hand, are a measurement of how small or how big the lens opening is. The shutter speed is the time the shutter remains open, allowing light to hit the film. Measured in fractions of a second, each change in shutter speed setting is considered as one stop (just like apertures or lens openings). The time during which the shutter remains open is controlled either mechanically or electronically.

Notice that on your camera’s shutter speed dial, the numbers do not appear as fractions; only the denominators appear, thus 1/1000 would appear as 1000, 1/125 as 125 and so on. Full seconds (numbers appearing after 1/2 sec) are often indicated by a different color. Remember that shutter speeds are fractions of a second; 1/2000 really means that you take one second and divide it into two thousand parts and then take only one part of that 2,000 parts.

Freezing movement

When you want to freeze movement, there are factors other than shutter speed which you have to consider: [1] subject distance; [2], focal length of the lens; and [3], direction of the movement.

When using wide angle lenses to shoot subjects which may be far off from you, or moving away from you, you can use slow shutter speeds to freeze the subject. When you are using telephotos, you have to use fast shutter speeds to freeze movement of subjects which are, in Karen Carpenter’s song, close to you.

If the subject is moving away from or towards the camera (like the boys in the picture above rushing to the venue of the Math Quiz competition), you can use 1/60 sec. or slower since the camera senses little movement in this kind of situation. In sporting events like racing (sports cars, cycling, track and field, etc), position yourself at the corners of the track. Thus way, your subject will be turning towards you and you will be able to use even slow shutter speeds.

If the subject is moving in an oblique way with reference to the camera, like this Tae Kwon Do blackbelter in the picture above, use l/125 sec or higher.

If the subject is moving across the film plane, you have to use 1/250 sec or higher. Otherwise, the subject will come out blurred like the boys in the picture above where I used 1/60 sec.

I could have frozen these guys in mid-air by using a much higher shutter speed but sometimes, blur is necessary to better express movement. Speaking of blur, you can create it by either using a slow shutter speed, or by deliberately shaking or jiggling your camera while taking your shots. The end result is, of course, difficult to predict. You could probably mess up a lot of your pictures, but you may also come up with some pretty neat, abstract designs. (By the way, photographer Ernst Haas became famous for his deliberately blurred pictures.)

Flash synchronization speed or the x-synch

On your shutter speed dial, you’ll find the number 60, 90, 125 or 250 (remember that these are really 1/60, 1/90, 1/125 or 1/250th of a second) either marked by a lightning bolt beside it or set in a different color than the other shutter speeds. This number or speed is your camera’s “flash synchronization speed” or simply the “x-synch”.

The x-synch or the flash speed, simply put, is the highest shutter speed you can set on your dial when using your flash. So, if your x-synch is 1/60 sec, do not set your shutter speed dial to a higher number, for example, 1/125 or 1/500 sec. If you do, your pictures will come out with one half of the frame totally black, devoid of any image.

So you can’t use a speed higher than your x-synch. The question is, can you use a speed slower than the x-synch? The answer is yes (if you want more illumination for your subject, that is).

B-setting

Besides numbers, you’ll also find the letter “B” on your camera’s shutter speed dial. The “B” stands for “bulb” and is used when you need exposure times longer than the slowest speed available on your camera. Thus, if your slowest speed is 8 seconds, and you need an exposure time of say, 45 seconds (as when you’re doing night photography), you need to use the B-setting.

By way of review, these are the general rules to follow in choosing what shutter speeds to use (remember however that you have to take into consideration the aperture or lens opening for the correct exposure):

[1] When you want to freeze the action, as in a shot of a basketball player dunking the ball, a high jump athlete doing the Fosberry Flop, etc, use a fast shutter speed like 1/250 sec. or higher.

[2] When you’re shooting your subject under bright lighting conditions, use a fast shutter speed. A slow shutter speed will allow too much light to reach the film and will consequently overexpose your shot.

[3] When there isn’t much light, as when you’re shooting early morning or late afternoon, or you’re inside a room - use a slow shutter speed like 1/60 sec. or slower. A high shutter speed will restrict the amount of light striking the film and will consequently underexpose your shot.

Photography’s high sounding-terms

Reciprocity failure, hyperfocal distance, flash synchronization speed, x-synch, B-setting ... photography really has a lot of high sounding terms. Don’t be intimidated however by these terms; there are veteran photographers who may not have heard of these terms and yet, they can create a lot of good pictures.

The point is, don’t go about thinking that you’ll become a better photographer by simply memorizing the definitions. You become better by learning the basics which includes knowing, not memorizing, what these terms mean and applying them when you go out to shoot. Photography is definitely a hands-on activity! As the late martial arts superstar Bruce Lee once said, no one learns how to swim on dry land. I believe him. I tried! I nearly drowned!

Photojournalism (37): Depth of field

2007-12-02T23:20:00.001+08:00

Our previous lesson was on lenses and if you were able to browse through the Wikipedia article on photographic lenses, you will remember that lens openings or apertures control how much light reaches the film during exposure. Besides this function, lens openings also affect the depth of field or how much of the scene or your subject is in focus. A related topic which you should review is our lesson on conveying depth.

What is depth of field?

Simply put, “depth of field” is the distance between the nearest and farthest point from the camera that appears in focus (meaning sharp and clear). In practical terms, the depth of field extends, in terms of area, about 1/3 in front of the subject and about 2/3 behind the subject. Any object or portions of the subject below this 1/3 area and beyond this 2/3 area will appear blurred or out of focus.

Wide depth of field

A “wide depth of field” means that everything is sharp and in focus from the foreground up to the background. You need a wide depth of field in the following situations: (1) to convey the mood and atmosphere of your subject; (2) for landscapes, sceneries and interiors; (3) for group shots; (4) when focusing is difficult; and (5) to give maximum visual information about your subject by bringing out the details.

Some examples of pictures with a wide depth of field

Shallow depth of field

On the other hand, a “shallow depth of field” means that the area of sharpness or clarity is very limited, and the background (and/or the near foreground) is blurred or out of focus. You need a shallow depth of field in the following situations: (1) for portraits, so that your subject will “pop out” of the background; (2) to hide a cluttered background; (3) to avoid distractions or obstructions in the background or foreground; (4) to convey depth; and (5) to isolate certain details of the subject.

Examples of pictures with a shallow depth of field

Again, for the purposes of the topics we will discuss below, please review the Wikipedia article on photographic lenses.

The bigger the number, the smaller the lens opening; the smaller the number, the bigger the lens opening

The SLR (single lens reflex) camera has an “iris diaphragm” which consists of crescent-shaped blades that make a circular opening in the middle of the lens and which controls the size of the aperture or the lens opening. The aperture setting ring (or simply aperture ring) in the lens controls the size of the hole made by the iris diaphragm. For example, setting the aperture ring at f/11 will reduce the size of the hole while setting it at f/4 will consequently enlarge the hole. The rule is, the bigger the number, the smaller the lens opening; the smaller the number, the bigger the lens opening.

Fully automatic diaphragm

SLR cameras have what is known as “fully automatic diaphragm”. The iris diaphragm is fully open before the shot is taken. Shortly before the shutter curtains open, the aperture will close down to the f/number you have set on the aperture ring. Why is this so? A fully automatic diaphragm provides a bright image of the subject which helps you a great deal in focusing the image correctly. Take note however, that what could appear out of focus in the viewfinder could turn out to be in focus in the picture if you use a small aperture.

Factors which affect depth of field

Three factors affect the depth of field, namely, the lens opening, the camera to subject distance, and the focal length of your lens.

[1] Changing aperture or lens opening: If you want a wide depth of field, use a small aperture. If you like to have a narrow zone of sharpness, use a big lens opening. Small apertures like f/8, f/11, f/16 or f/22 provide a wide DOF, or enable the camera to render most of your subject sharply and clearly from foreground to back-ground. On the other hand, big or wide apertures like f/1.8, f/2 or f/4 record sharply or clearly only a very shallow or narrow plane. Remember, the DOF is proportional to the lens opening; least at wide apertures, maximum at small apertures.

[2] Changing distance: The closer a subject is to the camera, the shallower the depth of field will be. Or, the closer you are to the subject, the shallower the DOF will be.

[3] Changing the lens: If you want an image with a wide depth of field, then use lenses with short focal lengths like standard or wide angle lenses. If you want a shallow DOF, use lenses like zooms or telephotos.

Hyperfocal distance

In talking about maximizing the depth of field, professional photographers often talk about setting the lens to the “hyperfocal distance”. There’s a manual way of setting the lens to its hyperfocal distance, but some people find it a little bit confusing. But if you’re a math nerd, you can simply whip out your calculator and compute the hyperfocal distance according to this formula: H = F2 and then divided by f x 0.033; near limit of DOF = H x u divided by H + (u - F); far limit of the DOF = H x u divided by (H - F), where H is the hyperfocal distance; F= focal length of the lens; f = f/stop; and u = focused distance. Are you happy now?

Photojournalism (36) : Through the lens

2007-11-17T09:28:00.001+08:00

Remember the simplest definition of a camera from our lesson “I Am A Camera”? It is merely a lightproof box that holds a lens at one end and film at the other end. Some photographers go to the extreme by saying that the lens is the most important part of a camera, with the camera body merely a box to hold the film. Like most extremes, however, this view is rather, well, extreme. It can’t be denied however that the quality of the lens determines to a large extent the quality of a photograph.

I remember one student in the 1980’s who quite innocently asked me, “Sir, does your camera have a lens?” Well, all cameras, whether digital or film-based, have lenses, except of course, when we’re talking about the pinhole camera (the “camera obscura” of ancient history). A lens is a transparent, optical device made up of glass or high tech plastic, and is capable of “refracting” or bending light.

Most of you, at this point in time, are probably using digital cameras. Your camera thus comes with a built-in lens that allows you to shoot groups or close-ups at the touch of a button. For those of you who are joining the photojournalism competitions in the various levels of the press conferences, you are still bound by the contest rules to use film-based cameras. For the grade school level of competitions, students are allowed to use 35 mm compact, point and shoot cameras. For the high school level however, the participants are required to use single lens reflex cameras. As we discussed before in “I Am A Camera,” SLR cameras (unlike compact, point and shoot cameras) are distinguished by an interchangeable system of lenses.

Focal length of a lens

One of the most important considerations in buying or using a lens is its focal length which is the distance, measured in millimeters, between the optical center of the lens and the film plane when the lens is focused at infinity. The focal length of a lens determines two things: one, the magnification of the image (how big or how small the image appears), and two, the field of view (how much of the scene will appear in the photograph).

Don’t fall into the fallacy however, that the longer the lens, the better your photographs will be. I remember during the 50th anniversary of the National Secondary Schools Press Conference in 1993 held in Rizal High School in Pasig, a lot of the photojournalism participants were in awe with one NCR delegate whose camera had a long, long, long, long lens. They kept saying that this delegate was definitely going to win the contest. Well, he didn’t win at all.

Henri Cartiér Brésson is a revered name among photographers. His goal of capturing the “decisive moment” probably best sums up what photojournalism is all about. And by deliberate choice, what kind of lens did he use? What else but the 50 mm lens or the so called standard or normal lens, which is the lens you most probably have on your single lens reflex camera right now, right? Right!

Take note of the minimum focusing distance of your lens

A note of caution. All lenses (whether for digital or film-based cameras) have their “minimum focusing distance” which is the limit as to how close a lens can focus. This is determined by the lens design and by how far the lens can be extended by its focusing ring. With 35 mm compacts (allowed in the grade school level press conferences), the lens generally is pre-set to render in focus subjects which are around 5 feet away from the camera up to infinity. If you try to shoot something which is below the minimum focusing distance, that subject will be out of focus.

Wikipedia has excellent, easy to understand articles on the different kinds of lenses, and on apertures and lens openings. Please browse these articles before proceeding with this lesson on lenses, okay?

I shot the following pictures using my beloved Canon AE-1 Program camera and my Vivitar f/3.5~5.6, 28-210 mm zoom lens. A zoom lens is two or three lenses rolled into one. With the particular zoom lens I used, I was able to shoot wide angle shots of groups, and telephoto (meaning, magnified) shots of faraway subjects.

With the pictures above, I used the 28 mm (wide angle) end of my zoom lens. Without having to move back, I was able to include almost the whole athletic oval where hundreds of students were performing for the Field Demonstration. Now take a look at the next picture.

I then zoomed in on the students at the center of the athletic oval, using the 210 mm (telephoto end) of my zoom lens. I didn’t move from the position I was in when I took the 2nd wide angle shot above, but my zoom lens allowed me to shoot a close-up of the group of students performing in the middle of the oval.

Versatility of a zoom lens

The pictures below illustrate the versatility of a zoom lens, that is, from wide angle shots, I was able to shoot close ups of my subjects.

Telephoto lenses compress linear perspective

Telephoto lenses appear to compress linear perspective, that is, background details seem to move toward you, and objects that in reality are far apart look or appear much closer than they really are. If you watch any sports event, for example, on television, the spectators in the background look deceivingly much closer to the players in the foreground. This effect is known as “stacked perspective”, “compressed” perspective or “squashed” perspective.

Take the picture above of the marching cadets, for example. We all know how wide a platoon is, with nine cadets or elements in each squad. Notice however that the cadets seem so close to each other, like they were squashed together in a single shallow plane. Like I said, this effect is known as “compressed perspective” among other names. (Pssst, guys, check your alignment!)

The picture above is another example of compressed perspective. An airplane seems just about to crash towards the church tower. (Memories of 911!) The plane and tower are really far apart but the telephoto end of my zoom lens produced this compressed perspective.

To be technically accurate about it, however, it is not the focal length of the lens but the camera to subject distance that produces the compressed or stacked perspective, okay? okay? okay?

Wide angle lenses, distortion and the keystoning effect

When you want a great depth of field, that is, everything in the picture must be recorded sharply, from foreground to deep background, you have to use a wide angle lens. Pictures shot with a wide angle lens have a strong sense of depth and distance.

On the other hand, the most significant disadvantage of wide angle lenses is distortion. If there are circular objects at the corners of the frame, they become distorted, taking on oval shapes. If you’re shooting crowd scenes for example, heads of persons near the frame corners will become distorted. Wide angle lenses are thus not suited for close up portraits.

Also, if you tilt the camera even a little upward, parallel vertical lines of the subject (like those of the building above) will converge towards the top or bottom of the picture. This is the so-called “keystoning” effect.

Trivia on lenses

[1] Bill Foley won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, the most prestigious prize in journalism, for his photo coverage of the Sabra and Shattila massacres in Lebanon where Christian militiamen murdered Palestinian civilians in these two refugee camps.

One time, Foley and Time photographer Bill Pierce were picked up at a checkpoint manned by Syrian soldiers who suspected them of being spies for the Israeli army which had invaded Lebanon. They were detained and beaten up.

Foley had a handheld light meter which naturally had the various f-numbers/apertures indicated on its exterior. One of the Syrian soldiers manning the checkpoint was convinced that the “f/16” marking on Foley’s meter was a means for communicating with Israeli F-16 fighter jets!

[2] Distortions and converging lines created by wide angle lenses are generally treated as liabilities but as you master the basics of photography, you will learn to use these liabilities creatively in order to come up with better pictures.

