EXERCISE

Night
Assignment: Do a series of photographs outdoors at night.
Goal: By now you should have a
good idea of how the camera responds to variations in daylight. How
does it respond to the night? Your
task is to find this out.
Tips: For best results, select a location with some artificial source of
light. Streetlights, car headlights,
lighted windows of a house or other
building will ail work well. The moon
can work, but it requires good timing, luck and patience.
Take some time to find a subject
that is interesting enough to deserve
a lot of your time. Unless you're very
lucky, you'll need to do a considerable amount of experimenting to get
a single photograph that is "just
right." Be patient and creative.
This is one situation in which a
hand-held meter can be very helpful.
If you don't own one (or can't borrow one), try shooting at f/5.6 for
about 1 minute to start. (Use a stop
watch to keep track of your time.)
Then bracket in both directions: 2
minutes, 30 seconds, 15 seconds, etc.
Remember that doubling the time
(from 1 minute to 2 minutes) will
have basically the same effect as
opening the lens one stop (from f/5.6
to f/4). However, at very slow shutter speeds, the ratio is not accurate,
due to what is called "reciprocity
failure." Basically, this means that
you'll have to guess a lot. So be sure
to experiment with a wide range of
exposures.
You might also try using a small
("penlight") flashlight to "draw" your
subject. Here's how to do it: Set your
212 The Photographic Eye

camera up on a tripod. Place your

subject carefully within the frame.
Open the shutter, using the "B" setting and a fairly small aperture (try
178). Stand behind the subject and
t u r n on the flashlight. Move the
flashlight quickly along the edges of
the subject, aiming it so the light is
visible to the camera. After a few
seconds (try 15 to start), turn off the
flashlight and close the shutter.
Repeat the same procedure at different shutter speeds.

Student photograph by Trevor

Bredenkamp.

Student photograph by John Dean.

Student photograph by Trevor
Bredenkamp.

Breaking the Rules 213

EXERCISE

Monotone
Assignment: Do a series of
photographs with a very limited
range of values: black on black, white
on white, or gray on gray.
This assignment is similar to the
"eggs" assignment, with two important differences: 1) variations in value
caused by shadows, highlights, etc.
should be avoided as much as possible, and 2) any tone is acceptable (not
just white). In addition, you are not
required to photograph your subject
against a background. You may
prefer to crop in so the subject fills
the frame. The only rule is that the
overall tone of the photograph
should be white, black or one shade
of gray.
Student photograph by Helario Reyna.
Goal: A contrasty print, with a full
value range (from black, through
various grays, to white) is generally
desirable. However, limiting value to
only one tone (black, gray or white)
can sometimes be very effective. Find
a subject that lends itself to this treatment and make it work.
Tips: Proper exposure is vital,
especially if the main tone is black or
white. Meter off your hand or a gray
card. Remember to bracket your
shots, just to be on the safe side.
Possible subjects include a black
cat on a black chair, an arrangement
of plain white paper, a white chair on
a white porch, a black car on a blacktop road, a pear on a wooden table
top (both of which would show up as
gray), a straw hat on a beach, etc.
For white on white, you may want
to overexpose a bit, which will lighten
any gray or black areas. For black on
black, you may want to underexpose
(to darken gray areas), but be sure
214 The Photographic Eye

Student photograph by Jack Backus.

your subject doesn't just disappear.
With gray on gray, you may want a
normal exposure, or one that is
slightly light or dark, depending on

what kind of gray is dominant and

what else is in the photograph.
Experiment.

Student photograph by Dave Hornback.

Breaking the Rules 215

EXERCISE

Silhouettes
Assignment: Photograph an object or
person as a silhouette.
Goal: Make sure that the silhouetted
figure makes sense as a silhouette,
that it's clear and distinct. In addition, be very aware of negative space,
especially if the figure is entirely
within the frame of your photograph.
Tips: This assignment is difficult
because you'll be shooting an object
against the sky. As a result, your light
meter will get very confused. The
"point of departure" setting is no help
because you don't want a normally
exposed image: the figure should be
black against a white sky.
So, take a meter reading off the
sky and then open your lens up two
stops wider than indicated by the
meter. For example, if the meter indicates f/16, shoot at f/8 instead.
(Remember, the meter will want the
sky to be gray, which is not what you
want.) Bracket a few stops in both
directions to see what effect that has.
Try to clearly isolate your subject,
unless other details work well with it.
Good subjects include trees, people,
playground equipment, machinery,
objects with holes in them that allow
some light to show through. Avoid
plain rectangular shapes like a
building or door, since they don't
tend to produce interesting
silhouettes.

