Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
Warm Up Shoot 1 of 2: Free Choice
Primary Learning goal: Story telling
Keep it simple and personally meaningful. Tell a story that you know from deep personal
experience. Avoid forcing or over thinking an idea. Don’t drive yourself into a corner by trying to
be ‘Creative’ or’ Original’ because there is no new idea under the sun. Just ‘Be’ yourself. Being
true to you is the true creative touchstone. Moreover, please try to avoid making impersonal
grandiose statements!
The class over arching story for this class is the ‘self portrait’. This makes sense from a number of
view points:
1. It makes for a cheap, readily available, and very cooperative model. This actually avoids lot
of difficulties that come with shooting someone else.
2. It has a long history in the Arts. Painters have done this for centuries for some of the same
reasons.
3. In a writing class, the standard thing is to write about something you know. It is no different
in a story telling class – tell a story about something that you know. And hopefully, you know
something about yourself…
It is up to you to take that broad stroke idea and ‘pack-in’ interesting personal details to turn it into
a unique self portrait. For the Free Choice assignment, you may shoot anything. Although be
prepared to answer the question ‘how is it a Self Portrait’.
Requirements: Camera Settings and more (checklist)
 Image Size
2547 x 1955 x 72 dpi or as close as possible (within 10%).
* DSLR higher resolutions such as 180 or 300 are acceptable.
 Image Quality Highest quality jpeg (image compression format created by the Jet Propulsion Lab
over 20...)
 Shooting Mode Auto okay but Auto-P preferred for more control over ISO and other controls.
 Chip Sensitivity ISO 100 speed for best image quality. Using ISO 200 for an emergency but it will
reduce your grade. But never use ISO 400, 800, or higher speeds.
* DSLR users can use ISO’s up to 800 because of their larger chip and pixel size.
 Exposure Mode Auto (not Manual) mode.
 Exposure Meter Matrix (computer assisted) and not ‘center-weighted’ nor ‘spot’ meter (3 types).
 Aperture
Compact digital on wide – f/3.2 to f/6.3 f/stop range. Do not use the smallest f/8 or the
largest f/2.8 if possible. The image quality suffers at the extreme edges of the
aperture range. With tele, use f/5 to f/6.3.
* DSLR on wide – f/5.6 to f/16 f/stop range. Do not use the smallest f/22 or the
widest f/3.5 to avoid image quality loss. With tele, use f/8 to f/11.
* DSLR digital camera has a much larger sensor chip, which changes the aperture settings.
 Shutter Speed
 White Balance
 Focus
 Zoom Lens
1/30th sec is the minimum speed recommended. The faster speed such as 1/125 sec
is preferred to minimize camera motion blur.
Auto is recommended for all class assignment shots. It is simple, fast, and reliable for
95% of shooting conditions. It is 100% predictable when using the assignment
recommended Skylight.
Auto with focus bracket positioned at the center. Don’t use Manual Focus. Although
auto focus is not as reliable as auto white balance.
Compact Digital – set it to standard through telephoto range. The 11-24mm recommended
(DSLR 33 – 70mm. Avoid the wide-angle range from 6-10mm because of the optical and
physical distortion. Please make sure to team discus this until you understand the lens
setting requirement.
Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
* DSLR – set it to telephoto. The 33-70 mm preferred. Some will be limited to 50 mm
 Digital zoom
 Flash
 Image Shape
 Light
 Subject
but avoid the wide angle which may be 16 – 30 mm. Please make sure to team discus
this until you understand the lens setting requirement.
Never use because it’s mostly a marketing ploy!
Not recommended for class assignment use. Plan and choose your shooting
location and timing wisely to avoid dim light. Try to get your shooting done between
10 AM to 4-00 PM. Especially during the winter, shooting earlier or later will
guarantee dim light.
4:3 ratio is the default compact digital shape. It’s the same shape as the traditional
RGB computer monitor. The new flat screens usually do not fit the 4:3 shape.
* DSLR 3:2 shape is also wider. Expect to crop your extra wide 3:2 image to the 4:3
ratio (shape) for all assignment shoots. This is another team discussion topic.
Soft and easy to use Skylight. Skylight is the blue sky portion only of Daylight.
Daylight is the combination of direct sun and the blue sky.
Something or someone that you know well. If it’s an object, portability and ownership
can make it easier to ‘draw with light’. It’s surface characteristic can’t be white, black,
or shiny.
Make Your Own Requirements
Download this file from the online resource and strip away everything other than the shooting
requirements. Save it as ‘requireTemp.doc’. Rewrite all the ‘remarks’ (text description on the
right) using your own words and Save it again with ‘firstnameRequireFC.doc’.
As you work on future assignments, revise your ‘require’ document as needed and Save it using a
new name. Before shooting the self portrait ID assignment, rewrite ‘require’ based on any changes
and new terms and details that reflect your growing level of understanding. Save that file as
‘firstnameRequire-spID.doc’.
Written instruction can make a simple process seem complicated. I will be
demonstrating the above procedure in a follow me step-by-step process.
Shooting Process Guide:
1. Your story is the starting and end-point of all your technical and aesthetic decisions.
2. Start with a simple story and let the interaction with the real world mold it into a ‘living story’.
View ‘01a_storyHalf_24.pps’ to see a student go through evolving a story into the final project.
