Michael-P8

Photo Assignment Name

**Nighttime Photography**
Student Name: Michael Wallace

Group Name: The Snapshots



Title: **Old Glory at Night**

Tags: flag, square, night

//**Comments**//

I have struggled to select a picture that I have taken at night in the past two weeks to submit for this assignment. I originally wanted a picture of Lafayette Square in downtown LaGrange, with the fountain and statue of General Lafayette in front of the First Baptist Church on the Square as a backdrop. I am including this picture to show you why I did not submit it as my assignment (the fountain and statue is not lighted at night due to cost, and there is a halo effect around the statue due to lights from the nearby road). I also wanted to submit a photograph of my church (Second Baptist), but was unhappy that I did not include the whole sign in the front of the church (photo also included). The photograph that I am submitting is a picture made inside the square facing Vernon Road, with the flag in the background. I cropped the image so that the flag would conform to the rule of thirds, and the first thing you notice is the flag. I think that the flag should be central to the photograph. This was a fun activity for me because it let me experiment with the settings on my camera so I could try and capture the best image possible. My lens has a manual maximum f-stop of 5.3, so I kept this setting and adjusted the shutter speed to get the best image. The shutter speed that I eventually settled on was 2 seconds with the ISO speed set to 1000. It meets the requirements because it is a nighttime photograph taken in an outdoor setting where adjustments had to be made to capture the image. As I completed this assignment, I learned that automatic settings on a camera do not always yield the best photo possible. Manual settings give you more freedom to take better pictures in less than ideal conditions.

//...............Lafayette Square// ......................................................//Second Baptist//
 * Photos not submitted:**

Self Evaluation

(45-50 pts.) || 80 – 89% (40 - 44 pts.) || <80% (<40 pts.) || Critique Comments:
 * Category || Strong || Adequate || Weak ||
 * Concept || Does an outstanding job of communicating the concept. || Does an adequate job communicating the concept. || Does a poor job communicating the concept. ||
 * Composition || Photograph uses composition principles very effectively. || Photograph does a good job using composition principles. || Photograph does a poor job using composition principles. ||
 * Focus || Focus is a perfect match with the concept of the shot. || Focus is an adequate match with the concept of the shot. || Focus is a poor match with the concept of the shot. ||
 * Technical Aspects || Shutter speed and aperture were perfectly chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were adequately chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were poorly chosen and do not match the concept. ||
 * Depth of Field || Excellent use of depth-of-field. || Adequate use of depth-of-field. || Poor use of depth-of-field. ||
 * Title/tags || Title and tags were perfectly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are excellent with no mistakes. || Title and tags were adequately chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are good with only minor errors. || Title and tags were poorly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Contains multiple spelling errors or wrong word choices. ||
 * ** Instructor evaluates this section ** ||
 * Self Critique || Excellent self-assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate self-assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor self-assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Critique || Excellent peer assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate peer assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor peer assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Comments || Peer comments exceed expectations. || Peer comments meet expectations. One or two comments might be missing. || Three or more peer comments were missing, incomplete or poorly written. ||
 * Total Points || >89%
 * Total Points || >89%

Peer Critique

You have some good nighttime photos. I think they all depict the concept of this assignment. I like the way the flag shines against the darkness; there's something symbolic in that. I would like to see the effect of cropping out the entire left side of the photo; the streetlight distracts me from the "poetry" of the image. I wonder if you could bring out the trees a bit more to emphasize the flag's placement. Name: Donna (45-50 pts.) || 80 – 89% (40 - 44 pts.) || <80% (<40 pts.) || Critique Comments:
 * Category || Strong || Adequate || Weak ||
 * Concept || Does an outstanding job of communicating the concept. || Does an adequate job communicating the concept. || Does a poor job communicating the concept. ||
 * Composition || Photograph uses composition principles very effectively. || Photograph does a good job using composition principles. || Photograph does a poor job using composition principles. ||
 * Focus || Focus is a perfect match with the concept of the shot. || Focus is an adequate match with the concept of the shot. || Focus is a poor match with the concept of the shot. ||
 * Technical Aspects || Shutter speed and aperture were perfectly chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were adequately chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were poorly chosen and do not match the concept. ||
 * Depth of Field || Excellent use of depth-of-field. || Adequate use of depth-of-field. || Poor use of depth-of-field. ||
 * Title/tags || Title and tags were perfectly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are excellent with no mistakes. || Title and tags were adequately chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are good with only minor errors. || Title and tags were poorly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Contains multiple spelling errors or wrong word choices. ||
 * ** Instructor evaluates this section ** ||
 * Self Critique || Excellent self-assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate self-assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor self-assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Critique || Excellent peer assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate peer assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor peer assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Comments || Peer comments exceed expectations. || Peer comments meet expectations. One or two comments might be missing. || Three or more peer comments were missing, incomplete or poorly written. ||
 * Total Points || >89%
 * Total Points || >89%

Other Comments:

Jacki - Mike, I really love nighttime photography - I think it gives a new perception to what we normaly see. I actually love all three of your photos, but I understand why you chose the one you chose. I really love the way the flag looks. I love the way the trees are sort of framing around the flag. The only suggestion to draw more attention to the flag would be to take out the stoplight. I like the composition with the stoplight in the picture, but it does draw some attention away from the flag. Overall, I really like this picture.

__Kevin__- Michael, the clarity and brightness of the flag against the darkness is striking. I’m not sure what the other item is- a street light. I think this would be very effective if these items were cropped or were blurred out of the immediate attention.

Emily-Michael, I love Old Glory in her nighttime glory. I think it would be nice to just see the flag and not the street light in this photo. Seeing the clarity of the here makes me think of all the soldiers fighting for our freedom and actually brings a tear to my eye. I also like your church photo; if you cropped the sign out of the photo, this would be an awesome sight. Overall, I think you did Old Glory proud with this shot.

=//Edited photo//=