6-1 Copy of Advertisement

Duplicate a photo in an advertisement.

Canon G3 digital, 7.2mm lens (~38mm equivalent), f/8, 0.6s, ISO 50

Instructor comments:

In the first picture you're copying the ad and you've done a good job on that. First of all you have the items: the belt, the shoes, the cloth on a hardwood floor. Secondly you've paid good attention to the lighting. You need to soften the light on the highlight areas on the shoes. You created that with the panel that you mentioned but that needs to be softened to get the effect that you had in the original ad. And that also would apply to the belt buckle and to the belt strap; the highlights need to be subdued a little bit.

The placement of the items is good. You paid careful attention to the placement. That's very important and the space that is occupied by your picture must be proportionately the same as the space occupied in the original picture. Nothing is more frustrating to an art director or an account executive than to get an illustration that doesn't fit the original concept; it looks like the original concept superficially but space doesn't fit. The advertising agency has already purchased the space maybe 6 months in advance and they're stuck with it. They paid for it. If nothing goes in there in the way of illustration the magazine can write in "complements of a friend" or something like that. So it's important always in an advertising assignment to follow the layout. And that you have done quite well in the picture. I think in general that it's been a very successful attempt.

6-2 Exterior of Building

Photograph the exterior of a building

Canon G2 digital, 7mm lens (~35mm equivalent), f/3.5, 1/640, ISO 400

Instructor comments:

You shot in what seems to be sunlight. Architectural studies should always be done in bright sunlight, if it's a daytime shot. There is so much in the way of line, edge, form, shape, mass, building material, and spaces that show up better in bright sunlight than they do on overcast days or in open shade. Now if your'e doing a mood shot by all means shoot in the fog or the rain or snow or what have you, but otherwise I would always recommend bright sunlight.

I don't know if you have a polarizing filter. I would have recommended that here to darken the blue of the sky, to increase the color saturation in general. The frame has been well filled with the subject and the exposure's correct. The image is a little bit on the soft side as are all of your other digital images. That is something you need to improve. Maybe you have reached the limitation of the camera, I can't say that for sure. But they all seem like they're taken with a lens that's 100 years old. They all have a kind of soft focus effect. I know that if you were using a regular camera with regular film that you could get crisper looking images, rather than this softened effect.

You say it's handheld and you used a fast shutter to eliminate problems with camera shake. The problem is greater than that. The problem is that you don't have enough depth of field with f/3.5. You need to be stopped down all the way, maximum depth of field for architectural shots. So, use your tripod.

6-3 Interior of Building

Photograph the interior of a building

Canon G3 digital, 7.2mm lens (~38mm equivalent), f/8, 0.4s, ISO 50

Instructor comments:

Stopped down all the way; maximum depth of field for a shot like this. You handled the lighting very well. And you did add light of your own to the existing light, which is good. The exposure's correct. and you've shown good detail in the scene. I would say a successful attempt here.

I read with interest the comments in your letter on how you did all this. It was a well thought out, well conceived picture.

6-4 Building at Night

Photograph the exterior of a building at night

Canon G2 digital, 28mm lens (~102mm equivalent), f/2.5, 0.3s, ISO 50

Instructor comments:

The frame is well filled with the subject. The exposure's good. In general a good nightime shot. I'd like to see a little bit crisper image.