216 The Photographic Eye

Student photograph by Darrell Converse.

Student photograph by Lynne

Mattielli.
Student photograph by Jay David
Blumenfeld.

Breaking the Rules 217

EXERCISE

Grain &
Diffusion
Assignment: Use ISO 3200 film
(for enhanced grain) with some form
of diffuser over your lens to produce
a very "soft" image.
Goal: To experiment with the effects produced by deliberately avoiding crisp focus and lighting.
Tips: There are a number of ways
to diffuse the light (and with it the
image) coming through your lens.
You can use a conventional fog filter,
available at modest cost at many
camera stores. Or you can shoot
through textured glass such as a
shower door, an antique window, or
a crystal serving dish (ask your mom
for permission). If there's a store in
town that sells glass, you might have
an interesting piece cut to a usable
size. (Tape the edges and handle with
care!) Another option is to stretch a
piece of plastic wrap over your lens,
possibly smearing it with petroleum
jelly or spraying it with water. Try
using a nylon stocking or a piece of
lace in the same way (without the
petroleum jelly). Or you might squirt
some dishwashing liquid on a normal window and shoot through that.
Focus on your subject, measuring
the distance to it if necessary. Bear in
mind that larger apertures will increase the diffusion effect and are
therefore preferable. Also, be sure no
direct light is striking your diffuser,
as that will bring out the screen texture and obscure your subject.

218 The Photographic Eye

This photograph combines grain and blurred motion to produce a very

moody effect. Student photograph.
Variations: You might try using a
very slow shutter speed (between 15
and 4) and either enticing your subject to move or hand-holding the
camera to blur the image a bit and
further soften it.

As this photograph demonstrates, grain can be a highly effective tool for conveying certain kinds of emotions or
moods. How would you describe the mood in this image? (Student photograph by Amy Shafer.)

Breaking the Rules 219

EXERCISE

Double
Exposure
Assignment: Combine two images
into a single photograph either by
double-exposing a single frame of
film or by using two separate negatives to produce one p r i n t .
Goal: Strive for a unified effect.
The trick to a double-exposed photograph is to achieve visual coherence
an image that makes sense to the
viewer. This does not mean that the
image needs to be entirely clear, but
it should be more than a chaotic
jumble of lines, light and shadow
(unless, of course, that's the effect
you want).
Tips: If you are creating your image in the camera, the simplest way
to proceed is to shoot one frame as
usual, making a mental note or, preferably, a rough sketch of the image,
noting light and dark areas. If your
camera has a double-exposure feature, use it. Otherwise, hold in the
film-release button while you cock
the shutter (i.e., wind the film as
usual, though it shouldn't actually
move). Experiment with various exposure combinations. If your second
image is in a very dark area of your
first image, you may get a good
result by using a normal exposure for
both. Otherwise, try under-exposing
both by one stop (or doubling the
ISO number). As always, bracketing
is the safest way to ensure a successful result. After completing one double-exposure, wind the film forward
as usual and try another.
To produce a double exposure in
the darkroom, you may either sandwich two negatives together in the
220 The Photographic Eye

The ghostly figure in this photograph is one of the intriguing effects possible
with double-exposure. (Student photograph by Anne Nowak.)
negative holder or print them separately. Again, you will have to experiment to get the right exposure
combination. With the second approach, you must remember that any
white areas of the first negative will
print black and nothing from the
second negative can be printed in
those areas.
Variations: It is also possible to use
a piece of black mat to cover half of
the lens while making your first ex-

posure, and then cover the other half

for your second shot but skill and
practice are required to blend the two
images successfully. (This works better on larger format cameras.)
A "ghost" effect can be produced
by setting the camera on a tripod,
shooting one shot of a model (or
other subject) at half the normal exposure, and then removing the
model and shooting a second image
(at the same exposure).

EXERCISE

Photo-Copy
Photos
Assignment: Select a print you
have already made and "interpret" it
with a photo-copy machine.
Goal: This is an experiment in
print manipulation breaking down
the clarity of an image to create a
more impressionistic effect.
Tips: The basic procedure is very
simple: place the print face-down in
a photo-copy machine and run off
one copy. Then copy the copy. Then
copy the copy of the copy, and so on,
until you get an effect you like. However, not all prints will work well for
this process. Generally, a fairly "contrasty" original will yield better
results than one that is either very
dark or predominantly gray. You
may also have to tinker with the
darkness control on the copier to
produce the effect you want. In addition, higher quality paper will give
you a cleaner image.
If you have access to a high-tech
copier, you can experiment with the
exposure settings (try "photo," if
available) to see how they affect the
final result. One other experimental
procedure, which works on any copier, is to slip your hand in under the
cover and move your "original"
(which may be a copy of a copy)
around on the glass just slightly!
- while it is being copied. (Do not
open the cover for this procedure, as
the bright light is hard on the eyes.)

