Telling a story through the lenses

What is a good or bad picture?

There is no definition what's a good photo. However the simple answer

is a picture that can tell a story and have a sense of beauty.

“There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.” ~Ansel Adams

What is a beautiful picture?

As other art form, it's depend on culture, experience and time.

Tips for taking good pictures

Take as many as pictures you can

Look around before taking pictures

Research more

Polite and making friend with your subject

Waiting for the best moment

Don't be shy

Get close as much as possible

Taking from many different angle

Composition

Rule of Thirds

Composition

Foreground, Background

Composition

Leading Line

Lighting

“Photograph: a picture painted by the sun without instruction

in art.” ~Ambrose Bierce

Photos create by light and it rule the way we see things.

Generally, we want light that conveys a three-dimensional

effect, reproduces the subject in a flattering manner, and

creates an atmosphere or mood.

The factors of the right lighting

The quality of light

Light can be said to be “soft,” “flat,” “diffuse,”

“hard,” and “contrasty,” In outdoor photography,

the quality of light is controlled by the sun, as well

as by clouds and surrounding area.

The quality of light

Hard Light

The quality of light

Soft Light

The Direction of Light

There are four common directions:

Top Lighting

Front Lighting

Side Lighting

Back Lighting

Top Lighting

It's happen at noon on a sunny day – It produces a flat image without

any three-dimensional effect. It is unsuitable for most pictures and

worst for portrait.

Front Lighting

It happen when the sun behind photographer. It's easy to photograph

but will get flat look. In the early morning and late evening, it also

difficult to avoid photographer shadow in the image.

Side Lighting

This is an ideal lighting for most situation. The side lighting create

good contrast, clear detail and three-dimensional look.

Back Lighting

Light from behind, may render the subject as a silhouette. This

create extreme contrast image and have very little detail.

Color Harmony

How the color work? As the painting, different color create

different atmosphere, feeling and emotion in picture. Mixing color together properly make an interesting combination in photo.

- Red feel hot

- Blue feel sorrow

- Green feel fresh

Moment in Time

“Most things in life are moments of pleasure and a lifetime of embarrassment; photography is a moment of embarrassment and a lifetime of pleasure.” ~Tony Benn

The timing in photography is very important. What’s good timing?

- Early morning and late

afternoon for good lighting

- To be right time in the event

- Seasoning

Telling a Story with your camera

“If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.” ~Lewis Hine

Thinking your sequence of

photos story as you see the

movie. Replace each part of

movie with a best still photo.

Telling a Story

Basic rule – 5W1H

- Who

- What

- Where

- When

- Why

- How

Telling a story

Tips

- Don't use two images that tell the similar story.

- Research and reading before is your best friend

- Take time to make friend with your subject before taking

photos

- Go back different time to get the best opportunity

File system, Renaming and captions

Folder system

Subject folder – Document Folder and picture folders – Time period

folders – File

File Renaming

This is the first thing to do.

Your name (First letter name + First two letter of

surname)_Subject_Time_Sequence

example SKR_Mekong_June11_0001

Captioning

Using photo management program like Adobe Bridge or LightRoom.

Put the captions in IPTC section. Use 5W+1H.

File system, Renaming and captions

Editing

- Downloading from your camera

- Renaming your photos

- Delete the bad, blur, shaking photograph

- Stack the similar photos into the same group

- Rate your images by giving 1-5 stars

- Choosing image by labeling

- Give ordering your images to make story