[3] So you’re stuck with your dinky standard lens, with no money to buy those monster zoom or telephoto lenses you see professional photographers carry around ... You wonder how in the world you can ever improve your skills without those long lenses. Well, what lens did Hénri Cartiér Brésson or Eduard Masferré (a Belgian photographer whose pictures of the Ifugaos and other mountain tribesmen may be considered as national treasures) use? What else but the very same dinky standard lens you have!

[4] “Perfect Strangers” was a very popular television sitcom in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The show told the stories of Balki, an innocent, naive immigrant to the US and his cousin Larry, a struggling photojournalist who never seemed to run out of troubles primarily because of his insecurities, get rich quick schemes and his bloated ego.

But Balki would always come to Larry’s rescue, and Larry would always see the error of his ways. While we felt good about Balki’s innocence, we also readily identified with Larry’s insecurities, his foibles and his failures.

In one episode, Balki and Larry went to a photo exhibit by a renowned photographer. Larry wanted to meet the photographer whom he thought could help him in his career as a photojournalist but the highbrow hosts of the exhibit didn’t give him the chance.

Depressed, Larry began criticizing the photographs, especially that of a solitary man along a highway. Larry said that the photographer should have used a 24 mm wide angle lens instead of a 28 mm lens. Or was it a 20 mm lens instead of a 24 mm? Anyway, the host of the exhibit who overheard these remarks promptly and publicly scolded Larry for daring to criticize the photograph.

While Larry was stammering his way towards an explanation, the world famous photographer asked him why a 24 mm lens should have been used. Larry answered, quite correctly as the photographer would later on say, that a 24 mm lens would dramatically “increase the photograph’s sense of isolation.”

Just for once, Larry was right, and we all felt, I’m sure, really, really good about Larry’s vindication.

Photojournalism (35): Campus news photography, and working on your yearbook

2007-11-08T00:40:00.002+08:00

“High school, the best years of our lives, except for the days spent in math class!”

Just kidding, okay? Lighten up! I hope math nerds or math lovers among you out there won’t take offense over all these things I’ve said about math. But I must admit I’m not really good with numbers; I’m probably better at cross-stitching than at algebra ... Just kidding, okay? Lighten up! Actually, math and other related disciplines can be a lot of fun, you know ...

For example, when Fermat’s last theorem was supposedly proven by a math professor, there were celebrations, parades and parties (pizza!) in colleges and universities all over the world. Now, who says that mathematicians don’t know how to have fun?

Or take the wheelchair-bound Stephen Hawking, the most brilliant theoretical physicist today, the successor to Albert Einstein ... He made a $100 bet with two other scientists that there are no “naked singularities” in the universe. Well, as reported by newspapers world-wide, he had to pay the bet when recent evidence pointed to the existence of such phenomenon. But he had the defiant last laugh when he donned a T-shirt with the words “Nature abhors naked singularities” printed on it. I’ve read Hawking’s biography but I absolutely don’t have any idea what he was talking about. But it sure sounds like he had a lot of fun! One time, Hawking spoke at a convention of physicists and astronomers, and his topic was, “Why can we remember the past but not the future?” Now, that’s serious fun!

Speaking of Einstein, there are two memorable portraits of this great scientist. The more serious one, with Einstein in a sideways pose, with fingers of both hands interlocked, was shot, if I’m not mistaken, by legendary portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh. The other portrait, taken by Arthur Sasse, during Einstein’s 70th birthday, became a hit among graphic artists and T-shirt designers. Why? That portrait showed Einstein mischievously sticking his tongue out! Now that’s serious fun! What’s my point, you might ask? Well, I really don’t know ... I always get carried away when talking about math!

As I explained in the introduction to this series on photojournalism, I’ve used the term “photojournalism” in a rather loose but restricted way. Loose because photojournalism is the application of photography to a class of events people would classify as news (the topics we have discussed however are the basics, the foundations of photography). Restricted in the sense that I have limited the term to “campus news photography.”

Campus news events: hard news and soft news

In practical terms, the following may be considered as campus news events:

programs
stage presentations
speech festivals
graduation
PTA meetings
awarding ceremonies
club elections
academic contests
practices
demo classes
intramurals
alumni homecomings
classroom events
book presentations
community outreach activities.

These may constitute what we can call “hard news” while things like students relaxing in the library, teachers taking a break, may be classified as “soft news.”

Classroom dramas

An often neglected aspect of campus news photography is classroom dramas. That’s understandable since the schoolpaper photographer has his or her own classes to attend. But as the examples above show, classroom dramas provide a rich source of pictures not only for your schoolpaper but more importantly for your yearbook.

Watch the practices or rehearsals

I have emphasized several times in this series the importance of watching the practices or rehearsals for any activity. If you don’t watch the practices for choral recitation contests or field demonstrations, for example, you won’t know which action, which formation would be good to shoot. You’ll be caught unprepared, and the most “photogenic” moments or actions could zip by you in seconds.

When you’re taking candid shots of your fellow students around the school campus, you’ll find difficulty at first in getting natural looking, un-posed reactions (like the shy sweethearts in the picture above). Your fellow students will naturally be conscious of you and your camera. But as time passes by, your schoolmates (like the CAT cadets below) will get used to you and your camera, and they won’t mind having their pictures taken. This way, you’ll get more relaxed, more natural looking expressions and reactions.

Archive your photos

Your schoolpaper staff should also make it a regular practice to keep all the negatives, all the pictures taken from year to year. If you’re into digital photography, burn the images into CDs. If you don’t, pretty soon, your hard disk will become full of images, and the tendency is to erase some images to free up some disk space.

These pictures (or image files) will constitute your stock photos. If you need a picture as filler for a certain article in your schoolpaper, you can just pick an appropriate picture from your stock. If you can’t watch a practice or rehearsal, you can review your stock photos. This will also help you in deciding how to vary your coverage of an event or program.

Provide the context for your photo coverage

In covering any event, don’t just concentrate on the actual event. Shoot the practices, the preparation of the props, the participants on their way to the venue. When the winners are announced, turn around immediately to shoot the reaction of the audience or spectators (like in the pictures above). Shoot the jubilant winners, shoot especially the sore losers.

In covering events, be aware also of the various photo opportunities provided by the spectators, like these two girls wearing masks watching from the sidelines.

Working on your yearbook

The most tangible souvenir of your high school or college days is the yearbook, and you should therefore exert all efforts to make it really memorable. The sad fact however is that, for most schools, the yearbook is a tradition bound publication. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with a lot of traditions. But you’ve got to admit, there isn’t much difference with the yearbooks your school puts out from year to year. Once you’ve seen one yearbook, you’ve seen them all.

Of course, some things you expect to see in any yearbook - individual pictures for private schools, class pictures for public schools, messages, directories, etc. But the challenge is to produce a yearbook that contains not only all the “traditional” materials but also new materials, new designs that would make your yearbook stand out from the rest.

Coming up with a better yearbook requires first of all, a rethinking about what it should be. Traditionally, a yearbook is meant only to contain pictures of the graduates and not much else. My idea is that a yearbook should be a summation of your whole stay in high school or college. A yearbook therefore should not only have lots of good pictures to look at but also a lot of good articles to read. In practical terms, this would mean including, among other things, pictures of all school activities and candid pictures from first year to fourth year, poems, feature articles, interviews with outstanding class personalities, etc.

Conceptual approach to campus publications

As I told you in the introduction to this series on photojournalism, I worked as journalism teacher and schoolpaper adviser in Quezon City Science High School in 1983-84 and in Rizal High School from 1984 up to 1996. The picture above shows some of the yearbooks I edited for Rizal High School. With all these yearbooks, I have always followed what I have called the “conceptual approach” to publications. By this I mean, a certain theme, idea or concept determines the overall design and layout, the pictures and articles to be placed in the yearbook. For example, for the 1990 yearbook I worked on, the concept was “Roots” and by this I meant, what’s the root, the source of being or identity for the student? The family, the group of friends ... What’s the root of the family? The community, the country ... In practical terms, I included pictures of the parents and siblings of the valedictorian and salutatorian. There were also interviews and pictures of the wholesome “barkadas” among the graduates. Pictures of the community were included as fillers.

In l993, I came up with “A Sense of History” as the concept. Pictures of our school and students from the 1920s up to the l940s were included in the yearbook. The list of the valedictorians and salutatorians from previous years were included on the pages allotted for that year’s top honor students. A special feature was that of a member of Class ’73 (that’s me!) looking back in nostalgia, 20 years after high school. Other concepts ? “A Brave New World” (1992), “The Circle of Life” (1995), and “Individuality” (1996).

A lot of schools follow what I call the “shotgun” or “scattershot” approach. They simply bundle together, mix and match all the pictures and articles in a certain publication without coming up first with a single controlling theme or concept. Why use the word “shotgun” you might ask?

Well, if you use a shotgun, it scatters pellets all over the target. There isn’t a single hole but a lot of holes. Meaning, publications which follow the “shotgun” approach lack unity, emphasis, or, as Edgar Allan Poe described it, a “single dominant impression” that sticks in the minds of the readers.

My point is, you and your fellow staffers should bump heads together to come up with a theme or concept that would control the articles and the design of your yearbook.

The concept, however, is not meant to be a straightjacket to completely stifle your creativity. Even if a certain picture or article does not completely jive with the concept, you may still use it. As long as there’s some relevance, use it!

Practical suggestions for your yearbook

Besides coming up with a concept before beginning to work on your yearbook, here are some practical suggestions I’d like to pass on to you.

[1] Don’t use fancy borders for your yearbook portraits. Some people think that the fancier the borders they use, the better their yearbooks would be. Ehh! Totally wrong! Fancy borders take attention away from the portraits. Use simple line borders or drop shadows. Avoid oval shaped portraits; they’re simply outdated.

[2] For schools which use class pictures instead of individual pictures, avoid having wide rows. If they’re too wide, you’ll have lots of empty, wasted spaces at the top and /or bottom portions. Remember our discussion on shooting groups and the steps in shooting class pictures? Remember filling the frame?

[3] A lot of private schools love cutting up and grouping pictures of activities into shapes like hearts, birds or some other fancy shapes. What can I say without being unkind? These designs are amateurish; furthermore, these fancy shapes take attention away from the pictures which should stand on their own.

[4] Here’s something I really, really hate to see in a yearbook or any publication. Some staffers or advisers love using lots of fonts in a single page or in one whole publication. Sometimes, there will be 3 to 5 fonts in a page - Banff for the headline, Times Roman for the text, Casper Open Face for the subheads ... These people believe that the more fonts they use on a page, the better looking their publication would be. Ehh! Absolutely wrong!

Read books on page layouts or typographic designs and they’ll tell you, simply use one or two fonts per page or publication. What I usually do in terms of headlines is this: Poster Bodoni (or any other selected font) all throughout the publication but with certain variations (italics, all caps, caps and lower case, fit text to path, outlines or drop shadows). In this way, I can get variety and unity at the same time.

[5] How long does it take to do a yearbook? If materials are complete, 45 to 60 days would be more than enough for the printing press to finish it. But you and your fellow staffers have to go to press almost every day. Some private schools get their yearbooks several months or even years after graduation because they just leave all the work with the press, which takes its own sweet time doing the work. It’s your yearbook, work on it!

Photojournalism (34): Using your flash

2007-11-01T04:30:00.001+08:00

Without light, photography is not possible

Remember what the poet Francis Bourdillon said? “The night has a thousand eyes and the day but one. Yet the light of the whole world dies when the day is done.” I don’t know if Bourdillon ever tried photography but these lines underscore the fact that we rely heavily on the sun, on sunlight, in order for us to take pictures. Remember that without light, photography is not possible. There are instances, however, when we have to use artificial light sources in order to take pictures, like when we’re shooting indoors, in overcast sky, early morning, late afternoon, evening ...

Electronic flash

The most common form of artificial lighting for photography (whether digital or film-based) is electronic flash. An electronic flash has a glass tube filled with a rare gas called Xenon (atomic number 54, atomic weight 131.30; the sole source is the atmosphere which constitutes 1 part in 20 million). The flash is powered by a battery-fed capacitor. When you switch your flash on, you’ll hear the high pitched sound of the capacitor turning battery power into AC (alternating current).

After storing energy, the capacitor releases it to the tube to create the flash of light whose duration is often faster than 1/1000 of a second. This is actually your effective shutter speed. We will study shutter speeds later on; for now, if you’re using a manual SLR camera, you have to set your shutter speed dial to your “x-synch” which may be 1/60, 1/90/ 1/125 or 1/250 sec. The “x-synch” is the speed you have to set when using your flash. This speed is sometimes marked on your shutter speed dial by a lightning bolt symbol. In some camera models, this number (a fraction actually) is marked by a different color.

If you’re using an automatic, point and shoot camera (whether digital or film-based), you don’t have anything to worry about. The camera will do everything for you, except buy pizza for you …

Never use a shutter speed faster than your x-synch

If you’re using a film-based manual SLR, never use a shutter speed faster than your x-synch! If you do, half of the frame will be totally dark, devoid of any image. But you can use a speed slower than the x-synch if you need more illumination for your subject. Some camera models (like the classic Olympus OM-4, and those cameras employing leaf shutters) offer what is known as “perfect synch” which means that you can use your flash at any shutter speed.

The burst of light produced by the flash is similar in color with daylight. Electronic flash is “balanced” to give the same quality of light as the average noon daylight which measures about 5400 Kelvins in the color temperature scale.

Setting up a hot shoe mounted flash

Besides the built-in flash, the flash unit you’re probably most familiar with is the one where you have to place it on top of the camera’s pentaprism, inserting it into what is known as the hot shoe, and depending on the model, locking it into place. The picture above of my beloved Canon AE-1 camera shows this kind of a flash unit.

[1] Install the batteries, observing the correct positive/negative placements. Batteries may either be conventional batteries or rechargeable nickel-cadmium (Nicad) batteries. You can save money using Nicads but take care charging these batteries. You’ll notice that flash with ordinary batteries take longer to recycle as the batteries lose their power; Nicads always have a constant recycling time, up to the time they totally lose power.

[2] Switch the flash unit on; if the batteries are installed properly, you’ll hear a high pitched sound created by the oscillator turning DC power to AC. The sound is cut off when the ready light goes on. To be sure that the flash is working properly, press the test button.

[3] If you haven’t done so yet, slide the flash unit into your camera’s flash accessory shoe (“hot shoe”). Some units have a lock on screw which prevents the flash from falling off. Depending on the model, the flash has one or more contact points which connect to the camera’s flash circuitry. Other flash units need to be connected through a cord to the camera’s PC or co-axial socket.

Manual flash exposure

We will be talking about exposure or setting the correct shutter speed and lens opening combination in detail later on, okay?

[1] The flash unit has an ISO scale; set it according to the film’s ISO rating (unless of course, if you’re pushing or pulling your film). Set your shutter speed dial to the x-synch.

With the advent of digital photography, most amateur photographers no longer have to learn or deal with ISO ratings. ISO stands for International Standards Organization and films are classified as ISO 100, 200 or 400 and so on. The higher the ISO rating, the more sensitive it is to light. ISO 100 film is the ordinary kind of film that’s given to you at the store if you don’t specify what kind of film you want. Before I started using a borrowed digital camera, I preferred using Kodak Max (an ISO 400 film).

