This Week in the Digital Photography School Forums (25 Apr – 1 May ‘10)

Weekly Assignment

It never ceases to amaze me the photographic opportunities that you can find only 10 Minutes from Home, and in that’s why our challenge was to get you to practice your black and white photography skills 10 minutes from home. It didn’t matter if you lived in a city or in the middle of the country, whether it was autumn or spring, or whether you photograph people or landscapes, everyone had a chance to participate (which is probably why this assignment was one of our most popular ones this year!). We had a hard time choosing the winners from all of the good shots this week, but we managed to narrow it down to our top 3. Our winner this week was jheard’s local mechanic. jheard was headed for the local bazaar, but didn’t make it there in 10 minutes, instead ending up at a garage / body shop. The light in this photo was just amazing. It accentuates every line on the face, the expression is perfect, and the contrast is, as one judge summed it up, “divine”. Add to that the almost depression era feel and the blackened, stained hands from work, this photo has some real character. Our first runner up had a totally different kind of shot. dracisk’s rainy day grill. It has almost an abstract kind of feel to it, the depth of field suits the shot perfectly, and there’s something about the way that the lines break up the soft curves of the water that really draws your eye to it. And last, but not least was sawilhelm’s entire 10 minute walk which was captured in a single shot, looking back down the sidewalk. There was just something about the view looking back from where you’ve just come from, and the way that the trees line the sidewalk and guide your eye along the path that made this one stand out. Well done everyone!

Our final assignment of Black and White April is a tricky one that will require you to put a number of skills together to create a shot that fits the theme, but if you’ve been participating in our assignments over the last few months it should be no problem. This week we started our Film Noir assignment. Film noir is “a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations…Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.” So think Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, or even Sin City when you’re planning your shots. As always, a quick reminder of the rules. First, your photo must have been taken between 21 April – 4 May 2010. Second, your post must contain the words “Assignment: Film Noir” and the date the photo was taken. Finally, your EXIF should be intact, and it’s useful if you can include some of the main points, such as the camera, lens, aperture, shutter speed, lighting, etc. To lighten things up a bit after this assignment, next week we will start our next assignment, Toys. So dig out those toys and start playing around. Tap into your inner child this week when you take your photos.

Hot Threads

• Is f/1.8 Always Necessary for the ‘Pro Look’?: One of the things that many of us do as soon as we get a prime lens with a wide aperture is shoot everything with as wide an aperture as we possibly can. But does that mean that we should? Of course, it all depends on your subject and your desired outcome, but one forum member would like to know if using a lens wide open creates too shallow of a depth of field. There is some excellent discussion in this critique thread that may help you better understand how you can use a shallow depth of field effectively.
• Why Should I Use Manual (M)?: This is the first of two popular threads this week about deciding which mode to use on your camera. In this thread, the discussion is about why or when to use manual mode on your camera (e.g. shutter speed, aperture, ISO, not necessarily manual focus). Is it better to use manual or better to use one of the priority modes? Does it matter? Is there any extra control or benefit to using manual? Come share your thoughts over in the forum.
• Auto Focus versus Manual Focus: This is our second popular thread about deciding on modes, and this has to do with auto or manual focus. What do you use and why? Do you use manual focus? If you do use manual focus, why not come and share some hints, tips, or tricks about learning how to use it over in the forum.
• Is Your Spouse Supportive of Your Photography Endeavors?: If you’re in a relationship, this may be something you’ll have to go through at one time or another (if you haven’t already). And it’s a question of whether or not your SO is supportive of your photography endeavors. Come join in the discussion over in the forums, and share how you’ve managed to cope, bring your SO around, or otherwise deal with your SO’s attitude towards your photography.
• What Would You Do: If you’re looking for something to pass a little time this weekend, why not try out our weekly post-processing challenge where you get the chance to edit another forum member’s photo. In our WWYD threads, a photo is posted at the start of the thread and you can edit it however you like and show us what you did and tell us how you did it. It’s a really great chance to hone those post-processing skills!