Photography Ethics - When do we publish or not publish a photograph?

Please refer to the NPPA, National Press Photographers Association to guide your decision in the following scenarios.

Choose 2 situations to answer and and post them to your blog.

 Publish or Not to Publish 1
Keep in mind a photojournalist’s ethical duty to be fair, accurate and clear.
There is said to be a “breakfast rule” to guide publication decisions: Do not publish anything that will make people choke on their breakfast.

Situation
Parents in your community are calling and writing the local newspaper. They are angry about two recent uses of photographs in the morning newspaper:
1. Three American troops and 10 Iraqi citizens, including two children, were killed when a car bomb exploded in a shopping district. On the front page of the Tuesday paper was a photograph that clearly showed the uncovered bodies, blood and damage to cars and shops.
2. On Wednesday, on the back of the comics page, a full-page advertisement for women’s undergarments was published. Some considered the poses “seductive” and “far too revealing.” Children who read the comics might see the ad.

Question - Do you think public response should guide the decision to publish or not publish 
 more than news value? Are the subscribers right to complain?
- Is there an ethical reason to publish or not publish?
- What considerations guide your decision?
- What is your decision?

To Publish or Not to Publish 2
Keep in mind a photojournalist’s ethical duty to be fair, accurate and clear.
Not all actions are news. Editors, reporters and photographers make content decisions every day based on their news judgment, understanding of their communities and awareness of their ethical, legal and economic responsibilities.

Situation
Students at your school are performing dangerous stunts. They hope to attract television coverage and get the most hits on YouTube. The editor of the student newspaper and the student webmaster are pitching coverage. They think this story would interest students who do not usually read the school’s newspaper.

Question- Should your school’s publications cover the students with photographs and/or 
 do a videocast?
- Would this encourage these students to do more daring stunts by glorifying 
 their unsafe actions?
- Is there an ethical reason to publish or not publish?
- What considerations guide your decision?
- What is your decision?

To Publish or Not to Publish 3
Keep in mind a photojournalist’s ethical duty to be fair, accurate and clear.
Photographers are to maintain the integrity of the photographic image’s content and context. Photographers also want their best works to be published.

Situation
Your school photographer captured an awesome crowd photograph just as your girls basketball team won the state championship. All aspects of an excellent photograph — emotion, color, use of line and rule of thirds — are present. On closer examination, one sees several students with their middle fingers extended.

Question - Would you remove the offending body parts using a software program such as 
 Photoshop?
- Is there an ethical reason to publish or not publish as is?
- What considerations guide your decision?
- What is your decision?

Adjustment Layers - Convert to Black and White - Post Your Work

Change a color photo to black and white
Open a photograph you have taken
Using the Hue-Saturation Adjustment layer, convert the picture to black and white.
Post the original and De-Saturated (black and White) to your blog.



Original Color



Desaturated



Adjusted Levels



Histogram

Photoshop Adjustment Layers - Part 1

Today I will demonstrate how to use Photoshop Adjustment Layers.

We will practice the following in class:

• Convert a picture from Color to Black and White using the Hue/Contrast Adjustment layer
• Adjust Levels using the Levels Adjustment layer

Creating adjustment layers

Do one of the following:
For Hue-Saturation (Converts to Black and White)

1. Click the New Adjustment Layer button  at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Hue/Saturation

2. Move the Saturation slider all the way to the left

3. Click ok

Here is a video showing how to do it.

For Levels (Adjusts Contrast in your picture)

1. Click the New Adjustment Layer button  at the bottom of the Layers panel, and choose Levels

2. Move the Shadows, Midtones, and Highlights Sliders to adjust the range of contrast in your image

3. Click ok

Here is a video showing how to do it.

This link will take you to a description of using Levels in Photoshop. The photo in the example is in color but it works the same in black and white.

Composing a Photo using different Perspectives

Today we will talk about Perspective. 

When taking pictures, don't just shoot at Eye level. Take a look at the examples at the site below.

http://digital-photography-school.com/perspective-photography-dont-just-stand-move-feet/

Capture 2 Images of each of the following perspectives and post them to your blog:

Birds eye Perspective

Bugs eye

Eye Level

Horizontal Leading Lines

Vertical Leading Lines

Diagonal Leading Lines
Curves

Combination of 2 of the various perspectives.

Make sure to label each picture.

Here is a good example from a previous class. 

Composing Your Photograph Using the Rule of Thirds

Today you will take pictures using the Rule of Thirds. You will need to post 3-5 examples of the Rule of Thirds to your blog. For each example write an explanation of how the rule of thirds was used in each picture.

The rule of thirds is probably the most often referenced photography rule of composition.  It is all about subject placement within the frame.

Imagine that your picture space is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically, like a tic tac toe grid.

The photography rule of thirds tells us to align our subject with one of the points where those lines cross. That means our subject is one third of the way “into” the picture space – from either the top or bottom, and from either the left or right. And that means it’s not in the middle.



Here is an example of the rule of thirds for a landscape photo. The focus is on the land area rather than the sky so the bottom two-thirds of the photograph are filled with land and the top third is sky.

Here are additional links explaining and demonstrating the Rule of thirds.
http://digital-photography-school.com/rule-of-thirds
http://learnprophotography.com/rule-of-thirds
http://www.ultimate-photo-tips.com/photography-rule-of-thirds.html

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/rule-of-thirds

Football Depth of Field

Go to the football field. 

Take a picture with Deep Depth of Field using the smallest F Stop (Aperture) available on your camera. You choose the ISO and Shutter Speed for achieving a properly exposed picture.

Next, 

Take the same picture with Shallow Depth of Field using the largest F Stop (Aperture) available on your camera. You choose the ISO and Shutter Speed for achieving a properly exposed picture.

Post your pictures on the blog. Include your exposure settings for each pic.




Deep D.o.F.
ISO 800
Shutter Speed 1/500
Aperture F36



Shallow D.o.F.
ISO 400
Shutter Speed 1/500
Aperture F4.6



Shallow D.o.F.
ISO 200
Shutter Speed 1/125
Aperture F5.6



Deep D.o.F.
ISO 1600
Shutter Speed 1/250
Aperture F29

Aperture - The Amount of Light

Aperture is the opening in the lens that controls the AMOUNT of light that you allow to enter the camera. 

It is measured in a thing we call the F number.



As you decrease the size of the Aperture you increase the amount of the picture that is in focus. This is called Depth of field.

Watch the following video for a good explanation of how Aperture works. We'll began using different F Stops and doing Depth of Field exercises later in class.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUbjkMm_v-A


Depth of Field is the amount of the image that is in sharp focus

Here is the a link that describes how and when to use Aperture Priority

Here's link that descibes how to take better pictures using Aperture Priority.

Use the Nikons to experiment with Depth of Field around the building. Take pictures with both Shallow and Deep Depth of Field. We'll post them next class.