Please take note however that with digital cameras, you can also adjust the camera to an ISO 400 rating. This means that you can take pictures even in low light situations even without using your flash. The downside however (I stand to be corrected on this, okay?) is that each picture will take up more memory and you will have lesser number of shots available.

[2] Focus on your subject, and then read the distance between you and the subject as indicated on the distance scale of the lens. The scale is calibrated both for meters and feet; use whatever measuring system you’re most comfortable with.

[3] On the flash unit’s exposure calculator, locate the flash to subject distance which you determined in Step 2. Opposite or below that number is the correct f/stop or lens opening to use. Set the aperture ring of your lens to this f-stop. Notice that on the exposure calculator, as the subject becomes progressively farther away from the camera, the larger the aperture or lens opening becomes. We will learn more about f/stops or lens openings later on, okay?

Using the guide number to determine what lens opening to use

Instead of using the exposure calculator of the flash, you can also determine which f-stop to use through the flash unit’s guide number. The guide number is a measurement either in feet or meters of the flash unit’s power, as provided by the flash manufacturer. There is a different guide number for each film speed but generally, guide numbers are provided for ISO 100 film.

How do you know what’s the GN for your flash? Look for it in the instruction guide, or simply set your flash to ISO 100. Multiply any distance with the corresponding aperture and you’ll get the guide number. Remember that the higher the guide number, the more powerful the flash is (the more expensive the flash unit is too). The classic Vivitar 283 flash, a favorite among professional photographers even today, has a guide number of 120 feet.

How do you use the guide number? Divide the flash-to-subject distance into the GN and the result is the correct f-stop to use. For example, with a guide number of 16, the correct f-stop to use is f/8 if the flash-to-subject distance is 2 meters. Why? 16 divided by 2 equals 8, right? I knew that! Hey, I checked my calculator, and it gives the same result!

Automatic flash

With manual flash units, you have to change the aperture setting on the lens every time the flash-to-subject distance changes. Automatic flash units (whether for digital or film-based cameras) however, adjust the power or the duration of the flash to suit whatever this distance may be. They have a sensor on their front portion that measures the amount of light falling on the subject, and controls the duration of the flash depending on how close or how far the subject is. The sensor switches off the flash when the right amount of light has covered the subject. (Further on in this article, we will discuss problems in using automatic flash with light-toned surroundings.)

Dedicated flash

Dedicated flash units are designed to work exclusively for one specific camera model or models in a series. Through the contact points in the bottom of the flash unit, they automate a lot of flash functions like setting the ISO rating on the flash, and the camera shutter to the flash synchronization speed. They also give a flash-ready signal in the viewfinder so you won’t have to turn your eyes away from the camera in order to look at the flash unit. While the dedicated flash is recycling, it turns the camera back to available light measurement.

The most sophisticated dedicated flash units are capable of OTF (off the film) metering, that is, they measure the light hitting the film during exposure. This system makes flash photography simpler and almost foolproof. These flash units can also take into account the ambient light (“existing light”) for hassle-free fill flash photography. (All these years shooting pictures, I never could understand fill-flash ratios!)

Problems when using flash

[1] Harsh shadows

Perhaps the most negative aspect of using flash is the harsh shadows created behind your subjects, like in picture above where the shadows of Gracie (my student in Rizal High School in the 1990’s) and the microphone are clearly visible on the background. These shadows oftentimes destroy the mood of a picture.

Solutions? One, you can choose a different viewpoint like what I did in the 2nd picture above. By moving to the left, I got a darker toned background that absorbed the shadows. Two, you can adopt a high point of view. In this situation, the shadows will be hidden behind your subject. Three, if you can afford it, buy a ring flash; this flash creates no shadows.

[2] Foreground object casts shadows on the subject

This is the classic booboo when using flash. A foreground object (in the picture above, the student on the left hand side) receives too much light, and casts shadows on the main subject, the guys in the background. Solution? Fill the frame with your subject and choose your viewpoint carefully.

[3] Automatic flash can be fooled or thrown off by the overall brightness of the scene

When your subject has light toned surroundings or elements, like in the picture above where the shy student says “Hello!” from behind some graduation togas, your automatic flash can be fooled or thrown off by the overall brightness of the scene. The result? Your subject comes out underexposed or too dark, while the surroundings turn out properly exposed. Solution? Set your flash on manual, measure the distance between you and the subject, and then set the appropriate aperture.

[4] Flash fall-off

When subjects are located at different distances from the camera, they won’t receive the same amount of illumination from your flash. In the picture above, the girl on the extreme right (Miss Rizal High 1992), in the foreground, gets the right amount of light. The girl on the extreme left (Miss Freshman 1992), on the left hand side, is farthest from the camera, so she receives a lesser amount of light and thus her image turns out darker. The technical reason for flash fall off is the so-called “inverse square law” but hey, I don’t want to bore you with another math-related topic! Just make sure your subjects are located at the same distance from the camera by choosing the right viewpoint, okay?

[5] Hot spots

When your subject’s background or any element in the subject is a reflective, polished surface like mirrors, glass doors, chrome finished exteriors, etc. your flash will create harsh reflections known as hot spots, like in the picture above of the student playing the role of the Tin Man from “Alice in Wonderland.” One solution can be to choose the right viewpoint so as to possibly minimize the size of the hot spot. While generally regarded as liabilities, hot spots however may be used creatively.

In the pictures above, the hot spots are in my student’s eyeglasses. In the right hand picture, I got a better portrait without the eyeglasses and without the hot spots. (Remember our lesson in shooting portraits? When shooting your subject’s face with one or both of her hands included in the picture, don’t show the back of the hand. Position the hand so that only the side is shown, as in the right hand picture above shows. This creates a slimmer line, unlike when the back of the hand is shown.)

[6] The problem of red eye

“Red eye” occurs when the flash is located too near the lens. Red circular spots are created in the pupils of your subject’s eyes. Most 35 mm compact cameras (whether digital or film-based) have flash that’s designed to reduce red eye. If your camera flash doesn’t have this red-eye reduction feature, ask your subject to look closely at lamps or light bulbs before you take the shots. Also, you can use pentel pens to “retouch” your pictures or erase the red eyes. As you can see by now, red eye isn’t a problem if you’re using black and white film (please refer to our previous lesson on shooting color or black and white).

[7] Creating a gentler, kinder light

You can create a kinder, gentler light falling on your subject by bouncing the flash off a low, gray or white colored ceiling. Or you can do it the way professionals do it. You can attach a white index card to your flash, fold it and bounce your flash off that card. If you’re using a manual flash, you have to open up your lens by one or two stops (more on this topic later on, okay?). If you’re using an automatic or dedicated flash, there’s no need to adjust your aperture.

Salgado (world's best photojournalist) and flash

Sebastiaŏ Salgado is considered as the best photojournalist in the world today. He comes from an affluent Brazilian family and has taken up graduate studies in economics in France. Yet, his pictures have always been of struggling workers, the powerless and the dispossessed. He didn’t have any interest in photography until his wife, an architect, gave him a camera as a gift. The very first time he looked through the viewfinder, he was hooked on photography. Know what? Salgado doesn’t use flash when shooting his pictures, relying only on available light. That does it! First thing tomorrow, I’m going to throw away my flash!

Photojournalism (33): Photo essays using the chronological approach

2007-10-25T00:50:00.003+08:00

In using the chronological approach, you follow as events and situations unfold before you and you shoot your subject over a period of time. A simple example of a photo essay is that of the two pictures below where a little lamb makes friends with the freshmen, and then finally gets the limelight as it performs on stage. Baa! Baa!

In the photo essay below, I shot a high school student writing the names of his friends on the hollow blocks. (Please take note of the bust of Dr. Jose Rizal on the background of the first picture.) He was only using a piece of chalk, and so I didn’t scold him. He didn’t see me shooting him while he was writing on the hollow blocks. Later on, after he left, I got a medium shot of the letters he wrote on the blocks. As a final shot, using the vertical format, I shot the letters on the blocks, with a group of students walking away on the background.

Sequence shots can be a chronological photo essay

In the pictures below, I asked my Class 1990 yearbook staffer Eric to pose by the dike at the back of Rizal High School in Pasig. I was on the 3rd floor of a building with my beloved Canon AE-1 Program camera fitted with a Vivitar Series 1 70-210 mm lens. (Believe it or not, I bought this 2nd hand zoom lens in a barbershop in Blumentritt, Manila.) I wanted to express the contemplative mood and loneliness a senior normally goes through as graduation time comes near. I just wanted two elements in my picture - Eric and the still waters of the Marikina River flowing behind the Rizal High School campus in Pasig. The first two pictures of the scene below were the ones I needed to express what I wanted.

But then, I saw the tugboat coming from the left. I switched on the power winder of my camera. I shot about 20 frames all in all as the tugboat passed Eric and created ripples on the water. Serendipity! I had a photo essay which could be used to illustrate life cycles, transient moments, peace and serenity, consequences and change!

(If you mouse over the pictures, the captions will appear for about five seconds. If you continue to move your mouse over the picture, the caption will stay visible.)

Pssst, Eric! It has been sixteen years since 1990 when I asked you to pose by the dike. You can move away from the dike now, and go on with your life, okay?

2007-10-18T12:57:00.000+08:00

Apollo Moon Documentary Bears Witness
for a Creator

By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

LONDON (ANS) -- A film documenting the Apollo moon project using rare footage from NASA contains numerous spiritual references pointing to the existence of God.

“In the Shadow of the Moon” opened September 7th to positive reviews, including a “Critic’s Choice” designation by the L.A. Times and an award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

“It’s a film about the experience of going to the moon told by the people who went – in their own words,” says David Sington, who directed the film. One of Sington’s associates got acquainted with Dave Scott, commander of Apollo 15 and the first man to drive on the moon. “They wanted to organize a reunion of moonwalkers,” Sington says. “That grew into an idea of doing a reunion on film.”

Producer Duncan Copp proposed the idea of a documentary to Sington, who said it took him only 15 milliseconds to decide on the project.

With astronaut Scott’s help, the film team managed to assemble crewmembers from every Apollo mission that flew to the moon and interview them directly on camera. The 10 astronauts – now in their seventies – come across as surprisingly reflective and human. Many spoke of the profound impression they gained from walking on the lunar surface and gazing back at a marble-sized planet Earth.

In addition to the interviews, producers Duncan Copp and Chris Riley spent weeks at NASA’s film library in Houston pouring through cans of film – many of which had not be opened for 30 years. They uncovered a veritable treasure trove, which the filmmakers re-mastered to produce a film of striking visual clarity.

Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke, the 10th man to walk on the moon, makes an explicit declaration of his faith in Jesus Christ on camera. His spiritual revelation came after his retirement from the space program in the mid-seventies. Mounting pressures in business and his personal life caused Duke to grapple with life’s ultimate questions. In 1978, after he attended a Bible Study about Middle East prophecy, Duke realized Jesus “really is the Son of God.”

Astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Gene Cernan described profound spiritual experiences, but not within a specific Christian context. Cernan discovered the universe seemed to have purpose behind it, that there must be a Creator who stands above the religions of mankind.

“Edgar Mitchell’s experience profoundly changed and shaped his whole life,” notes director Sington. “He had a moment of epiphany – suddenly grasping who he is in relation to the universe. This was accompanied by a sense of ecstasy, almost like people who have had visions of the Virgin Mary.”

“He’s striving to understand his spiritual epiphany in scientific terms,” Sington adds. “He’s dedicated his life to understanding human sub consciousness and to finding the ‘Great Mind’ of the universe.”

Unfortunately, the man who had the closest encounter with Jesus Christ on the moon does not appear in the film. “Sadly enough, the person who had the most profound spiritual experience was Jim Irwin, who died,” says Sington. “He really had a ‘road to Damascus’ experience on the moon.” Irwin died in 1991 from a heart attack.

In Irwin’s book, “To Rule the Night,”he described his view of Earth from the moon, which looked like “a beautiful, fragile Christmas tree ornament hanging against the blackness of space.” The beauty of the mountains of the moon moved Irwin, and he said he felt the presence of God during his moonwalk. “The moon has a powerful force; it seems to affect the feelings and the behavior of everybody. I cannot imagine a holier place,” he wrote.

Some would consider the trip to the moon as one of man’s greatest accomplishments, but Irwin had a different perspective. Afterward, he frequently said, “I believe Jesus Christ walking on the earth is more important than man walking on the moon.”

Irwin retired from NASA in 1972 and founded High Flight, a Christian ministry. He traveled frequently and spoke to groups about the ways his experiences in space increased his awareness of the presence of God.

“My view is that all of them were profoundly affected by the experience of leaving the Earth and seeing the Earth in its true context,” Sington says. “The photographs they took were a revelation to everybody that helped shape the way we think of ourselves on the Earth,” he notes.

Some might consider the awareness gained by the men who walked on the moon as the ultimate mountaintop experience. “They had the experience firsthand, which is a different order of experience.”

Many of the astronauts saw the universe as fundamentally sterile, a seemingly endless dead expanse. By contrast, Earth appeared to be a very special oasis -- almost Edenic, and yet fragile. For some, this increased their environmental awareness, as well as a sense of gratitude about living on planet Earth. “They feel life in a slightly stronger way than the rest of us,” Sington observes.

Apollo 11 astronaut Mike Collins, the most affable of the astronauts to appear on camera, described a moment of exaltation in his orbiter as he realized he was alive in a place where there was no other life.

One of director Sington’s disappointments was his inability to persuade Neil Armstrong to abandon his notoriously reclusive nature and appear in the film. “I think I understand why he doesn’t want to talk about being on the moon,” Sington says. “He sees himself as a messenger, not the message, a representative of all of us. He takes that very seriously.”

Sington came away from the film more inclined to accept a spiritual dimension to life. It also made him a bit more optimistic about the future, based on the Apollo project’s demonstration that human societies – particularly democracies -- are capable of large-scale collective efforts apart from waging war.

“In some sense perceiving reality is spirituality,” Sington concludes. “Religion and Christianity says we’re missing what’s really important,” he says. “When you see things as they really are you get a more profound spiritual sense.”

“In the Shadow of the Moon” is rated PG for mild language, brief violent images, and incidental smoking.

[ASSIST News Service, PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA; Visit ANS website at: http://www.assistnews.net/ -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com]

P.S. You might also want to play this Flash movie "God of Wonders" by Tim Gibson. My personal preference is still the traditional hymns but Gibson's movie is quite appropriate after you have read Mark Ellis' article posted above.

Photojournalism (32): Photo essays and themes

2007-10-18T01:30:00.001+08:00

One way of teaching yourself to be more selective in your shots is to do a photo essay. Unlike indiscriminate shooting of subjects (or even a photo sequence), a photo essay requires planning: what to shoot, how to best shoot it, how this picture contributes to the essay, etc.

Limiting the topic for your photo essay

We’re all familiar with writing essays or themes for our English or Filipino subjects. What do teachers emphasize before you write out that essay? Limit your topic. The same advice holds true for a photo essay:

[1] Decide first what your general topic or your subject will be - people, places, events, programs, universal truths, etc.

