Photographs

Assignment: Take 6 well-composed photographs and prepare them for 3 different uses: for prints, computer viewing, and posting to the web.
[See the original blog post to view feedback I received on my photos.]

After reading up on various aspects of “iPhoneography” (iPhone photography), I took my iPhone 4S to the library to take my photographs. I specifically chose to use my iPhone for this assignment because I wanted to become more familiar with taking quality photographs with a tool I always have on hand. I would also like to better understand how such tools can be used in assignments I give my students. My iPhone camera is 8mp with a fixed aperture of f/2.4 and an LED flash (though I did not use it for any of my pictures).

I took the pictures within the Camera Awesome app. This app has a grid for easy application of the rule of thirds, a level to keep your images square, image stabilization to reduce blurriness, and some advanced focusing options. All but the grid are absent from the pre-installed, standard iPhone camera app.

After taking the pictures, I used the Adobe.Photoshop.Express app to manipulate my photos. I could not identify an option to change the compression within that app so I then transferred the images requiring compression to Microsoft Office Picture Manager on my computer.

Title: Passing Pendulum
Subject: The Northernmost Foucault Pendulum housed in the Consortium Library
ISO: 50
Shutter speed: 1/20 sec.
Aperture: f/2.4
Size: 2.1 mb, 2039×2853 pixels, sufficient quality for a 5×7 inch print
Manipulations & filters: In order to make the pendulum appear more gold and the make the greens bolder as they are when viewed in person, I selected a slightly warmer color temperature (+5 of 100). I also rotated the image slightly because I didn’t like the angle of the lines in my original photograph.

The Consortium Library's Foucault Pendulum — Passing Pendulum (The Northernmost Foucault Pendulum housed in the Consortium Library.)

Title: They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To
Subject: A stack of classics with fancy gold-embossed edges and covers pulled from the shelves at the Consortium Library.
ISO: 125
Shutter speed: 1/20 sec.
Aperture: f/2.4
Size: 1.68 mb, 2448×3060 pixels, sufficient quality for a 5×7 inch print (nearly enough for an 8×10)
Manipulations & filters: The colors were a bit washed out in the original so I added contrast (+50 of 100) and reduced the exposure (-10).

They Don't Make Them Like They Used To (A stack of classics.) — They Don’t Make Them Like They Used To (A stack of classics.)

Title: The Stacks
Subject: A book with shelves upon shelves of library books in the background.
ISO: 200
Shutter speed: 1/20 sec.
Aperture: f/2.4
Size: 209 kb, 1024×768 pixels, sufficient quality for images viewed on a computer screen, 4:3 aspect ratio (native size for iPhone pictures)
Manipulations & filters: The colors were washed out in the original so I added contrast (+40 of 100) and reduced the exposure (-10). I then compressed the image to its current size.

The Stacks (A stack of books with the stacks -- another word for book shelves -- in the background.) — The Stacks (A stack of books with the stacks — another word for book shelves — in the background.)

Title: The Beginning
Subject: The beginning of the history wall ribbon where it wraps around the mesh-covered center pillar on the 3rd floor of the Consortium Library.
ISO: 64
Shutter speed: 1/20 sec.
Aperture: f/2.4
Size: 192kb, 1024×768 pixels, sufficient quality for images viewed on a computer screen, 4:3 aspect ratio (native size for iPhone pictures)
Manipulations & filters: For this image, I selected a pre-made filter called “vibrant.” The colors of the original were washed out and this filter added the perfect settings in an instant. I then compressed the image to its current size.

The Beginning (The beginning of the history wall ribbon.)

Title: Gov. Docs.
Subject: A collection of U.S. Congressional records located in the Government Documents section of the Consortium Library.
ISO: 50
Shutter speed: 1/20 sec.
Aperture: f/2.4
Size: 30.2kb, 448×336 pixels, sufficient quality for web images, 4:3 aspect ratio (native size for iPhone pictures)
Manipulations & filters: This image was quite dismal originally. I added contrast (+70), warmed the temperature slightly (+5), and added vibrance (+40). I then compressed the image to its current size.

Title: Rock Wall
Subject: A portion of the large rock wall that surrounds the Consortium Library’s spiral staircase.
ISO: 320
Shutter speed: 1/20 sec.
Aperture: f/2.4
Size: 42.9kb, 448×336 pixels, sufficient quality for web posting, 4:3 aspect ratio (native size for iPhone pictures)
Manipulations & filters: The original image needed additional detail and contrast. I added reduced exposure (-20), emphasized highlights (+10) and shadows (+10), and added vibrance (+10). I then compressed the image to its current size.

Rock Wall (The large rock wall surrounding the central spiral staircase.)

The following images were edited out of the above set because they did not clearly speak to the Consortium Library theme. However, I love them so much I wanted to share! All were taken with Camera Awesome and manipulated using pre-set filters in the Aviary app. All have an aperture of f/2.4.