Great editorial by Hypebeast on the thriving world of Lomography. Head over to http://hypebeast.com/2013/4/lomography-growing-analog
Vassar's Student Photography Organization
Great editorial by Hypebeast on the thriving world of Lomography. Head over to http://hypebeast.com/2013/4/lomography-growing-analog
Once you’ve identified the structure of the photograph, consider its cropping, or the way it is framed. Is it “tight” – is the frame filled with important elements, or is there wasted space? Blank areas, or negative space, can enhance a photograph’s impact.
As a general rule, it is good keep the “idea” of the photograph “clean” and simple. The frame should narrow in on what is important, leaving out unnecessary details.
What about the overall balance of the composition? Is it top-heavy, lop-sided, boring? A composition may be balanced in two ways: static or dynamic.
Static balance just sits there, but that can be quite effective. The most common way of achieving static balance is to weight the composition, or concentrate its points of interest near the center.
Dynamic balance suggests movement. Generally this is achieved by weighting the composition away from the center, toward one side or the other, or toward the corners.¹
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The art of composition involves not only knowing what to include in the frame, but also what to leave out. If you sort through your photos, some will make you stop and look. These are the ones with impact, the ones that are tightly composed.
Ideally, of course, you should compose your picture in the viewfinder so that it includes only the essentials. But cropping in-camera is not always possible. You simply may not have time to move nearer or to change your lens. One way to remedy this is to crop your prints and slides at a later state.
How to obtain impact: … If you are dealing with a photograph of a moving object, for instance, crop right in behind or below the subject, but leave some space for it to move into since this increases the feeling of action. If the movement is horizontal, make the picture horizontal. If it is vertical, use an upright format.
With portraits, ask yourself whether the background actually adds to the subject. For example, if you have taken an outdoor portrait of a vicar, it is a good idea to include part of his church. A ship makes a suitable background for a sailor, as do cattle for a farmer. Be selective about what is left in the background.
However, if you have taken an indoor portrait, how much of a plain background do you really need? By concentrating mainly on the face, and especially the eyes, you can convey a good sense of the subject’s personality… But avoid having the top of the head just touching the print edge – either leave a gap or cut across the head.²
How would you crop the above photo for impact, or intimacy, or any other goal?
1. The Photographic Eye
2. Practical Composition
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Welcome PHOCUSers, hope you like the site. Have a look around!
Phocus is accepting submissions for FIX until April 1. Photos will be printed in black and white, although you may submit color photos as long as you realize they will be edited. Send submissions to phocus.vassar@gmail.com.
Hi Everyone!
We will have another PHOCUS meeting tomorrow at 8:00 pm in the faculty commons. If everyone could either bring and/or email me one or two photos from their Meet Me in Poughkeepsie trips from this past weekend that would fantastic! I am hoping that we will be able to put together some sort of display/collage of our photos. See you tomorrow night!
Lynne
Hello again,
For those of you with some experience in the dark room that would like to refresh your memory on developing/printing the refresher session will be held Friday October 8th starting at 1:00pm. You must bring your own paper and negatives to the session! Please let me know if you would like to be added to the list for this refresher session if you have not done so already. Thanks!
Lynne
Hi Everyone,
I have had a lot of interest from PHOCUS members regarding a dark room course for people with no prior experience. I am happy to announce that we will be able to offer this course starting after October break! The class will meet on Fridays once a week for 6 weeks (time TBA) for a fee of $30 – I know the fee may seem like a lot but it works out to only being $5/class which is extremely cheap for these kinds of courses. Your instructor will be the wonderful photography Dmitri Kasterine and you can check out his website at www.kasterine.com. You will have to provide your own paper and bring your negatives to the courses each week. If you have not already contacted me and you are interested in the course please email me!
Lynne
Hello again,
So as I’m sure you’ve all heard, 2011 is the 150th anniversary of Vassar College and there are going to be a ton of events celebrating 150 years at Vassar. We already have some ideas on how PHOCUS can be involved, but please post any ideas you have here!
Lynne
Hi Everyone,
So as I told you all we are working with the Misc this year to put up photo essays, slide shows, and hopefully more collaborations. Comment on this post if you want to be involved with the Misc or if you have any specific projects/ideas you want to pursue.
Lynne
Hi Everyone,
Comment on this post with any ideas or workshops that you really want to see in the upcoming year. I’m also open for suggestions for activities for PHOCUS this year. Thanks for your suggestions!
Lynne
Here’s a review of what we talked about at last Tuesday’s meeting (that I sent to you all in an email) :
All of the info about getting access to the darkroom, the digital printer, and renting out cameras from PHOCUS can be found here under the pages link. It’s a work in progress so please bare with me as a figure out how to make it look nicer. I will periodically post new updates, meeting times, etc. here. Also there is space for 5 photos on the front page slide show which I hope to change monthly so if you want you can submit 1 photo/month to be considered to be put up there.
PHOCUS has been asked to part of the Sesquicentennial (150th) celebration of Vassar for 2011. We are hoping to do a joint event with the launch of our magazine FIX in the Spring and invite alumni photographers back for a reception to possibly be held in the Palmer gallery where selected photos by PHOCUS members on the theme of 150 years at Vassar will be shown. This is only in initial planning stages so it may change as the semester goes on, so I would love for other suggestions on how PHOCUS can be involved with the Sesqui celebrations if you have any (comment on my website post)!
Starting this semester PHOCUS will also be collaborating with the Misc. We are hoping to work together to produce photo essays and/or slide shows for the Misc. website focusing on anything to do with Vassar, Poughkeepsie, or the Hudson Valley. There is also a possibility of having the possibility of having photos printed in the paper. Again, any suggestions for collaborations are welcome or if you have a specific project you want to do let me know (comment on my website post)!
We have the great opportunity to work with a professional photography, Dmitri Kasterine, who offers a number of workshops each year on a number of different topics. Some of them we came up with so far include: Photo composition, portrait photography, Photoshop, and DSLR basics. Comment on my website post with more workshop topics that you would like to see.
I have registered PHOCUS to host a trip to Storm King Art Center for Meet Me in Poughkeepsie this year. If the event is approved it will be on October 9 from 12-4.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, September 28th at 8:00pm in the Faculty Commons.
The first meeting of PHOCUS for this year will be on Tuesday, September 14 at 8:00 pm in the Faculty Commons (for those of you that don’t know its the room next to the ATM near the Retreat). I hope to see you there!
Lynne Ciccaglione ’11
Phocus President
I am happy to announce the launching of our new online page for PHOCUS! Once the site is fully up and running, you will be able to access information about all of our upcoming events, meeting times, and other opportunities for student photographers. In the future I hope to be able to use this space as another outlet for the showcasing of student photography from Vassar and as a space where photographers can receive feedback and critiques on their work.
Lynne Ciccaglione ’11
Phocus President
Great editorial by Hypebeast on the thriving world of Lomography. Head over to http://hypebeast.com