[2] After deciding on your general topic, the next step is to come up with a limited topic. People- concentrate on one person or a specific group; places - your school, your community; activities - enrollment, graduation, summer class; universal truths - love between a mother and child, pizza’s the best thing ever to happen in history...

Using themes for your photo essay

A photo essay can make use of certain themes. Various pictures taken in different places, different times of the day, can be grouped together to illustrate a certain theme, whether serious or lighthearted, significant or trivial, like the pictures below which show students using chairs in creative ways other than sitting on them.

Speaking of themes ... if you have seen the Oscar best picture for l989, “The Last Emperor” directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, then you probably know that the recurring thematic device used all through the movie was the opening and closing of all kinds of doors or entrances.

Vary your shots

In whatever way you develop your photo essay, thematically or chronologically (we’ll discuss this next time), you have to vary your shots, your viewpoints. Use close-ups, medium shots, full shots and long shots. You have to employ a variety of lenses. You have to shoot at different times of the day; use different viewpoints (eye level, low and high). You also have to shoot using both horizontal and vertical formats.

Kinds of pictures in a photo essay

In a written essay, you have the introduction, the body, and the ending or conclusion. In a photo essay, you would need different kinds of pictures - establishing shots to show your viewers the setting or context of your subject; major actions, stages or developments, to illustrate your theme or subject: minor pictures which can serve as transitions; and, pictures that will effectively close out your photo essay.

In a written essay, you always try to end it with a punch, with a line or expression that gives it a sense of completeness, a sense that nothing has been left hanging. With a photo essay, you try to end it with a picture that also brings a sense of completeness. In literature, we call this sense of completeness as “catharsis” which means a purgation of the negative emotions created within the reader. In Hollywood film making and scriptwriting, it’s called “closure” which means that the ending must provide a sense of completeness, a sense that everything has been resolved satisfactorily.

Photojournalism (31): Photo essays and sequence shots

2007-10-12T20:40:00.002+08:00

“Hit or miss, trial and error, better luck next time, try and try again, next time make sure you’ve got film on your camera before you shoot, okay?”

These expressions best describe the emotions, the frustrations, the experiences you’ll have as you start to learn about photography. Some experiences you’d rather forget, some missed shots you’ll regret forever but just like life, photography is one activity where learning means building up through your experiences, growing by stages ... As rock star Alanis Morissette said in a hit song many years ago, “You live, you learn!”

Select your shots

One stage that you’ll go through as the photography bug hits you, is indiscriminate shooting. If you see something, you shoot it. If it’s out there, you shoot it. If something moves, you shoot it. You buy some more film, you shoot again ... As your skills improve however, you’ll become more selective in your shots. Your standards will become higher, and you’ll also realize that you don’t have enough money to buy all the film you need or want! (The high cost of film and processing, and the immediate results are some of the reasons why digital photography is such a big hit these days.)

Example of sequence shots

Remember our discussion of types of pictures and sequence shots? A sequence, as the term denotes, is a series of pictures of one subject, shot one after another. A photo sequence may or may not illustrate a certain idea or theme, but the series of pictures provides the viewers with more visual information about your subject. (Later on, you will learn that you can create a photo essay out of sequence shots.)

The pictures below are a sequence of a senior class having their yearbook picture taken. I shot these pictures way back in 1992 with my beloved Canon AE-1 Program camera fitted with an FD f/1.8 50 mm lens with a yellow-green filter, and power winder. After I shot the formal class picture, the fun began. If you mouse over each picture, the caption will appear for a few seconds.

Photojournalism (30): Shooting portraits

2007-10-10T03:00:00.004+08:00

The essence of portraiture is to capture or express an individual’s personality, to show something about the person’s life or work. As such, portrait photography need not be confined within the studio; it encompasses all kinds of ways of portraying people (like the so-called “environmental portrait” which we’ll discuss below). Furthermore, portraits can be close-ups, full shots (from head to foot) or long shots (the individual shown in relation to his or her environment).To do portrait photography on a limited, shoestring budget, we have to consider three things: the lens to use, the light source, and the physical setting.

What lens to use in shooting portraits

You can use your standard 50 mm lens for portraits; maintain a distance of about 5 feet or more for a head and shoulders shot. If you’re using a zoom or telephoto lens, take note of your minimum focusing distance. The so-called “portrait lens” has a focal length of 90 mm. Avoid using a wide angle lens for close-up portraits. Why? The lens will cause distortions and exaggerations of the nose, the forehead, etc. For environmental portraits however, you can use a wide angle lens.

What about digital cameras? Point and shoot digital camera models oftentimes have zoom lenses with a wide angle to telephoto range. Use the camera's wide angle seting for environmental portraits and the telephoto setting for head and shoulders portraits.

Light sources for portraits

Your light source can be your camera flash, ordinary room lights, or sunlight through windows or doors. On-camera flash (that is, flash placed in what is known as your SLR camera’s hot shoe), however, gives a frontally lit portrait with harsh shadows in the background. Solution? Shoot from a high angle so that the shadows would be hidden behind your subject (we will be taking up flash photography later on).

Be careful if you’re using flash as your light source for portraits. Some people, react instinctively to flash by closing their eyes. Solution? Shoot a lot of pictures, so you’ll have a lot of pictures of your subject with eyes closed ... just kidding! What usually happens after the second or third burst of your flash is that the subject becomes used to the flash.

Since we’re doing portraits on a shoestring budget, the light source need not be expensive, elaborate studio lights with umbrellas, reflectors, etc. In the picture above, my yearbook staffers and I had covered up all the windows of an abandoned room with newspapers, thus plunging the whole room into darkness, except for the light coming from the slightly open door.

The physical setting for portraits

In “environmental portraits”, we use the person’s natural, normal surroundings as the setting, instead of a studio. These could be any place where the setting could possibly say something about the person’s character.

The girl in the very first picture of this post was a very talented singer in our school a decade ago. Naturally, I wanted to show that aspect of her personality. I wanted a head and shoulders portrait, but decided that a horizontal format would be better than the usual vertical format for portraits. I also framed her between the Christmas trees. Since I had used my Vivitar 28-210 mm zoom lens set at its telephoto end and had shot her at about ten feet away, the lights became gorgeous looking, out of focus highlights. Looking back now, I really wish I had used color film to take this picture!

The pictures above (in full color!) are another example of environmental portraits. It’s a portrait of my nephew Gino in his natural environment – with his dolls and toys, and with a flower hat during a school presentation in Greenhills Christian Fellowship. Gino is cute because he looks like me. Hey, what can I say? Cuteness is in our genes!

Horizontal or vertical formats for portraits

Remember our lesson on formats? We usually shoot vertically when doing portraits. If you can’t decide however whether a vertical or horizontal format would be better, shoot your subject in both formats. Or, you can shoot a horizontal portrait like that of Rachelle in the first picture below. Later on, you can crop the image to come up with a vertical format portrait as in the next picture below.

What if you want to shoot somebody’s portrait but you’re in the wrong location, you don’t have the right viewpoint as when your subject’s back is turned towards you as in the two pictures below? What do you do? Call out your subject’s name to get his or her attention. When your subject turns towards you, take the picture. For example, you can say, “Hey, Angel! Kahit isang sulyap lang, Darna!”

Practical suggestions in shooting portraits

[1] When you’re shooting pictures of someone wearing glasses, focus on the eyes, not on the eyeglasses. Also, ask your subject to pull his/her chin a little bit downward so that the eyeglasses won’t have unwanted reflections, as in the picture above.

[2] Always play up your subject’s best features. The girl on the left in the picture below has very cute, very pronounced dimples, and so I took her picture from the side.

[3] Remember the picture below of my nephew JR? He’s cute, right? That’s because he looks like me! If you draw a diagonal line from the lower left hand corner up to the upper right hand corner, you’ll notice that the stuffed toy, JR’s eyes, nose and forehead all lie along that line. This line is known as the “picture diagonal” and you should always strive to place the important elements of your photograph along this line. The picture diagonal of course may also extend from the lower right hand corner up to the upper left hand corner.

Portraits need not be of a single person only; there’s such a thing as group portrait, okay? You can liven up a portrait through the appropriate props.

[4] Use foreground and background blur

A blurred background or foreground is ideal for portraits since you would be “erasing” any distracting element, as in the two pictures above. Please review our lesson in foreground and background, ok?) If you are using however a point and shoot camera (whether film-based or digital) with a fixed focus lens, you cannot achieve this effect. You've got to use an SLR camera (whether film-based or digital) with a manual focus lens or with an autofocus lens that can be locked at a certain point or area of your image.

Photojournalism (29): Shooting at night

2007-10-07T20:39:00.001+08:00

When darkness sets in, beginning photographers like some of you, would just pack away your cameras and go home to watch your favorite telenovela. Some of you, however, might automatically turn on your camera flash. While your flash is an oftentimes indispensable tool, it creates harsh shadows, and there are situations when your flash output won’t be enough to properly illuminate your subject.

In this kind of situation, you have to use the B-setting on your SLR camera’s shutter speed dial. With a lot of camera models, the slowest shutter speed is 30 seconds. After this number, you’ll find the letter “B” on the shutter speed dial. With some advanced camera models, there’s no longer any B-setting. Instead, you will find slow shutter speeds of 45 to 60 seconds or even more.

(I have been using a borrowed amateur model digital camera for only a short period of time. So I don’t know yet how to shoot pictures at night using a digital camera. But once I learn how, I will tell you about it, okay?)

Here’s how to use the B-setting:

(1) Place your camera on a tripod, a table or any sturdy structure.

(2) Attach a cable release to your shutter release button.

(3) Focus on your subject.

(4) Fire the shutter, lock the cable release.

(5) Release the lock after you reach your desired exposure time.

Use a watch with a seconds hand to time your exposures. Keep a flashlight handy also, so you can always check on your settings and surroundings. Make sure you’re not stepping on a snake or something, okay?

Reciprocity failure

Take note that with long exposure times, "reciprocity failure" will occur. What does this mean? The effective ISO rating of your film decreases, resulting in underexposed shots. What’s the solution? Adjust your lens opening; using still longer exposure times will only worsen the problem. (If you're using a digital camera, there's no need to worry about reciprocity failure, okay?)

Believe it or not, the picture above (which I took way back during the 1993 National Secondary Schools Press Conference held in Rizal High School in Pasig) became controversial. When we published this picture in our yearbook, a lot of people said that the three people on the lower left hand corner were ghosts! They said, “Look at their clothes, they’re like those worn by our Spanish ancestors. And look, their images aren’t solid. They’re transparent, the light just goes through them.”

Some people even wanted to ask a priest to bless and exorcise that spot. Really! I hate to be unkind but the people who said these things absolutely did not know anything about photography! I may sound so harsh but hey, reality bites! Let me explain …

Look at the picture above. These aren’t ghosts; they’re my staffers whom I asked to pose underneath the lamp post. I used f/5.6 as lens opening and 30 seconds as shutter speed. Somebody walked by, between my staffers and my camera which was set on a tripod. But where is he in the picture? No matter how and where you look, you won’t find that guy. Why? He did not stay in one place long enough to be recorded in my film.

Coming back to the controversial picture above, these three people (delegates from Region 10 or 12, if I remember right) stayed in their place long enough for them to be recorded on film. But since they were moving about a little (I used f/8 at 45 seconds), their images aren’t solid but blurred, almost transparent, lacking solidity. This kind of images is called “ghost images.” Ghost images, not actual ghosts, okay?

Light streaks and trails

If your subject includes fast moving vehicles, you won’t be able to record them on film since they wouldn’t be staying in one place long enough to be recorded. But you will be able to record their lights in terms of streaks and trails. If you’re shooting color film, the light trails will be red (for brake lights) and yellow (for headlights).

Auras and Kirlian photography

Psychics believe that every person projects an “aura” which are visible to them but not to others. “Kirlian photography,” a process developed by the Russians (I stand to be corrected on this, okay?) is said to be able to record on film a person’s aura. Actually, this process records electrical discharges emitted by the human body.

How to focus when shooting at night

Because of the darkness, you might find it difficult focusing on your subject. Solution? Try focusing on distinct points of light near your subject, like the streetlights in the picture below. I took this picture of the floodway in Pasig sometime in 1997 or 1998. I used my beloved Canon AE-1 Program camera and a Vivitar 28-210 mm zoom lens to take this shot. The streetlights seem a bit out of focus; that’s because I took the shot from the middle of the Legaspi Bridge spanning the two banks of the floodway. A lot of vehicles were moving across the bridge, and, although mounted on a sturdy tripod, my camera would shake a bit as vehicles passed by. (As motorists passed by me, some would tease me by saying, “Kami na lang ang kunan mo!”)

Also, you’ll notice that when you have locked your cable release, you wouldn’t be able to see your subject through the viewfinder. This “image blackout” occurs because the rapid return mirror is blocking your view of the image.

Bracketing your shots

It is really only experience which can tell you how long your exposures should be. Always bracket your shots, therefore. This simply means to take several shots using different exposure times. (Of course, with photo editing software, you can edit and manipulate your images to your heart’s content and to achieve the look you want.)

If you use small apertures or lens openings (more on this topic later on), you’ll create cross screen patterns similar to the effect created by starburst filters. In the picture above, you can see these patterns in the lights hanging on the trees.

On the bottom portion of the picture above, what can you see? Oh, my ghosts!

Photojournalism (28): Silhouettes

2007-10-01T00:25:00.001+08:00

The dictionary defines “silhouette” as an “image in which only the outline shape of a dark subject appears against a lighter background.” This word came from Etienne de Silhouette, the Minister of Finance in France way back in 1759. He cut out portraits of people from black paper and pasted them on light-colored backgrounds. Incidentally, the original Book of Lists listed “silhouette” as one of the ten most beautiful sounding words in the English language.

Shooting against the light creates silhouettes

Remember our lesson on the quality and direction of light? Generally, you should shoot your subjects with the sun behind you. Shooting against the light (“contra luz”) creates high contrast which leads to burned out highlights and solid shadows. If you do want, however, to create silhouettes, shooting against the light is exactly the thing to do. By taking your exposure reading from the brightly lit background, objects in the foreground will be reduced to their outlines. Sometimes, however, to show the context of your image, you should have some details still visible in the foreground.

Backgrounds for silhouettes

Usually, the bright sky serves as the background for silhouette shots (as in the two pictures above). You can also use water backgrounds, shaded subjects against sunlit backgrounds, and atmospheric backgrounds like haze, fog and smoke (as in the picture below).

"Better English for Filipinos" now online

2007-09-24T07:49:00.000+08:00

This website, located at http://www.betterenglish.org.ph/, offers Filipino teachers and students hundreds of links to free interactive exercises and activities in grammar (nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections), spelling, listening, speaking and pronunciation, idioms, vocabulary, reading and writing from the best ESL and EFL resources on the Internet.

It also has links to numerous free online resources such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, translators, diagnostic tests, thousands of literary works, online newspapers and Internet radio stations from around the world, etc.

A unique feature of this website is the section on "Learning English and creative writing through photographs." Related to this section is the blog "A picture is worth a thousand words ..."

Note: I am currently putting the finishing touches to another website titled "English for Asians and Africans" which will offer, besides the resources mentioned above, free online tutoring in conversational English. Hopefully, this website will be online on or before the end of October.