Student photographs.
Breaking The Rules 221

EXERCISE

Panel
Panorama
Assignment Produce a series of
prints, shot sequentially, in a line or
circle from t h e same spot, and
mount them together to form a single composite image.
Goal: Select a location that will ensure each frame will be visually interesting. None should simply f i l l
space. Each image should contribute
some impression or visual information to the whole sequence.

222 The Photographic Eye

Tips: Unless otherwise instructed

by your teacher, you w i l l have to decide how many images to combine in
your panorama (between three and
five are recommended). Before you
begin shooting, check each area of
your location to be sure that a single
aperture (preferably small, for good
depth of field) can be used throughout the sequence. The basic procedure is to shoot, t u r n slightly, shoot
again, and so on ideally without
moving from your starting point.

Line up your shots carefully so they

all connect at the edges. Your final
prints should be fairly small (i.e.,
3'/2" x 5"), so the final result won't
be utterly enormous. Take care that
the density of all your final prints is
consistent.

Variations: Shoot a sequence at

different times of day, making a note
of where each image ends, so you
can later begin your next image at
that point. (A street scene offers interesting possibilities for this approach.) Break the pattern by
moving forward and back, shifting
your point of view as you proceed
through the sequence. Combine vertical and horizontal formats. Overlap the edges of your panels and
mount them as a sort of patchwork

quilt. Follow David Hockncy's example (see Appendix 2) and shoot

lots of separate images. Have someone model for you in a different pose
in each image. Include a word in
each frame so the whole sequence
contains a phrase or sentence. Stand
in one place and shoot forward, back
and to each side. (The possibilities
are endless.)

There's a person in this mom, though no one is in sight. Every object, from
the rumpled bed to the ragged posters, not only tells us whose room this is
but also allows us to feel that person's presence. Is this somebody you know?
(Student photograph by Aindrea Brennan.)

Breaking The Rules 223

EXERCISE

Text& Image
Assignment: Combine one or
more photographs w i t h words a
poem, song, quotation, excerpt from
a book, h a n d w r i t t e n note, etc.
Goal: Photography and the written
word have enjoyed a long partner ship, especially in magazines and advertising. Photographs may illustrate
a text, or text may be employed to
clarify or comment on a photographic image. The goal of this exercise is to explore the various ways in
which these two forms of expression
can be used together to produce a
meaningful combined effect.
Tips: Try to avoid an overly literal
result, with the photograph and text
merely saying the same thing in different ways. Ideally, each will enhance and expand the impression
conveyed by the other.
Just as some song writers begin
with a lyric and others first compose
a melody, you may choose to select
(or write) your text first and then create an image to go w i t h it or the
other way around. Keeping the text
short will usually (but not always)
enhance the overall effect. (Haiku, a
style of short poems developed in Japan, are an excellent choice.) Whatever form of text you choose, be sure
it will actually work well with a photographic image. (Your favorite song
will not necessarily give you much to
work w i t h . )
Unless otherwise instructed by
your teacher, you will have to decide
if the text is to be typed or handwritten and whether to place it in the
image area of the photograph, to
leave white space for it below t h e
224 The Photographic Eye

Student photograph by Amy Toensiiig.

p r i n t , or to place it on the mat or a
separate sheet of paper.
Variations: You may wish to try
various forms of collaboration. For
example, t h e entire class might select
a topic of shared interest and produce a series of text/image combinations to explore together. (This could

make a very effective exhibit.) Or

you might want to work together to
illustrate a long poem, a song, a
short-story, or a portion of a book
you all admire. Alternatively, you
might collaborate individually with
students in a w r i t i n g course
matching your photographs w i t h
their poetry, for example.

In this example, an excerpt from a poem by Rumi (a medieval Sufi) is written directly on the print. Notice
how the two play off each other, suggesting deeper meanings and hidden connections. (Student photo by
Laura Mitchell.)

.
Breaking The Rules 225

Student photograph by Marc McCoy.

226 The Photographic Eye