Camera Modes

These images were taken with my Nikon SLR, I had just bought the camera so I was playing around and testing it out. Here the camera was set up on automatic with the flash on, in some cases the flash can ruin an image if the subject is already in a well lit room, flash is more effective in darker environments, this picture was taken at night time but with an artificial light on in the background. Flash can ruin any detailing on a subject and also create shadows. 

I took these images using the 'Night' mode on my camera, it was dark and raining outside and I thought I would experiment with my SLR on night mode as I have never used it before. I like the fact that cameras have various different modes and by just switching the dial around the camera is set up to use, it's also a perfect tool for a beginner. Using a camera on night mode will slow down the shutter speed to allow for more light, rather than using a flash as it can be made to look more unnatural on a subject outdoors. 

I set my camera up to the 'Aperture' mode to take these images, aperture priority basically gives you control of the aperture manually which controls the depth of field. Aperture priority allows the person to control the aperture value and the shutter speed will automatically fit to match this. This is the same with the shutter priority, the user will choose a certain shutter speed and the aperture will then automatically match. Below I have some examples of aperture priority, they aren't very good examples as the 'Aperture' control is mainly used for landscapes as it is only necessary to use a narrow aperture. A wide aperture is used to make the background less distracting on images such as portraits, this allows the subject to have the focus without the disturbance from the back ground. Another useful mode on a camera would be 'Program' mode, this mode calculates both the aperture and the shutter speed together.

Exposure and Focus

I took these images with my Nikon SLR camera, I used Disney figurines to photograph and I placed them in various positions. I set my camera up to manual and on the side of the lens I switched the button from automatic to manual so I could set the focus myself, in the picture below I focused my camera on Cinderella which blurred out Sleeping Beauty who is placed behind the character in the foreground. 

In this image I focused on the character in the background which blurred out the character in the foreground. I really like this technique as it would create some really nice images, here I wanted to demonstrate how focusing works. To focus on a subject there needs to be a distance apart each subject in the image otherwise the technique wouldn't have the same effect.

 
I added some more characters to the image and I played around with the focus, here the three characters were unfocused because the character in the foreground has the focus.

Digital High Quality Prints

These three images are apart of a four image set, unfortunately the fourth image was too big to place into this post as in Photoshop I flipped the model in the opposite direction which has made the Jpeg too big to place into a document or the web. Each image was printed on A3 photo mounted foam board which was to be mounted in the college for exhibition. I wanted to create a pin up 1950's feel to match the concept of the theme which was 'A Journey Through Time.' Each image was put together using separate layers and I wanted the images to look like they were from a fashion magazine. My intention for this project was to have a vintage themed set of images. The editing involved removing each background using the 'Magnetic Lasso Tool' so each image could be merged together using each layer.