Photojournalism (27): Reflections

2007-09-24T07:48:00.001+08:00

Greek mythology tells us the story of Narcissus, a handsome young man, who passed by a river one day. Bending down to drink, he saw his reflection on the surface of the water. Fascinated with how handsome he was, Narcissus fell in love with himself. Psychologists have, therefore, coined the term “narcissism” to refer to a person’s extreme love of self.

Speaking of reflections and extremes, one extremely fine way of expressing your creativity is to shoot objects and/or their reflections on glass, windows, water, etc. Reflections can be used in a variety of ways:

(1) to create abstract designs;

(2) to portray a timeless world of dreams and fantasies; and

(3) to create romantic and nostalgic images (as in the picture below of a high school barkada obviously enjoying each other’s company).

Shoot the reflection alone, or shoot the object and its reflection

You may choose either to shoot the reflection alone, or both the object and its reflection. When shooting both, you have to use a small aperture or lens opening (more on this topic later) to render both elements sharp. You should also focus on the reflection rather than on the object creating the reflection.

Look at the picture above. Since you can’t turn your computer monitor upside down, stand up and then look at this picture with your head upside down. I know it’s a little bit acrobatic but hey it’s worth it! You will know what this picture is all about. The image of the trees, students and building are all repeated as reflections in the water in the foreground area. This is probably the best picture I have ever taken in my life. Hoo-ya!

I took the picture shown above way back in October 1989. I’ve noticed previously that every time it rained hard, the front area of the gymnasium of Rizal High School in Pasig would become flooded, and there would be reflections on the water of the trees and that building on the background. I decided that this would make a good subject for a photograph. And so I brought my beloved Canon AE-1 Program SLR camera everyday with me to school, and waited for the rain to come. I brought along my camera every day for one month, and it didn’t rain for one whole month! And so one day, I simply gave up and left my camera at home. Guess what happened? It rained hard that day!

I went home after the lunch break (pizza!), got my camera and loaded it with Negrapan (a black and white film manufactured in Spain). I knew I couldn’t use color film because the water was muddy brown in color; with monochrome film, it didn’t matter. I didn’t have a zoom lens at that time and so I used my Canon FD f/1.8 normal lens. I got back to school at around four in the afternoon. I focused on the reflections, and because it was late afternoon, I was forced to use a slow shutter speed of 1/30 sec. with an f/5.6 lens opening, for the right depth of field. (Later on we’ll discuss shutter speeds, lens openings and depth of field.)

In the picture above, I first saw the reflection of the water tank. To provide some human interest, I asked this kid to pose beside the reflection.

Learn from other photographers

One way of developing your style is by “imitating” the work of photographers whose work you admire. The picture above is my imitation of Hénri Cartiér Brésson’s famous photograph of a man jumping over a puddle of water. In that classic photograph, the man and his reflection echoed the graceful pose of a dancer in a poster at the left side of the picture. I didn’t have a dancer nor a poster, but I did have a blurry student, ripples on the water, and reflections of the building and students in the background. Yes! Yes! Step aside, Hénri!

Photojournalism (26): Shadows

2007-09-17T07:10:00.001+08:00

William Henry Fox Talbot, considered as the father of photography, once said, “Photography is the art of fixing a shadow.” Historians of photography however, are not really sure about what he meant by this statement. Anyway, shadows are fascinating subjects for your photographs.

The sun, being the primary source of light for much of photography and being much larger than the earth, creates shadows wherever the photographer or the subject may be. To borrow the title of a C. S. Lewis book, the earth is a “shadowlands” and anyone aspiring to become a good photographer, must always be on the lookout for interesting shadows. And following Fox Talbot’s definition of photography, photographers must become “shadow masters.”

Kinds of shadows: cast or contained

Cast shadows are created on a separate subject, not on the main subject itself (like in the picture below of the shadows of the trash can and the three students passing by it).

Contained shadows, on the other hand, are inside the boundaries of the subject. Most of the time, there are cast and contained shadows interplaying with one another (as in the picture below).

Creating a sense of mystery or intrigue with shadows

To create mystery or intrigue, you can exclude the object forming a cast shadow; the shadow itself becomes the main subject. The picture below is a cropped portion of the picture above of the shadow of the trees falling upon the flagpole.

At first glance, the picture above seem to be out of place here since it looks like it’s an illustration for a lesson on converging verticals or vanishing points. Notice however, that on the cement floor, you’ll find a shadow which spells out the word “paaralan.” Our school’s main building has huge stone markers on the roof spelling out “Mataas na Paaralan ng Rizal” and every day at around 2:30 in the afternoon, the sun would cast the shadows of these markers on the floor below. As the sun sets down, these shadows disappear, only to return again the next day.

Remember that opening scene in the classic movie “Rebel Without a Cause” starring James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo? This movie, by the way, was the inspiration for the “Rush, Rush” video of Paula Abdul and Keanu Reeves many, many years ago. James Dean got into trouble with his classmates on the first day of classes when he stepped unintentionally on the school marker.

I taught in Rizal High School from 1984 up to 1995. Every afternoon when I would see that “paaralan” shadow and students stepping on that shadow without even noticing it, I would have the urge to grab these students, hold them up by the collar, and scream at them, “Who do you think you are? James Dean?” But I would probably have gotten into trouble if I did, and so I just kept these things to myself ...

As a creative photographer, you’ve got to see photo opportunities other people miss

What’s my point? Well, one, as a creative photographer, you’ve got to see photo opportunities where other people might simply see insubstantial, ephemeral shadows on concrete floors.

Two, watch classic movies (no, “Takot Ako sa Darling Ko” starring Joey de Leon and Jenny Syquia isn’t a classic) and good music videos (like the oldie “When You’re Gone” by The Cranberries with its creative use of flare, sidelighting, and its haunting setting - the Dachau concentration camp where thousands of Jews were exterminated during World War II by the Nazis). Photography is all about images and what better way to learn about images than from movies and music videos? But choose only those music videos with a positive viewpoint and general patronage imagery, okay?

I don’t know why but a lot of photographers do not like having their pictures taken. Well, one way a photographer can be present in a picture without being obtrusive or too obvious is to include his or her shadow in the photograph (needless to say, the light source must be behind the photographer to achieve this kind of effect).

Photojournalism (25): Shooting groups

2007-09-10T09:24:00.004+08:00

The Greek philosopher Aristotle, in describing human nature, once said: “Man is a political animal, gregarious by nature.” In simpler terms, he was saying that everyone wants to belong to or needs to belong to a group, to an association, to a club, or to a “berk” in today’s lingo.

In the picture above, we have a group of students practicing for a choral interpretation competition. I don’t know why but these students and their costumes always make me think of a group of lemmings on the way to self-destruction.

Goal in shooting groups: convey the group’s sense of unity and belonging

When you’re shooting groups, your goal is to convey to your viewers the sense of unity and belonging (like in the picture above of a group of high school friends), and the collective identity of the group. This can be done in several ways:

(1) by choosing the appropriate setting or background

(2) the use of props or uniforms, like those of these modern dancers

(3) by making the members feel relaxed and comfortable so that they’ll react naturally, spontaneously with one another like these girl scouts

Formal group shots: observe the group’s hierarchy

Group shots can be formal or informal, serious or lighthearted. When positioning the members for a formal shot, you’ll oftentimes have to follow the group’s hierarchy - officers in the front rows (like in the picture above of the Rizal High School 1992 yearbook staff), the older family members in the middle ...

Informal group shots: anything goes

For informal shots like the picture above, you should let the individuals choose whatever positions, gestures and expressions they want. You have to establish rapport with the group members; talk to them, humor them, capture their attention by whatever silly antics you can do ...

Choosing your viewpoint in shooting groups; shoot several frames

Remember our lesson in choosing your viewpoint? For group shots, you should use a high angle point of view so that everyone can be seen. Shoot several frames of the group since there will always be some people who are not ready, or with their eyes closed. By taking several shots, you can choose later on which picture contains the best facial expressions from the group members.

Focal point or center of interest; odd-numbered groups

Compose your group shot in such a way it has a focal point or center of interest, like that girl in the middle of the front row of the very first picture in this post. Please take note that it is easier to shoot an odd-numbered group rather than an even-numbered group. With an odd-numbered group, you can simply place one of the group members in the middle of the frame. You can then distribute the others to the left and right of that group member.

Triangular composition in shooting groups

You may also follow a triangular composition where you have several rows, with each row getting successively smaller. In the picture above, I got a triangular composition with the students forming the base and the head of Rizal’s statue being the apex of the triangle.

Fill the frame

By whatever way you compose your group shot, make sure that you fill the frame, that there are no wasted spaces around your subject, like in the picture above of the modern dancers. Study the four corners of the subject before taking the shot. And always use a small aperture for a wide depth of field (more on this topic later).

If you’re shooting several rows, make sure that the rows are not too wide. Otherwise, you’ll have lots of empty, wasted spaces at the bottom and top portions of your picture. Remember, fill the frame with your subject! Study the four corners of your image before shooting.

How to shoot class pictures

Here are the steps in shooting class pictures:

(1) Ask the students to line up according to height, smallest student in front.

(2) Position the class adviser in the middle of the first row. Place the president of the class and the vice-president to the right and to the left of the adviser.

(3) The other officers of the class should be distributed evenly according to height on either side of the adviser. The taller officers should be placed nearer the center while the smaller officers should be placed at the edges.

(4) The first row should be odd numbered with about a maximum of nine individuals comprising the row.

(5) The class muse and escort should be placed in the middle of the second row, immediately behind of the class adviser.

(6) Since the first row is odd numbered, the second row should be even numbered. Place the other students in between the students in the first row. Start with the smaller guys and girls. The idea is to place the taller members of the class in the last rows.

(7) Arrange your 3rd, 4th and 5th rows. Unless you have 70 to 80 students in a class, 4 to 5 rows will be enough. Stand back, look at the group. Make sure there are no unsightly gaps, and that everyone can be seen.

(8) Always bracket your shots. Take your pictures in a brisk manner because students easily lose interest (just like in math class!). After the formal shots, you can now have some fun with your informal shots, as in the picture below. Enjoy!

Photojournalism (24): Types of pictures

2007-09-02T23:01:00.004+08:00

Pictures can be classified in the following ways:

unique images

words and numbers

juxtaposition

point pictures

sequence shots

establishing shots

key personalities

We have just taken up photographic composition, and one other way for you to decide how best to compose your photographs is to think about what type of picture you want.

Unique images

What do bored people usually say? “Done that, been there, seen it before!” This category covers all photographs whose impact lies on their never having been seen before. I’m sure you’ve heard the song “Footprints in the Sand.” It was a number one hit on the Billboard gospel chart many, many years ago and then it crossed over, again as number one, into the pop chart. Well, the picture above can be titled “Footprints in the Corridor.” It was about 8 AM and I came across a group of students who were participating in a Speech Festival. They had covered their whole bodies with a chalk-like powder. To get to the venue of the competition, they had to walk though the corridor, leaving their footprints all over the place.

I hesitated shooting the footprints. I wanted to save my Kodak Tri-X film for the contest and I wasn’t sure if those footprints had any significant value as the subject of a photograph. (I also kept thinking about Alexander Defoe and his fictional character Robinson Crusoe finding that single footstep on the beach.) I managed to shoot two frames before the janitor mopped away those footprints.

Try shooting the audience, the spectators

Who knows, you might be able to shoot an interesting spectator like this Katipunero in the picture above? Notice that he’s the only guy in the picture. You might also be able to shoot a girl, watching from the sidelines, who has too much make-up, as in the picture below.

Or you can turn the tables and try shooting the photographers covering an event as in the picture below. Here, my attention was caught by that old photographer (kneeling) on the right.

Words, letters, numbers

These elements may be used to attract the viewer’s attention. Always be on the lookout for announcements or ads which have humorous, grammatical errors. In the picture below, the words written in chalk on the hollow blocks, at first glance, seem to have been the handiwork of a dyslexic individual. On a closer look, however, the letters spell out several words and names like “Guess,” “Ryan” and “Gwen.” Speaking of dyslexia, did you know MI-3 actor Tom Cruise and singer-actress Cher suffered from dyslexia?

Juxtaposition

In juxtaposition, you combine two or more images into a single photograph in order to express an idea, emotion or to show a certain relationship. In the picture below, for example, I combined the images of man (the students), nature (the towering acacia tree) and a man-made object (the partially hidden backboard on the right). Symbolism? Possibly, Mother Nature reigns supreme over everything, or something of that sort …

Point pictures; fillers

Point pictures are those used by publications to illustrate certain portions of an article, or used as fillers for layout purposes. (When we discuss campus news photography, I will tell you about shooting and keeping stock pictures.) For example, the picture below of students studying can be used for a variety of articles.

Sequence shots

Sequence shots are several pictures of the same subject generally taken from the same viewpoint, showing various emotions or the progress of any action. In the first picture below, an adventurous freshman climbs up the acacia tree on a dare by his classmates. In the second picture, that freshman now faces the greatest dilemma of his young life - how to get down from that tree. Poor kid! The last time I looked, he was still up on that tree, and his classmates are already in college! Really! No kidding!

Establishing shots

Establishing shots are usually wide angle shots that show the viewer the physical context or the setting of an event, activity or program - What is the program all about? Who are the participants? Who are the spectators? Where is the venue?

Key personalities

The key personalities in any program or activity may be the lead actors, actresses, directors, the judges, etc.

Photojournalism (23): Composition

2007-08-29T16:46:00.001+08:00

From your English and Filipino subjects, you will remember that your essays (or compositions) need a certain structure – the introduction, the body and the ending or conclusion. Everything has to fit together just right. As your language teachers would say, your composition needs unity or coherence.

If you hang around photographers (whether professionals or serious hobbyists), you will constantly hear the word “composition.” Just like with your essays, the elements of your photographs have to fit just right, with no extraneous details. With photography, you’re concerned with the best possible ways to come up with aesthetically pleasing images. “To the max,” as some of you might say.

We have already discussed some “rules” and “techniques” in photography, like the rule of thirds, the use of diagonal lines, quality and direction of light, etc. If you’re a beginning photographer, it’s good training for you to look at pictures in books and magazines taken by famous photographers, and analyzing them in terms of the rules or techniques.

Photography and “A House Full of Memories”

I remember way back in 1979, I saw an award-winning picture taken by Ed Santiago, who is considered as the dean of photojournalists in the Philippines. It was a picture of a row of the century old Spanish type houses in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. That picture (entitled “A House Full of Memories”) greatly encouraged me to learn photography. Looking back now, that award winning picture used diagonal lines, patterns and natural frames.

In one magazine interview, Ed Santiago said that he discouraged his children from taking up photography because of the low pay and the hardships involved. What happened? You guessed it right; all his children went into photography as their careers.

I had the privilege of meeting Ed Santiago during the 1993 National Secondary Schools Press Conference in Rizal High School in Pasig. I was helping out the NSSPC organizers led by Miss Elena Tanodra when to my surprise, Ed Santiago asked me to help him out by being one of the members of the panel of judges for the photojournalism competition. That was when I told him about “A House Full of Memories” and its impact on me.

