Photography by Jim Doty

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We began class April 24 by going outside to Bronson Park and doing a Depth of Field Exercise. We lined up on a row of tulips with our cameras about 2 feet from the nearest tulip and manually focused on a tulip about 4 feet from the camera.  Using a lens at a focal length of 28 mm or 24 mm, we took three pictures: one at the widest aperture on the lens (probably f/4 or f/2.8), another at f/8, and a third at f/16 or f/22. We then repeated the process at a focal length of around 85mm. If you did not complete this exercise, pick a row of objects and do this exercise on your own.  We will cover Depth of Field in depth in a later class session.

While still outside we looked at some exposure situations and discussed how to meter in some difficult lighting situations.

Inside we covered questions that had come up and we did a quick review of Filters from last week's session. Then we covered the major topic of the evening: EXPOSURE. We looked at how to compensate when metering light and dark toned subjects ("Add Light to Make Light"), and how the compensation is in the opposite direction when doing substitute metering with an 18% gray card.  We looked at a number of photos that illustrate how to meter in real life situations.

Our next field trip date and time is Thursday, April 26 at 8 PM at Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery. The goal is to do sunset pictures on the ponds, possibly with wildlife included.  Then we will try some evening, dusk, and star trail photography. We need a mix of clear and cloudy sky to have a good sunset. We need a fair amount of clear sky to do star trails. The back up date in case it is completely cloudy or raining is Monday April 30, same time and place.

Directions:  On the west side on Kalamazoo, from the intersection of US 131 and West Main Street, go west on West Main (M-43) for six miles.  Turn left (south) on Fish Hatchery Road. Pull into the parking lot by the visitor's center.  If you are late, just head west past the visitor's center and out between the ponds until you find us.

Next week, May 1, the primary topic is closeup photography.  We will do some closeup photos during class, either inside or out depending on the weather. 

We will also look at student work, so bring some slides to show in class.

April 20, 2001
Updated April 25, 2001

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