3. Poor technique will always take away from your story telling. Pay attention to the basics:
 Exposure, focus, and color
 Composition, negative space, and design opportunities
 Image depth by having a fore, middle, and background
 Use broad source Skylight coming from the side to render the scene and form texture
4. Press down on the 2-stage shutter button halfway to lock exposure and focus. Recompose as
needed to tell your story. At the decisive moment, squeeze the shutter button all the way down
to capture your story. If your camera has ‘shutter lag’, incorporate the delay into your timing.
5. Use the camera Playback mode to:
 Make sure that the exposure is believable and not dark or light. If not right, use the EC to
make the needed changes and re-shoot.
 If you used Skylight combined with Auto WB, the color should look okay.
 Make sure that you do not have a light source (bright spot or area) in the image.
 Inspect the image sharpness using full Magnify (8 to 16x) by pressing on the zoom-T.
Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
Watch Out: The previous Playback review process is very straight forward and easy to do. But it
only works if you do it. The more difficult task is to actually see the Playback image ‘as it is’ in
terms of story and composition. This easy-sounding task may take you half the quarter to ‘get it’
or even the whole quarter.
To check on the composition (camera framing), press the zoom-T button again for a different
reason than inspecting the sharpness. If after pressing on the ‘T’ several times, the story is still
clearly being told, and then the original shot was not framed properly.
Either physically move-in closer to the subject or zoom-in to improve your story telling camera
cropping. Nothing should be in the frame that does not contribute to telling your story.
Once you get several shots that seem to work, take a few more. After that, take a 5 minutes break
to enjoy a Late or a quiet meditation. After the break, Playback back and review all your images
to determine the Best Shot.
Try to analyze and identify what made you choose that particular image as Best. Then see if you
can improve upon that observation by re-shooting with more awareness. Or go off on a new
direction with your story. If you get a good one from that series of shots, that might either replace
the original Best or it might become the Least of your Best, Next, and Least set that you turn in.
An Attitude Thing: Please try not to shoot class assignment. Just be practicing your art. Whatever
instrument you decided upon, you must practice to improve.
Last to mention but first to shoot, is the ‘scene-lighting’ shot. Before taking any of your
assignment shots, put your camera where the focal point is and aim it back to where the camera
was or will be. Set the camera to its widest zoom setting and take a shot of the light source.
Light Source: Look back toward your camera position, squint your eyes and notice where all the
‘hot spots’ are in the scene. Usually, there is one main hot area in the scene which might be the
sky or the clouds in the sky. That is your light source. Make sure that that hot area is included in
your light source shot. Be sure to include some of the environment to show the whole lighting
condition and not just the hot spot.
At Home: CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor image review
You may have decided about your Best shot on location. Although, always review your shoot on
a full screen computer monitor at home. The camera Playback screen is tiny compared even to a
small computer monitor. Reviewing your image in Photoshop using the Magnification set to
Actual Size (100%) is a must part of the assignment review process.
Only through a CRT computer screen review at ‘actual pixel size’, can you really see the exact
quality of the image. An LCD (Liquid Cristal Display) laptop screen like your camera LCD
screen does not show true tone, contrast, color, or saturation.
Making Choices:
Select out four (4) images which will serve as the:
1. Light First to shoot. This must show the hottest area behind the camera.
2. Best
This succeeds in telling your story with transparent (error free) technique, soft side
light, well composed (framed), and a strong ‘Wow’.
3. Next
This image should also tell the story without technical, compositional, or lighting
flaws. Although it’s missing something that keeps it from being the best. Please be
prepared to describe that missing factor. And this image should not be just a poor
variation of the Best shot.
Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
4. Least
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
This image has technical or story telling flaws. This is the shot that you will write
about in your Report for the ‘Con’ in paragraph 2. And in paragraph 3, you guess at
the possible solution. This might even be the Best from a different take on the
story.
File Management:
The camera original files should get transferred to a data storage device independent of your
computer. I recommend an 80 (or larger) GB USB hard drive. Once stored safely in the camera
original folder, It should be viewed for image selection. Use the Windows file manager in the
Thumbnail view mode.
Go through your image editing process and select the Best, Next, and Least shots. Then select
your best light source shot and name it ‘yourfirstanmeLight-fc.jpg’. Notice I said the best light
source shot. Yes I expect the light source shot to be properly exposed and framed.
File Names:
1_kenjiLight-fc.jpg – fill in your own first name where ‘kenji’ appears.
2_kenjiBest-fc.jpg – your very best story telling image and it must have a title.
3_kenjiNext-fc.jpg – the next best choice. It sometimes becomes the best choice.
4_kenjiLeast-fc.jpg – this might be technically flawed or may be a best from a different story.
Assignment Image Turn In:
For Artshare turn-in instructions, just follow the next-class ‘Instructions’.
Final Assignment Tasks:
1. Write an assignment Report using the ‘reportTemp.doc’.
2. Test ‘Open’ your ‘.jpg’ image file on a different computer than your own.
3. If I cannot ‘Open’ your image file, it will be considered ‘not turned in’.
Class Critique and Feedback:
This class is not about pretty pictures or even about ‘I like it’. It is about the story and packing the
right elements for story. Being a good team mate is about helping your team mates to see into
their blind spots. Give them honest ‘gut level’ feedback on what work and what does not work.
And expect to get the same in return.
Yes this will take practice and it is about building trust in the team. You will obviously be
attached to your own work. As a team process, learn to take ownership of the team member’s
images. But do it in a supportive way as opposed to a putting-down way.
Stay open to hearing lots of ideas but don’t feel obligated to ideas that do not resonated with you
‘gut feel’. Although if you hear something that really makes sense to you, go with it.
_________________________________________________________
Refer back to the class ‘Instructions’ document