Learning good photography from National Geographic magazines

One cheap way of learning how to shoot good pictures is to buy the old editions of National Geographic magazines, available in second hand bookstores. The photographers who work for this magazine are some of the best in the world, and you will learn a lot from looking and analyzing their pictures. One article I read said that photographers for National Geographic (before the advent of digital photography) were provided with several hundred rolls of film just for one assignment. Wow!

For beginning photographers, the tendency with having that many rolls of film is to shoot wildly, shooting anything that moves or anything that crosses our viewfinder, hoping that we will somehow produce a good picture. In one interview before he died in 1985, world famous Ansel Adams said that he came to a point in his career that he could expect to get only three good pictures for every roll of film he shot.

Having seen good photographs by good photographers and analyzing them in terms of the techniques used, you will become more discriminating in your choice of shots. You will be able to decide almost instantaneously what photographic techniques to use as the image or the event develops (no pun intended) before you.

Decide first what theme, emotion, idea or concept you want to convey

Paul Brand, considered as the world’s best documentary photographer, once said, “The world is full of picture makers who have nothing to say.” One good approach is to decide what theme, emotion, idea or concept you want to convey to your viewers. (Remember our discussion on learning how to see photographically?) After that, you can then choose only those elements or techniques that would help express such theme or idea. Ask yourself, “What do I want to say? What do I want this picture to express to the viewer? How do I want the viewer to react? ” The next things to ask are, “What elements do I emphasize or exclude, what techniques do I use to express this theme, this emotion?”

The acacia trees in the picture above, I’m told, have been part of Rizal High School in Pasig since the early 1900’s. The school was established in 1902 by the “Thomasites,” the first group of American teachers who came to the Philippines after the US gained possession of the Philippines from the Spaniards. I remember studying under these trees when I was a high school student in the 1970’s. I remember being chased around these trees by a lot of pretty girls. Hey, what can I say? I owed a lot of people a lot of money in those youthful days!

Fast forward from the 1970’s to 1991. I was then working in my alma mater (which is Latin for “pure or chaste mother” if you care to know). I wanted a picture that would express the idea that these trees have been silent witnesses to the lives of thousands of students who have studied in this school over more than ninety years. (Rizal High School has been credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest school in the world with over 26,000 students. But as of schoolyear 2006-07, its enrollment went down to around 8,000. Reason is, a lot of the annexes have become independent high schools.) I wanted to express the idea that while some things may come and go, these trees will always be there.

I focused on the nearest tree, centering it on the viewfinder. I loved the interplay of the late afternoon sunlight and the shadows on the trees and the wall. I felt however that there was something missing from the picture, and so I waited. Then I saw two students walking behind me. I raised my camera, and when they were just a little beyond the shadows on the wall, I took the picture.

These students provide the photograph a sense of scale in that we can estimate the size of the acacia trees through them. They also provide a sense of action; notice that they’re walking together in perfect cadence. The acacia tree and the boys both cast their shadows on the wall, and these provided the photograph with the sense of permanence and change I wanted to express.

Think about the best way to shoot your subjects before actually doing so

Composing your shots doesn’t mean that you have to spend four to five weeks agonizing over how best to shoot your subjects. It simply means thinking about how best to shoot your subjects before actually doing so. The picture above, for example. The students were standing up, so I had focused on them at normal eye level point of view. They suddenly dropped down to the ground, and I instinctively dropped down too, on one knee. But then I knew that from such a viewpoint, I would only be able to shoot the girls in front; they would fill up the viewfinder, hiding from view the students behind them. I immediately stood up and took this shot from a now high angle point of view. All these took place in a matter of seconds.

Composition, geometry and hidden patterns

Remember our discussion on the rule of 3rds? The ways by which you place the elements of your image in any of the four intersecting points can create a variety of looks for the final picture. If you want a balanced look for your picture, for example, you have to place the elements at diagonally opposite intersections, like in the picture above of the boy and girl on the grass (where the students are at the upper left hand corner and the out-of-focus foliage is at the opposite right hand corner of the photograph).

Henri Cartier Bresson, considered as the father of photojournalism (he died two or three years ago), once said that in every good picture, there is a hidden geometric pattern. To form a triangle, for example, you can place certain elements of your image at or near any three of the intersecting points. For example, can you see the triangle in the picture above? The student who’s lying prostrate on the ground at the lower left hand and the bottle form the base of the triangle, with the apex being the head of the student in the middle, background area of the picture.

Okay now, what geometric patterns can be seen in the pictures below? Come on now, guys, don’t disappoint your Lolo Henri!

Other ways of composing your shots

Besides placing your subject in the dead center of your picture, following the rule of 3rds, and looking for hidden geometric patterns, there are several other ways of composing the various elements of your subject into an aesthetically pleasing image.

[1] Visual balance

In the picture above, the building is my main subject while the three girls on the lower right hand corner serve to balance things out. Without them, the photograph would look terribly out of balance; the left hand side would appear much heavier than the right hand side. While looking at the building through the viewfinder, out of the corner of my eye, I saw these three girls walking towards me. When they were just in the right spot, I took the picture.

(Please notice that the building appears to be falling off towards the background. This is known as the "keystoning effect." The reason for this is that the film plane and the subject plane are not parallel. More on this later, I promise.)

[2] Place vertical elements against horizontal elements, or vice-versa

With the picture above, my yearbook staffer makes friends with the statue of Amang Rodriguez. Here, I composed the shot by placing vertical shapes (my student and the statue) against a background made up of horizontal lines.

[3] Contrast one object in sharp focus with another object that is out of focus

Speaking of contrast, you can also compose your shot by placing together one object sharply in focus and another that is out of focus (in the picture above, the bottle in the foreground is in focus while the students in the background are slightly out of focus).

[4] Using linear perspective

Remember our discussion of linear perspective? You can compose your shots keeping in mind the effect of linear perspective, that is, elements located at different positions relative to the camera will be recorded as being of different sizes, although they may actually be of the same size. In the first picture above, for example, the girl with the pig tails in the foreground is actually the smallest among the performers, but because of her position, she seems to be the tallest. In the second picture, the students at the foreground, meditating on the roof of a three story building, seem to dwarf the other students (in the middle of the frame) who are farther away from the camera.

[5] Balance by tone

Remember our discussion of tone? In the picture above, I composed the shot by balancing the image, with the girls in black on the left side of the frame balanced by the solitary guy in white on the right hand side.

[6] Using the picture diagonal

Another way of composing your shots is to place the most important elements of your image along the "picture diagonal," as in the picture above. If you draw mentally a diagonal line stretching from the lower right hand corner up to the upper right hand corner, you will notice that the guy’s left hand, his body and face and his right hand all fall along the diagonal line.

The picture diagonal can also be placed from the lower left hand corner stretching up to the upper right hand corner, like in the picture above of my cute nephew JR who looks like me. Hey, what can I say? Cuteness is in our genes!

Breaking the rules to get better photographs

Following the techniques of composition in shooting your subjects generally yields good photographs. But these are not meant to be straitjackets to stifle your creativity. Never be afraid of breaking the rules when doing so would create “better” pictures. Always be aware of the possibilities that the subject presents to you, and never be afraid to explore all the creative potentials.

I don’t know if you have ever seen martial arts superstar Bruce Lee’s final movie, “The Game of Death.” He was able to shoot only the last 15 minutes of the movie before he died. The climax occurs in a pagoda where he meets several opponents coming from different martial arts styles. He first meets a Hapkido master, then a weapons expert played by Filipino Dan Inosanto, and finally he meets NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar who represented the “Unknown Style” of fighting. In each encounter, Bruce Lee had to forget his set training and adapt his fighting techniques to the situation he found himself up against.

Each subject presents unique possibilities

The same thing may be said of photography. Don’t be bound by a “style” which you may have been taught or trained in. Each subject presents unique possibilities. Let the subject itself decide how you’re going to shoot it! Let’s say you have always used a telephoto lens; maybe the subject you’re shooting now calls for a wide angle lens. Maybe, you’ve always liked blurred backgrounds but your subject right now would be better with foreground blur ...

For example, Annie Leibovitz is the best portrait and editorial photographer in the world, ranking number 2 in American Photo’s 1996 survey of the 100 most important people in photography. Did you know she once asked Olympic hero Carl Lewis to wear high heels for a photo project? She had always worked in the studio with several assistants, and with lots of lights, reflectors and other equipment. In 1993, however, she went alone to Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina which was then experiencing a civil war along ethnic, religious and political lines. She shot ordinary men and women using only available light.

(Using camera flash in a war zone is extremely dangerous. If you and your subjects are in hiding, using the flash could give away your position. Worse, the flash of light could be mistaken as coming from the muzzle of a gun, and that could unwittingly invite retaliatory gunfire from the combatants. We will discuss using the camera flash later on. In the meantime, try to find a DVD of the movie “Flowers for Harrison.” It’s a powerful, gut wrenching, for adults only, movie about photographers in the midst of the Bosnian civil war.)

Ways to improve your composition skills

[1] Practice picture composition by looking at your subjects through the viewfinder, without actually shooting.

[2] Look at your subjects through the viewfinder and shoot them, without any film on your camera. If you’re using a digital camera, then it’s okay to shoot your subjects. You can simply erase your files later on.

[3] Do it in the mind’s eye; with only your eyes, your imagination, visualize how your subject would look on film, in print, or in the computer screen (that is, if you’re into digital photography and placing your pictures on the Internet).

[4] Do it the way movie directors sometimes do. Use both hands to frame your subject and to visualize how your subject will look on film, print or the computer screen. BUT don’t do this while you’re in the mall, okay?

Photojournalism (22): Conveying depth

2007-08-26T22:10:00.002+08:00

Jughead is that lazy but lovable character in the cartoon strip “Archie.” One time, to impress other people, he suddenly takes up painting. Reggie passes by and Jughead asks him, “I want to give this painting more depth! Any suggestions?” Reggie, turned off by Jughead’s pretentiousness replies, “Yeah, throw your painting into the ocean!”

As we have discussed before, a photograph is two-dimensional, with width and height but no depth. Oftentimes, when we look at our pictures, they look so disappointingly different from what we saw with our eyes. The primary reason for this is that we have failed to adequately and deliberately play up the illusion of depth in our pictures.

Remember that our eyes and the camera see things differently. As Galen Rowell, a self-taught photographer now considered as America’s foremost scenic photographer and writer, once said in an interview, “film is a foreign language.” What he’s saying is that we’ve got to learn the nuances of film, of photography, in order to come up with better photographs. Incidentally, Rowell was an auto-mechanic before he took up photography. Great career change, huh?

Ways to create depth in photographs

Besides throwing your pictures into the ocean, there are several other ways to create and more adequately convey the illusion of depth in your pictures. These are:

converging lines
selective or differential focusing
sidelighting or backlighting
atmospheric haze
contrast of same-sized objects
natural frames
overlapping objects or forms
diminishing detail
the difference in the intensity of tones or colors

Converging lines

In the picture below, I used natural frames, converging lines and difference in tones to convey depth. I used the roof of the open canteen where I was and the ground to frame the building which was my main subject. Since I took my exposure from the flagpole area, the roof and the ground were recorded totally black (while the rest of the image shows various shades of gray. From my oblique point of view, the edge of the roof, the ground and the iron fence seem to be converging towards the vanishing point at the left side of the picture.

Difference in tone; diminishing details

Remember our discussion of tone? Well, photographs with a full tonal range from deep blacks to pure whites, with varying shades of gray, can convey depth better than photographs with low contrast.

I took the picture above way, way back in 1986. Some of you may not have been born yet at that time! The red bloomers and pink flowers on the foreground look much deeper or saturated in color and more detailed than the bloomers and flowers in the background. The differences in the intensity of the colors and the diminishing details from the foreground to the background both help convey depth.

Selective or differential focusing

The picture above has a blurred background because of the shallow depth of field (we will discuss lens openings later on). Through the use of differential focusing or selective focusing, the student-actress and actor both seem “separated” from their backgrounds. The students seem to have been simply cut out with scissors and then pasted on the background.

When one object appears larger than other objects which may be of the same size, the larger object is perceived by our minds as being closer. The teacher on the left corner of the picture above appears larger than the solitary guy in the middle who’s covering his head from the rain (can you pick him out?) and the students in the background. Notice also that the chairs are all the same size but those in the foreground look larger than those in the background. The contrast creates the sense of depth.

With the picture above, the student sitting on the foreground area appears larger than the boy walking past him, the female students in the background, and the statue framed by the tree in the middle. The student in the foreground is therefore perceived by our minds as being closer.

Atmospheric haze

Remember our discussion on atmospheric haze? Distant subjects appear lighter in tone and less distinct in appearance than nearby subjects. One technique that professional photographers use is to provide so-called “distance cues” or “foreground interest.” With distance cues, you have to provide the viewer some guide to differentiate the foreground, middle ground and the background. (We will discuss later on what is known as false attachment.) These guides will provide not only the illusion of depth but also a sense of scale. With foreground interest, it is common to place persons (like the students playing in the athletic oval in picture above) or other objects in the foreground to provide depth and scale.

Sidelighting

Sidelighting (as in the picture below) creates depth by “separating” the subject from the background and by providing what photographers call “modeling” or a three dimensional effect.

Overlapping objects or forms

Our minds have been conditioned to think that objects hidden from view are farther away, while those which hide them from view are perceived as being nearer. When objects or forms (like the girls and cadets in the picture above) overlap one another, the sense of depth is thus created. Why? Because we can’t see through these objects. We don’t have X-ray vision like Superman, or that teenaged protagonist in National Artist Nick Joaquin’s short story “Candido’s Apocalypse” who acquires the ability to see through clothes, flesh and bones and the human spirit, in his quest for God.

Photojournalism (21): Natural frames

2007-08-22T15:07:00.003+08:00

Natural frames, as the term suggests, are those found in nature, in your surroundings like windows, doorways, arches, trees, a fence, etc. and which can be effectively used to emphasize or to isolate your subject. If you want to make better photographs almost instantaneously, you should make use of natural frames.

In the first picture above, for example, the scene (a high school class having their group picture taken) is framed by the branches of a tree. I was on the 2nd floor of a building overlooking the scene and I purposely placed that class within the frame created by the branches.

In the second picture above, I had been shooting lots of pictures of the practices for the field demonstration at ground level. I wanted to shoot from a higher point of view, so I went up to the 2nd floor of a nearby building. I got a good view of the practices and was able to use the branch of an acacia tree to frame the scene. If I didn’t use the branch as a natural frame and just focused on the practicing students, I would have had empty spaces on the upper and left side of the image. Plus, the branch (extending from the left to right hand side of the image) complements the outstretched hands of the students.

Kinds of natural frames

Natural frames can be:

full or partial
in sharp focus or out of focus
local (made up of objects which are part of your subject)
composite (a frame within a frame)
running along the top or bottom of the picture, or along the sides
in the foreground or in the background.

Besides objects found in nature, frames can also be made of shadows, reflections, swatches of colors, shapes and forms, etc.

Some very handy natural frames are doors and windows, as shown by the picture of the students above.

In the picture above, my primary natural frame is the partial, slightly out of focus santol tree on the left hand side at the foreground. The post and the windows behind the student also serve as natural frames. A natural frame may either be in the foreground or in the background.

In the picture above, I used the fluffy dolls to frame my cute nephew Gino (who looks like me!) and to complement the image of a one year old child just learning how to crawl.

