Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
Classroom Shooting Assignment: Learn about exposure
Shoot a series of 7 over (light) and under (dark) exposed images. Keep the exposure meter set to
Matrix (default) on Auto and make lighter and darker mages using exposure compensation (EC).
This test shoot will help to establish two things. One is to test the accuracy of the light meter. And
the other is to give you a controlled range of exposures from light to dark in 1/3 f/stop increments.
Process:
1. Split up into 2 people teams. Each team member will take turns at making the test
shots or being the model. Tripod use is preferred. And that is because, except for
the exposure, nothing else should change. The vertical ‘tight-head’ framing should
remain identical in all seven exposures.
2. The idea is to see plenty of skin tone. In the illustration to the right, the oval represents the face
‘filling the frame’ and the rest is the background. Do the best you can first using your camera set
to the 105mm ‘equiv.’ telephoto. But you may have to mooz towards ‘standard’ in order to fillthe-frame with the face as per illustration.
3. Make special image-size adjustment on your camera. Make the image size 640x480 (e-mail size)
or small as possible. This image size reduction will keep the image file size from taking up too
much space on you digital film (memory) card.
4. The image size must be changed back to 2547 x 1955 before shooting the class assignment.
Exposure test series using EC (exposure compensation) adjustments:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Over by
Over by
Over by
Normal
Under by
Under by
Under by
+
+
+
-
1.0
0.7
0.3
0.0
0.3
0.7
1.0
Little bright looking but not very bright
Looking believable without feeling light or dark
Little dark looking but not very dark
Most digitals are capable of EC up to +2 and -2 f/stops.
Warm-Up Shoot 2 of 2: Free Choice Reshoot
Story Telling: Main class goal
1. Having a story idea can inspire, lead, and open opportunities. Without a story, you will be
shooting blind.
2. Once you have the story idea, commit to telling that story. Then be open to perfect
coincidences that help to flesh out your story idea.
o While researching for a location, you might find a prop.
o While looking for a prop, you might find the perfect location.
o The color of the prop may inspire the color scheme for your canvas.
o Or while standing in line, you overhear a conversation that adds the final touch to your story
idea. It’s all a matter of being fully open to the creative energy around you.
Story Idea: Keep it simple; avoid forcing an idea, or over thinking. Just be yourself.
Class Textbook: Begin the process by reviewing it (all 17 PowerPoint shows) which can be
found online in the textbook folder. I developed ‘project management guide’. So that you can
have me by your side as you go through the assignment shooting process.
Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
Requirements: Use this to update your own ‘require’ doc.
 Image Size
 Image Quality
 Shooting Mode
 Chip Sensitivity
 Exposure Mode
 Exposure Meter
 Aperture
 Shutter Speed
 White Balance
 Focus
 Zoom Lens
2547 x 1955 x 72 dpi or as close as possible (within 10%). DSLR higher resolutions
such as 180 or 300 are acceptable.
Highest quality jpeg – view ‘0c_imageQuality_15w.pps’.)
Auto okay but Auto-P preferred for more control over ISO and other controls.
ISO 100 speed for best image quality. DSLR users can use ISO’s up to 800. But even
with DSLR, lower ISO means higher image quality.
Auto (not Manual) mode.
Matrix (computer assisted) and not ‘center-weighted’ nor ‘spot’ meter (3 types).
Compact digital on wide – f/3.2 to f/6.3 f/stop range. DSLR – f/5.6 to f/16 f/stop range.
Avoid the fully stopped donw apertures on both platforms.
1/30th sec is the minimum speed recommended. The faster speed such as 1/125 sec
is preferred to minimize camera motion blur – view ’02d_getSteady.pps’.
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.
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.
* 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 Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
Assignment Shooting Overview
Shoot – After the textbook review, begin your shoot process.
Pay attention to technique (the aperture, shutter speed, ISO numbers, etc.), composition, design,
and lighting (side light recommended for drawing form and texture). Squeeze the 2-stage shutter
button to capture the image.
Camera Playback / Story Review: In the camera Playback mode, press the ‘T’ on the zoom
toggle switch 1 to 3 times and check to see is the story is still being told. If it is, your cropping is to
lose. Solution is to ‘move closer to the subject’ or ‘zoom-in to frame tighter’.
Camera Playback / Exposure Review: If the image is too light, use minus EC numbers to
darken the image. If the image is too dark, use plus EC numbers to lighten the image. If you are not
sure, check the image Histogram, exposure graph.
There is no perfect Histogram graph shape. The real work is very complex and multi-faceted and
so are the Histogram graph shape possibilities. Follow my strict lighting recommendation in order
to get Histograms that can be ‘interpreted’ reliably.
Simple Histogram Exposure Graph Rule: Use a broad source (large area) Skylight and also
avoid having any light source in the image. If the image is lit and exposed as per instructions, there
is a simple exposure graph rule. Do not let the exposure graph touch the right
edge of the graph frame as shown by the example to the right. You can also
go online to dpreview.com/Glossary and look up Histogram and its proper
interpretation and use.
Camera Playback Composition Review: At the simplest level, make
sure that the subject is not both small and centered in the frame. Try to at
least use the very basic 1/3 rule. Some digitals provide a ‘1/3 Grid’ as
shown to the right. It would be one of the Display options. Find it now, if
not done previously. Grid intersection ‘A’ is the primary location for the
focal point.
Re-shoot Idea: Most images can be improved…
While reviewing the playback image, look for a ‘new angle’ (simpler, more interesting, or funny)
of telling your story. And this exercise is easier done when the story is simple and personal. With
personally meaningful stories, it’s easier to have a ‘gut feeling’ about ‘what is and what is not
working’. Re-shoot as many times as necessary to ‘get it right’.
In this class, re-shooting without a story is a waste of time and energy. And it generally does not
contribute to you, the class, or to team learning. With a specific story, it will be easy to talk about
what to and what not to ‘pack’ into the image. And packing can affect technique, lighting,
composition, styling, propping, to staging.
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
Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
 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.
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.
Shooting Assignment: Specification Sheet
Instructor: Kenji Tachibana
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.
4. Least 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.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-fcr.jpg – fill in your own first name where ‘kenji’ appears.
2_kenjiBest-fcr.jpg – your very best story telling image and it must have a title.
3_kenjiNext-fcr.jpg – the next best choice. It sometimes becomes the best choice.
4_kenjiLeast-fcr.jpg – this might be technically flawed or may be a best from a different story.
Assignment Image Turn In:
For turn in instructions, just follow the daily ‘Class Instructions’.
Final Assignment Tasks:
Write a assignment process Report using the ‘reportTemp.doc’. Make sure to test open your
image file on a different computer than your own. Assignment files that I cannot be opened will
be considered late.
Class Critique and Feedback:
Remember whom you are shooting for. Your ultimate client is you. Be a demanding client with
high standards. That will help you learn to deliver excellence. Expect less and you will get less
than your true worth...
__________________________________________________________
Refer back to the Class Instructions document