Big Stock Photo - Introduction

So I've FINALLY got round to doing something about this assessment!

In short, the task is to capture, edit, and upload four still images set around one or two themes. The images will be taken by myself on a 7.1 megapixel Fujifilm Finepix A700 digital camera (click here for specification). I will edit my photographs in Adobe Photoshop CS2, using the skills I have learnt in previous workshops, and when the editing stage is completed in a week or so, I will hopefully get all four accepted by BigStockPhoto.com.

The first thing I needed to complete was my registration with BigStockPhoto.com. This involved submitting my details and completing a tutorial to make sure I understood the terms of submission to the site. My registered details are shown below:

Photographer ID: petelittlewood

Use the photographer ID to search for my portfolio of work.

After thinking about the theme for a while, I decided that one of my themes to use would be:

• Architecture

Taking the photos
When taking the photographs it was important for me to explore the features of the camera I was using, rather than relying on automatic exposure and flash etc. One thing I was advised against was using the flash for my photos. For the outdoor images, it probably wouldn't have made a difference to the shot, but for close shots indoors, the flash creates artificial light and shadows, which often spoil the picture. For this reason, I always used a supressed flash (no flash) when using my camera.

I also explored other camera features such as ISO settings. The ISO setting on a camera determines how much light is exposed to the camera when taking a picture. A LOW ISO setting lets through the least amount of light, and a HIGH setting lets through a lot of light. Be warned however, using a high setting can sometimes result in grainy and noisy images. To get the best image, it can be necessary to take the same image (easily done by using a tripod) with every setting, then edit the best parts of each image together in the post-production stage.

Setting the Exposure Compensation value (EV) to the correct figure can also result in a better photo. Exposure Compensation (hereon referred to as EV) is similar to the ISO setting, and determines the amount of light that is subjected to the camera when taking a picture. Changing the EV may on some cameras alter the shutter speed of the camera, but some cameras change the aperture while keeping the shutter speed constant. A technique called Exposure Bracketing involves photographers taking a shot in every EV setting, and again, like with ISO, taking the best parts of each image to make a perfect shot.
As an example of bracketing, see the two examples below. The image on the left is taken with an automatic exposure setting (set by the camera) and the image on the right was taken with a +1 (positive) exposure setting. See the difference?

Another setting that is invaluable is the shot type. For example, on my FinePix A700, I can take a number of different shot types which are simply presets of the above settings. If I chose the shot type "Sport," this has a quick shutter speed for catching moving objects, or sports games. Using the "Night" setting, the camera uses a slow shutter speed and maximum exposure.

When taking photographs it is very important to consider the depth of field in the shot. This is the distance in front of and beyond the focal point that is in focus. For something that is very detailed, it is probably best to have a short depth of field so that the subject is the only thing in focus. For a landscape or architecural scene, a bigger depth of field is recommended.

Sourcing My Material
I went to London a couple of weeks ago and took some photographs of some of the buildings in the capital city. I though these were too good to go to waste, so this was when i decided about my first theme.

Here are the originals of my architecture pictures. Click on them for a full resoultion image. There will probably be more to add so keep coming back to look!

I decided to use all three of these images and thought about how I would go about editing them. Two of the images didn't need much editing at all, and it is clear to see from above which images these were. The photograph on the left however, needed a lot of work, and definitely took the most time, which is why I started this one first. I will be completing a separate blog post for detailed information into how I edited and manipulated the images before uploading them to BigStockPhoto.com.

During this project I will be working closely with the Criterion Reference Grid, and as I always aim high will be trying to attack the Criterion for a First grade.

That's all for this post, but I will be posting again very soon to talk you through exactly how I edited each image, and I will upload the finished results. Keep checking back for my fourth image, which might be a totally different theme (I haven't decided yet!)