The walkabout

How do you come up with good, creative natural frames? By carefully choosing your viewpoint; don’t just point your camera at your subject and shoot at once. Good photographers do the “walkabout” which simply means moving around your subject and looking for objects which can be used as natural frames. In the next three pictures below, for example, I shot the water tank (a famous landmark in Rizal High School in Pasig) at various times, from various angles, and using different natural frames.

I even got a picture of this water tank as a reflection, as in the picture below. But this time around, it is the reflection that serves as a natural frame for the student. (In a future posting, we will discuss reflections as a photographic subject.)

Photojournalism (20): Foreground and background

2007-08-17T01:01:00.001+08:00

Kiss! Nope, this isn’t an order to grab your partner and start smooching. “Kiss” is an abbreviation for a rather blunt advice for all photographers to “Keep it simple, stupid!” This means giving emphasis to your main subject by excluding all other distracting details from the photograph.

Background must not be cluttered with distracting details

The background mustn’t be cluttered with distractions that compete with the subject for the viewer’s attention (like the spectators and other participants waiting for their turn in the picture above).

Background blur

Besides looking for the best viewpoint, you can also make use of “background blur” to erase distracting details. By using a big lens opening like f/1.8, f/2, f/2.8 or f/4 (more on this later), you can create a blurred background like in the pictures below.

Foreground blur

In the same way, you can also create what is known as “foreground blur” as in the picture below.

False attachment

The subject of your photographs can be located in the foreground, middle ground or in the background. But notice the pictures below. That’s right, there’s no middle ground, only the foreground and the background.

The foreground elements are the chairs (first picture above), and the students performing in the Field Demonstration (second picture). In both pictures, I used a very small aperture (f/16), and a telephoto lens. In the first picture above, the chairs and students on the stage, AND the students in the first row and the building in the background, seem to be attached to one another, or located in just a single plane. (Later on, we will discuss compressed or stacked perspectives, telephoto lenses, etc.)

In reality however, the chairs (first picture) and the students (second picture) were separated from their backgrounds by a distance of nearly 200 feet. If I had used a more frontal viewpoint in both pictures, the effect would have been more pronounced. This illusion is called “false attachment” and is used in those “gimmicky” pictures where somebody seems to be holding in his or her palm another person, or seems to be swallowing that person.

Photojournalism (19): Rule of thirds

2007-08-13T00:42:00.001+08:00

Centering the subject in the viewfinder is good advice

We have been taught from our earliest picture taking days to center the subject in the viewfinder, with other elements or details placed equally on the left and right sides of the subject. With the picture above for example, my cute niece Chloe and my cute nephew Gino (who looks like me!) are in the center of the frame, with their fluffy dolls on their left and right sides.

[Please take note that if you are using a 35 mm compact camera, what usually happens is that your subject turns out either on the left or the right side of the picture when you thought you had centered your subject while viewing it through the viewfinder. This is called “parallax error.” With an SLR (single lens reflex camera), you don’t have to worry about “parallax error” since what you’ll see through the viewfinder is exactly what the camera lens sees.]

Photography is a relatively young art, having existed for only more than 167 years, compared with painting which has been practiced since the dawn of history. Some people think that painters are better than photographers, or that photography is an art form that’s second class compared to painting. Nothing can be further from the truth. World renowned painters like Miró, Picasso and Monét were all avid photographers. Toch Arellano, a well-known Filipino photographer who especializes in portraits and yearbook photography, was taking up painting in UST, if I remember right, before he shifted to photography. Vic Sison, a multi-talented Filipino artist, incorporates paintings into his photographs.

Rule of thirds: giving your subject off-center emphasis

If you’d like therefore to excel in photography, you should learn from the techniques of painters. (Portrait photographers oftentimes talk about “Rembrandt lighting.”) One such technique is the so-called “rule of thirds.” Following this rule gives your subject or some important element of your image off-center emphasis. You can do this by dividing a scene into a one third/two thirds proportion.

Here’s how:

[1] Divide the picture area into three equal parts, both horizontally and vertically. The dividing lines will create four intersecting points which are called the intersection of thirds.

[2] Place your subject (or some important element of your image) at or near any of the intersections.

Take these students in the picture above. I could have centered them in the viewfinder and I would certainly have come up with a good picture. But I purposely placed them at the intersection of thirds to give them off-center emphasis. Placing them at the intersection of thirds gave more emphasis to the boy’s outstretched left hand pointing toward the distance.

In the picture above of a gymnasium all decorated up for graduation ceremonies, I placed the bright roof light at the intersection of thirds (on the upper right hand corner) to give it off-center emphasis.

The pictures above show another application of the rule of thirds. The boys, in the first picture, are on the upper one third of the frame. The stage (second picture) is at the lower one third of the picture while the trees occupy the upper two thirds.

This is exactly how you should shoot the sun. Don’t place the sun in the middle of the frame. Place it either at the upper one third or the lower one third area of the frame.

Photojournalism (18): Emphasis by lines

2007-08-09T02:00:00.001+08:00

Remember our discussion of lines? Lines may either be literal lines like those on basketball floors, on the streets, or imaginary lines like rows, the edges of objects, etc. Lines also have psychological effects on viewers: horizontal lines evoke feelings of stability and serenity; vertical lines convey a sense of grandeur; and diagonal lines convey feelings of movement and dynamism.

Emphasis by leading lines

One way of calling attention to your subject is to use “leading lines.” An example of leading lines is the picket fence behind the girl above making “hapet” with her math assignment. Leading lines, positioned either at the top or bottom portion of the picture, act like magnets pulling in the viewer’s attention towards your main subject.

Emphasis by diagonal lines

A simple yet very powerful device in creating better pictures is the use of diagonal lines. In the picture, there are two diagonal lines on the ground, while the girls themselves (and the way their arms are positioned) also form diagonal lines. To create such lines, you have to shoot your subject from an oblique viewpoint (in simpler terms, shoot your subject from the side). To call more attention to your diagonal lines, anchor them at the corners of your photographs, like in the picture below of a little girl lost among the shadows.

Emphasis by converging lines

In the picture above, the edges of the covered walk really are parallel but they look like they’re converging towards the vanishing point at the left side of the picture. You will also notice a lot of diagonal lines in this picture (the pushcart, the building at the background area, etc).

Emphasis by converging lines and vanishing points

Remember our discussion on perspective and vanishing points? Parallel lines can be made to converge at the so-called vanishing point, like in the picture of the cement posts above which seem to become progressively smaller and smaller.

In the picture below, I purposely placed my Class ’91 yearbook staffers between the lines on the concrete floor and used a wide angle lens to create lines converging towards the top. Remember that objects located at or near the vanishing point receive greater emphasis than other objects in your picture. You can also cut off (“crop” is the technical term) the vanishing point from your picture in order to create a sense of mystery.

God Of Wonders and Father's Love Letter

2007-08-08T10:27:00.000+08:00

Tim Gibson created this Flash movie based on the song of the same title by Caedmon’s Call / Third Day. The movie takes about 45 seconds to load on a dial-up connection. Click the galaxy-like image at the lower right hand corner to begin. Despite some theologically objectionable graphics in this movie and my preference for traditional hymns, I hope this movie lifts up your spirit during this very rainy day!

Please also take time to view the "Father's Love Letter" at www.fathersloveletter.com/fllpreviewlarge.html. This is an eight minute preview of the 25-minute video created by Barry Adams and which has been viewed by millions. In this day and age of absentee fathers and dysfunctional families, you will learn from this Flash video of a different kind of a father.

Photojournalism (17): Picture formats

2007-08-07T19:41:00.001+08:00

A common mistake by beginning photographers is always shooting pictures in the horizontal format (that is, the length being longer than the height). But that’s understandable since that’s the way our eyes are set, on a line, beside each other, and not one eye on top of the other. If I remember my Psychology 1 class correctly, the way our eyes are positioned allows us to be able to judge distances and depth correctly. (I think it’s called visual disparity.)

General rules in choosing what format to use

When do we use the horizontal format and when do we use the vertical format? As a general rule, landscapes and group pictures should be shot in the horizontal format. Portraits should generally be shot in the vertical format. If you shoot a group picture with the vertical format, for example, it would mean stepping a bit far back to include the whole group. This means that the persons in the group shot will look smaller in the resulting image.

Shape of the object determines what format to use

The shape of the subject usually determines what format we should use, for example, vertically shaped objects like trees, buildings, etc. should be shot in the vertical format, as in the example below of the building (and the two students in the bottom portion contemplating their life after high school. Kapag tumibok ang puso!.

The vertical format however gives you a restricted view of things. If you want to show your subject’s surroundings therefore, you should use the horizontal format. (Later one, we will discuss what is known as “environmental portraits.” That’s a promise.)

Picture formats and emotions

Remember our lesson on lines and their psychological effects on viewers? The format you use will depend on what emotion or mood you want to convey to your viewers. The horizontal format emphasizes horizontal lines which suggest harmony, stability, serenity. On the other hand, the vertical format suggests movement, dynamism and activity. In the picture above, we have both horizontal and vertical lines present.

Shoot several frames of a subject using both formats

It is a good practice, however, to shoot your subject in both horizontal and vertical formats. (Remember that with a picture shot in the horizontal format, you can edit and crop it to produce a vertical format picture.)

That’s not a real corpse in picture above, okay? The students were waiting for the start of the eliminations for the “Dekada 70” competition and we were having some fun with the coffin. The guy was trying to see if he could fit into the coffin. He did! I shot the picture vertically to concentrate attention on him and the other students watching him.

To familiarize you with the vertical format, here are several examples of pictures shot in that format.

Photojournalism (16): Choosing your viewpoint

2007-08-06T01:10:00.001+08:00

Take the shot from whatever vantage point you have

If you’re out on the streets or just walking around the campus, and something strikes your fancy, like a flash of color, a baby’s smile, a sense of belonging and warm friendship among a group of children as in the picture above, go for it! Take it! Take it! Take the shot from whatever vantage point you have or else you could lose the shot altogether. I was able to take only one shot of these children before they merrily dispersed into their separate ways.

If the situation allows it, however, you should take several other shots of that same subject, as shown by the pictures below.

Walking around the campus one afternoon, I saw this guy on the ground, doing push-ups all by himself. I immediately took the first picture from where I was. But in the next picture, I came in much nearer and then shot a close-up of this guy who’s obviously enjoying punishing himself. (There’s a phrase describing the psychological condition of a person who enjoys inflicting pain on himself or herself. Let me see ... ah, yes, I think it’s called “falling in love.”)

Make each shot better than your previous shots

Your goal should always be to make each shot better than your previous shots. This means analyzing the subject, what made it visually appealing to you in the first place, deciding what lens to use (if you do have another lens, that is), what part of the subject to include or exclude, plus a number of other photographic techniques ...

The camera does not decide which viewpoint you should take

Apertures, shutter speeds, focusing - with automatic cameras today, you don’t have to fiddle around or bother with these things (which we will discuss in detail later on). The camera sets these things automatically for you. Some people call this derisively as “decision free photography.” What the camera cannot decide for you however is viewpoint, that is, where you position yourself in relation to your subject. The camera is a tool in your hand, and it goes where you take it and how you position it, to put things in a rather plain manner.

You have to choose of course what subject to shoot in the first place, what part of the subject to include or exclude, whether to move to the left or to the right, shoot from above, below or at eye level, whether to shoot close-ups, full shots, etc. Sometimes, shifting the position from where you shoot your subject can change the way the various elements of an image relate to one another. (Remember our previous discussion of elements of a photograph?) You can change the mood and impact of your pictures simply by changing your viewpoint. As Obi Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker in the movie The Return of the Jedi, “The truths we cling to are oftentimes the results of the points of view that we take.” Or taking a cue from savvy businessmen, we can say that the key to successful photography is location! location! location!

I took the picture above way back in February of 1992 when then President Corazon Aquino visited Rizal High School in Pasig, the largest high school in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. (Not anymore! For schoolyear 2006-2007, Rizal High only has 8,000 students. The annexes have already become independent high schools. Sic transit gloria mundi!)

Two weeks before her arrival, I guessed that she would have to use a helicopter to avoid the heavy traffic from Manila to Pasig. I picked out the spot where I could possibly take my shots, and for a week, I also deliberated on what film to use. I eventually decided to use Kodak Gold ISO 400. I set my beloved Canon AE-1 Program camera to shutter priority mode with 1/500 sec. as my speed and switched on my power winder. (P.S. Don’t let these technical terms and descriptions intimidate you, okay? You will learn all these things eventually.)

With this shutter speed, I was able to freeze the rotor blades of the helicopter. From the time the helicopter started descending, I was able to take some 18 frames. Notice that the helicopter is frozen in mid-air, just about ready to land, and it’s casting a shadow on the field. Notice also the guy on the lower left hand corner who’s running away. I caught him also frozen in mid-air, with both feet off the ground. And he’s also casting a shadow on the ground. Serendipity!

My point is, with some subjects you have the luxury of taking your time, planning your shots and thinking about where you will position yourself. There are times however when you have to be on your toes, so to speak, and decide in a split second what viewpoint to use.

Most of the time, by practice, by instinct, we shoot our pictures at eye level angle. There’s nothing wrong of course, with shooting at eye level angle, but there are other points of view which can and do provide better images. Legendary film director/actor Orson Welles way back in the 1928 I think, introduced to movie making the various viewpoints – high angle, low angle, close-ups, extreme close-ups, etc) in his classic movie “Citizen Kane.”

Low angle point of view

A low angle point of view means that you and your camera are much lower in position than your subject. Why use this kind of rather difficult, strenuous position? Because, as Orson Welles in Citizen Kane showed, it imparts to your subjects a sense of power, of authority, of dominance. When shot from below, people, trees, buildings, etc. appear to be taller, bigger or more massive than they really are, dwarfing the photographer or the viewer. In the two pictures above, for example, we have a group of freshmen practicing for a choral interpretation contest and bowing before the two seniors training them.

With a low viewpoint however, you should avoid two potential problems as illustrated by the pictures above. One, you could be shooting against the light. Two, your horizon line or other background elements can be uneven or skewed. (In the second example, I was almost lying on the ground when I shot the picture.)

High angle point of view

A high angle point of view simply means that you are positioned higher than your subject. You could be on a higher floor of a building, standing on a chair or desk, etc. Your subjects appear to become smaller not only in physical size but also in psychological importance. A high angle POV also allows you to keep the background simple, to show a larger view of the subject, and to emphasize horizontal surfaces.

With the shot of the cadets doing a fancy drill above, I was on a tree, hanging on a branch with my left arm, while taking the shot with my right hand. I released my hold on the branch, focused my camera, took my shot and then grabbed hold again of the branch. Just kidding! Just kidding! Actually, I was on the third floor of a building where I took this shot.

(Notice the girl at the foreground, in the middle. Notice that she is out of cadence with the rest of her classmates. Remember that in fancy drills and playground demonstrations, there is usually someone who is out of cadence with the rest of the group. Look for that person and shoot him or her. With a camera, okay?)

Shoot from various viewpoints

After you have taken a shot from your initial vantage point, take other shots from other viewpoints. Photographers call this the “walkabout” which simply means looking for the best shots from your various positions in relation to your subject. Step to the left, to the right, move around your subject. Move nearer or farther away from your subject; if you have a zoom lens, zoom in and out on your subject.

