I was asked to document the Manifesto Film Festival for the school. It was a long day indeed. Only my second time shooting with the Cannon 5D mark II and I was able to take some photos of the whole process. I was learning as I was going to for at the beginning one of the things I learned is that when you get a camera from the school clear out any custom settings that previous folks have stored for that could give you some results you were not expecting. So once I arrived I began to take some test shots to get the camera dialed in before shooting. I must say it was a little challenging at first trying to figure out how the available light presents itself and what adjustments I would have to make to produce some quality shots. Once the ball got rolling I had full access of the theater for photographs so it was really fun getting to explore inside the theater. I present to you ten images from the shoot and I hope you will like them as much as I do.  I must say thank you to Will Davis for the opportunity to be able to come and document the festival. 

-John Russo Jr.

Evaluating Work!

Joe Ciarlante shared this awesome piece of information with us: 

Looking at Photographs: Evaluating Your Work & the Work of Others

Last week I gave a talk to a local camera club about evaluating photographs.  They were specifically interested in how to better judge the merits of an image when it came to their print competitions.  As I thought about what I was going to say to them I realized that this is something with which we all struggle.

When we look at an image and consider if it’s “good”, the first thing to remember is that there are no rules.  Things like the “rule of thirds” in composition and keeping the subject sharp are only guidelines.  For every rule I can show you a very successful photograph that breaks some, if not all, of those rules.

The reason that there are no rules is because of the dichotomy of photography.  Photography is always the marriage between the technical and the aesthetic.  The decisions you make, from whether to shoot film (color or B&W?) or digital, to what lens, what f-stop, etc., are all part of your technical workflow.  The application of art is what makes a photograph interesting, while making it more difficult to evaluate, because art is so subjective.  That doesn’t mean, “Anything goes”.  It means that there are questions that you, as the viewer, must ask to try and understand the intention of the photographer.  Applying these questions, or similar ones, will also help you evaluate your own work.

* Questions to ask:

Technical Quality

• Focus: Is the image sharp? If not, is it intentionally soft and successful?
• Exposure: Is it too light, too dark, or just right? Does the exposure fit the idea the photographer is trying to convey?
• Lighting: Does the lighting have too much contrast or is it too flat? Does the lighting fit the subject?
• Color: Does it have neutral or appropriate colors? Was the use of color choices sound?

Composition

• Balance: Is the composition balanced? Is that important to the photograph?
• Logic: Is the arrangement of visual elements effective?
• Purpose: Is there a strong center of interest, pattern or design?
• Clarity: Is it simple, yet complete and without distracting elements? What do you see first? Is this the right thing?

Emotional Appeal

• Dynamic: Does it grab and keep your attention?
• Provocative: Does it excite your imagination, or create a strong emotion in you?
• Creative: Does it show a familiar subject in a new, unusual, and effective way?

• Effort: Has the photographer made full use of the facilities at their disposal? Does it look like the photographer made an extra effort to capture the best possible image under the circumstances, or did they just go with what was in front of them?

• What emotional or physical impact does the photograph have?

Remember, there is no interpretation in “I like it”.  That doesn’t help anyone unless you can expand on why you like it.  Try asking some of the above questions about your own work.  You might be surprised as to what they reveal.

*Gary Kolb, Photographing in the Studio, 1993

John Anthony Russo Jr.

The photo of the day brought to you by Essence of Soul Photography copyright 1/11/2012: As the crazy weather system through out the day creates some madness we are treated to a one of kind Sunset....... enjoy. John Anthony Russo Jr:  I am currently in the second quarter for me in the Digital Image Management program. I started in photography 5 years ago as a hobby but then realized I can do so much more. The favorite things I like to shoot are nature, storms, sunrises and sunsets, animals, and event photography.  I am 32 years old and can be seen dancing with my camera on the dance floor. I shoot with a Cannon Rebel XS 10.1 with stock 18-55mm lens.

The beginnings of something great...

We, the Click! Club, are currently working on getting this blog up and running so you can use this space as a sounding board for ideas and post pictures for critiques! Feel free to post any pictures that you want advice on or links or ideas you find interesting. This blog will allow Clickers to have more in-depth discussions about ideas and critique others' work. If you want to post something on the blog, please send your text and any pictures, links or graphics to Click!'s email: AICHclickphotoclub@gmail.com and one of the officers will post it on the blog shortly. Please put "blog post" in the subject so we know what it's for.
Please remember this is a school related blog so keep it all appropriate and pleasant :) you guys are great and we hope this helps create a space for more conversations than our facebook page allows.

Our Facebook name is: CLICK!: AICH Photography Club

Our email is: AICHclickphotoclub@gmail.com

and obviously this is our blog...

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