I shot the first picture above from a very high vantage point, that is, from the 3rd floor of a building actually. I waited until that girl was in the middle of the frame before I pressed the shutter release. I then took the next shot, this time from the side and from the 2nd floor.

The first picture above doesn’t have a lot of impact because the viewer’s attention is divided among the four girls. (There are also some distractions in the background.) With the next picture, I shot only the girl holding the crucifix and the girl kneeling in front of her. I then took the third picture, zooming in only on the girl holding the crucifix. This close-up shot has a lot more dramatic impact; her upward, sideways look and painted face help create that impact.

The first picture above, I shot these sophomores from a wide angle, thus, I was able to include the whole group and the guy lying on the floor. The next shot, I shot a close-up, zooming in on three of the students.

The two pictures above are sequence shots of a heinous crime about to be perpetrated right before dozens of giggling, laughing spectators. Just kidding! I shot the first from a slightly high angle by standing on a chair; almost everyone is in view. With the 2nd picture, I got off the chair, stepped to the right, moved in closer and got down on one knee to shoot from a low angle, to focus attention on the guy about to ... you know what!

Photojournalism (15): Scale

2007-08-03T09:21:00.001+08:00

“When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him?”

Psalms 8: 3, 4

Long before the modern movie classic “Schindler’s List” secured Steven Spielberg’s place in cinematic glory, he directed a movie blockbuster titled “Jaws.” Starring Richard Dreyfuss, George Shaw and Roy Scheieder, the movie told the story about how the small tourist town of Amity was terrorized by a great white shark weighing about a thousand pounds. Hmm, sounds like somebody I know!

In one exciting scene, when the shark was attacking their boat, Dreyfuss, playing the role of a scientist, screamed at Scheieder, the captain, to position himself at the edge of the boat. Scheieder, who was holding on to dear life as the shark began to chew up the boat, screamed back, “What the hell for?” And Dreyfuss, the cool analytical scientist who was holding a camera at that time, explained, “I need you for scale!”

Dreyfuss was saying, in terms of photography, that it wasn’t enough to simply take the picture of the shark. Why? Any viewer who looks at the picture will not have a clear idea as to how huge the shark was. With Scheieder in the picture, the viewer will have a visual guideline with which to estimate the size of the shark. Take the picture above of the acacia tree. By including the students seated around the tree, I was able to give the viewers an idea of how massive the tree is.

How tall is that tree in the picture above? By including the child at the lower right hand corner, I can give the viewers an idea as to how high the tree is.

How small is that kitten in the picture above? How big are the letters being painted on the roof by the worker in the second picture? How big are those stone letters spelling out “paaralan” in the third picture? How big is a river tugboat in the last picture? In order to give your viewers an idea of their relative sizes, you need to include certain elements (the student in the first picture, the painter in the second, the construction workers in the third, the student in the last picture) in order to help guide the viewer in judging their sizes.

Photojournalism (14): Quality and direction of light

2007-08-01T00:30:00.001+08:00

God must be a photographer ... The first few verses of the 1st chapter of the Old Testament book of Genesis is an almost perfect illustration of the photographic process. Consider what the verses say ...

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and the darkness was great upon it. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.”

One thing I will emphasize over and over again is that without light, photography is not possible. When we discuss films later on, you will know that it is the action of light upon the silver halide compound that produces the image. Light really is good!

Always consider the quality of light

The main source of light for photography is the sun and as the sun moves across the sky, the quality of light changes. If you want to be a good photographer, you should always consider the quality of light.

(The sun doesn’t really move across the sky, as you will remember from your basic science. It’s just how things appear to us, okay? If I remember my college philosophy class correctly, the term is “phenomenological.”)

Avoid shooting at noontime

Avoid shooting, as much as possible at noontime; the harsh sun will create deep, ugly shadows underneath people’s eyes, like in the pictures above.

If both you and your subject are in the shade, then it’s okay to shoot. However, avoid situations like in the picture above where the leaves of the trees create uneven, scattered areas of light and shadows. Some Filipino photographers call this the “chocolate effect”.

The golden hours

Photographers call both sunrise and sunset as the “golden hours” because these times provide a gorgeous light that’s very suitable for photography. At dawn, the light is dominated by soft pinks while at sunset, the colors become more golden.

With the picture above, I first noticed the “golden light of the dying sun.” Okay, okay, I know such descriptions are absolutely corny but hey, girls just love this corny stuff! I got my beloved Canon AE-1 Program camera fitted with a 50 mm, f/1.8 lens and loaded with Kodak Gold 100. I asked my cute nephew JR (who looks like me) to stand in that spot. I wasn’t satisfied however with the set-up, and when I looked around, I saw my rocking chair. I got the chair, asked JR to sit on it, and he just naturally struck that great pose. JR really takes after me! I love that golden light, the deep black shadows, JR’s shadow on the rocking chair, the chair’s shadow on the wall ... I just love photography!

With black and white photography, of course, we don’t talk about colors of sunrise and sunset. At these times, what you should look out for as your subject are dramatic, long shadows created by the sun’s position, like in the pictures above.

The direction of light

Train yourself to notice and to use aesthetically the direction of your light source. Look at the picture below for example; by the way that student’s face is illuminated and the long shadows behind him, you can guess (quite correctly) that the light comes from the late afternoon sun.

There are primarily three ways by which a subject can be lighted: from the front, the side or the back.

1. Front lighting - your light source which may either be the sun or artificial light sources like your camera flash, comes from directly behind you. Front lighting gives you great colors and a lot of subject detail. On the minus side, these details are flat. Since your light source directly illuminates your subject, the shadows created are placed behind the subject. Your picture will be two-dimensional, lacking depth. (Remember our discussion of perspective and depth?)

By the way, speaking of shadows, W. Henry Fox Talbot, considered as the father of photography, defined photography as “the art of fixing a shadow.” We will discuss shadows (“cast” and “contained”) as a photographic subject later on.

A common source of front lighting is your camera flash. We will discuss later how to use your flash and the common problems in using it.

2. Sidelighting - this kind of lighting produces the strongest three-dimensional effects. In our discussion later on, you will learn that sidelighting is one good way of creating the illusion of depth in your pictures. Soft sidelighting, however, is best for portraits and landscapes.

With portraits, avoid having half of the face in deep shadow with no details, and with the other half in strong highlight. Unless, of course, if you’re striving to create a highly dramatic effect. It’s usually better to have some details in the shadow side of the face, like in the picture above of a very pretty Girl Scout. (Professional photographers on this topic talk about the “split ratio” between highlights and shadows, but that’s too technical for us.)

3. Backlighting - generally, you should avoid shooting against your light source since this creates high contrast and greatly reduces details in your subject. The technical term for shooting against the light is “contra luz.” In French, it’s called “contre jour.” If you’re shooting portraits, for example, your background will turn out bright, while your subject’s face will turn out in deep shadows. That’s because your camera’s light meter will be fooled by all that background brightness.

Several ways of counteracting this problem are:

(1) to use white or silver colored boards to reflect some light back to your subject; and

(2) to use your camera flash to throw some light into your subject.

In the example at the left, I wanted to take the picture of the bride and groom as they were walking away from the altar. Problem was, I was shooting against a very bright video light. Using the flash of my borrowed digital camera, I was able to get some details in the faces of the bride and groom. The picture came out a good shot, capturing the drama, emotions and excitement of a wedding. (Hey, if you don’t believe me that this is a good picture, I won’t treat you out to pizza! For those of you who think this is a good picture, e-mail me and then we’ll have pizza!)

Photography books and magazines will tell you about how to use “fill flash” and “fill flash ratios” but these topics are a little bit complicated at this point in our series. Anyway, most modern cameras will automatically choose the correct setting for your flash even in difficult lighting situations.

If you have no choice but to shoot your subject however, you have to choose which is more important - the highlights or the shadows. If you choose to play up the background, you will be creating a silhouette. More on silhouettes later, I promise.

Be careful when you are shooting directly at the sun

You could seriously injure your eyes when shooting directly at the sun, as what happened to famous astronomer Galileo Galilei. He destroyed his right eye from constantly looking at the sun through his telescope. What you should do in this situation are:

(a) place a piece of paper between your eyes and the camera’s viewfinder to soften the light striking your eye;

(b) place the sun to the side, and if possible, hide it behind objects like leaves or branches, as in the picture below.

The camera flash as a light source

The flash is one of the most useful accessories for any camera system, whether an SLR or a compact 35 mm compact, digital or film-based. In a lot of situations, you’ll only be able to shoot if you have a flash on your camera. However, a flash often creates harsh shadows and flat lighting that often destroys the mood of a picture. (In some instances, like theater presentations, you may not be allowed to shoot pictures as this would destroy the lighting set-up.)

Thus, photographers often use “available light” (a.k.a. “existing light” or “ambient light”) in shooting pictures. This means using film with a high ISO rating, slow shutter speeds and wide apertures, and sometimes placing the camera on a tripod.

Speaking of flash … Sebastião Salgado is considered as the best ever photojournalist in the world. Born into an affluent Brazilian family, he took graduate studies in economics in France. Yet, his pictures have always been of struggling workers, the powerless and the dispossessed. He didn’t have any interest in photography until his wife, Leila, an architect, gave him a camera as a gift. The very first time he looked through the viewfinder, he was hooked on photography. Know what? Salgado doesn’t use flash when shooting his pictures, relying only on available light.

That does it! First thing tomorrow morning, I’m going to throw away my flash!

Photojournalism (13) : Cybill Shepherd, Ryan O’Neal, Mary Stuart Masterson, Robert Downey Jr, love, friendship, second chances and a roll of film

2007-07-30T08:25:00.001+08:00

The perceptive ones among will have noticed by now one or two things, maybe three, about the pictures I have used in this series on photojournalism.

One, most of the pictures are black and white. That’s because black and white photography is my personal choice for artistic expression. I’m not really good in choosing colors or color combinations. What I do know about colors is that I really like green, brown and blue.

Two, as you mouse over the pictures, you will see certain data about the pictures – when and where the pictures were taken; the specific topic the picture is being used to illustrate, and the person who took the picture (ehem! ehem!)

Three, the pictures were taken many, many years ago, and thus, to the perceptive and technically minded persons among you, they appear to have diminished somewhat in terms of quality. Some of the pictures (primarily taken on Kodak Tri-X, my favorite monochrome film) I have managed to have digitally scanned into CDs. For most of the pictures in this series, however, I have been processing them in this way:

(1) Using Microtek Scanmaker 3800, I scan the black and white pictures with the options – true color, 150 dpi, BMP file format;

(2) Using Adobe Photo Home Deluxe Edition, I convert the BMP pictures into black and white pictures in JPEG format; and

(3) Using Macromedia Fireworks MX, I edit and optimize the pictures – cropping, sharpening, and fiddling with the auto levels or brightness and contrast controls.

Photography and technology

“From today, painting is dead!” This was the cry of doom and despair by French painter Laroche way back in 1839 when photography was introduced to the world. History has proven him wrong, however; painting is still very much a flourishing art form. With the advent of personal computers and their revolutionary impact on almost all aspects of life, it seems it’s now the turn of photographers to exclaim, “From today, photography is dead!”

Photography is a technology based art form. Since 1839, it has always been a silver halide based art form, meaning we’ve got to have film in order to have pictures, until today that is. Now, computers and cameras have been combined to produce film-less digital cameras.

As I told you, it’s now very, very, very difficult to find here in the Philippines black and white photography materials - film, photo paper, darkroom chemicals like developer and fixer. Two years ago my cute nephew JR, who looks a lot like me, took up photography in DLSU. He told me that his batch was the last to use film-based photography. The next year, he said, DLSU was turning to digital photography.

An advertising executive told me that several years ago Kodak was planning to phase out film and replace it with digital technology. But one photo magazine I scanned in SM Megamall said that Kodak’s digital photography business grew by only about one percent and that film has made a comeback. Hoo-ya! I love the smell of developer and acid fixer in the morning!

The picture below (circa 1992) shows you some of my former journalism students and our makeshift, no ventilation, dinky darkroom where we developed our black and white films, and printed out our pictures using Oriental glossy photo paper and Atlas developer and fixer.

Anyway, please let me tell you a story about a movie that centered on a roll of film.

Chances are that you have seen the movie “Chances Are” starring Cybill Shepherd, Ryan O’Neal, Robert Downey Jr and Molly Ringwald. It has been shown on Channel 9 several times already. It’s a feel good movie which tells the story of a journalist who took a picture of a corrupt judge accepting a bribe from an accused whom he had set free earlier. The man who dies quite unexpectedly leaving a lonely widow played by Cybill Shepherd, manages to convince the angels at heaven’s gate that it wasn’t his time yet, and he is given a chance to go back to earth in the body of Robert Downey Jr. The angel however fails to erase all the memories of the man’s past life from Downey’s psyche.

Twenty three years later - after the pictures were taken, after the man died, after the character played by Downey was born, after the birth of Cybill’s daughter played by Mary Stuart Masterson - well, she falls in love with Downey. But since Downey’s character had all the memories and mannerisms of Cybill’s husband, guess what happens when daughter brings the young man home to mama?

You guessed it - Downey falls in love with Cybill, much to Mary’s bewilderment, Cybill begins to care for Downey, and to add to the fun and confusion, Ryan O’Neal, who plays Cybill’s best friend, has been waiting patiently for 23 years to win Cybill’s affections.

Well, all things end well. Downey falls in love with Mary after the angel finally catches up with him and erases all memories of Cybill’s former husband from his psyche, and Ryan finally weds Cybill, their longtime friendship finally blooming into love!

Oh, and the corrupt judge also gets to be finally exposed for what he was; Cybill finds the roll of film taken by her husband 23 years earlier, has it processed, and the picture of the judge accepting a bribe gets published in all the newspapers.

You might ask, what’s the point of this mini movie review? Well, the roll of film gets processed after 23 years. It is highly improbable for that roll of film to still retain the latent images after that long period of time!

Well, it’s just a movie of course, and technical things like these should not get in the way of love, friendship and second chances. We’re all suckers for sappy love stories and wonderful endings! Besides, what did poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge say about fiction? He said, “Fiction is the willing suspension of disbelief.”

Photojournalism (12): Reading pictures

2007-07-27T07:13:00.001+08:00

By force of habit and training, in much the same way we read any piece of text, we look at pictures from left to right. Since our eyes tend to linger or to stop at the right side of the picture:

most of the time, subjects should be placed at the right side of the frame; and
elements at the left side of the frame can be used to lead the viewer’s eyes toward the subject.

In the picture below, for example, we’ve got a lonely guy on a rainy day, contemplating his so-called life. What did Swiss psychologist Paul Tourniér say about loneliness? “Loneliness is the central neurosis of our time.” As someone else said, “Loneliness is the most desperate of all English words.” Boy, this guy’s depression is contagious! Cheer up, man! There’s life after math!

Anyway, since he was looking to the left, and there were only walls behind him, I placed him on the right side of the picture. I knew however that with such a set-up, there would be a lot of empty spaces on the left side. I waited for a while for something to happen. Then I saw these three students walking toward us. They were just the right lead-in element I needed! When they were just in the right spot, I took the shot.