Learn How to Take Pictures

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Photography serves a practical function, enabling us to share essential or amusing moments with friends and family.

They also help us remember important events and people in our lives.

Like nearly everything that deals with the eyes, people have turned photography into a fine art form. Great photographers like Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, and others helped establish photography as a legitimate art form in its own right in the early 20^th century.

Those people would have been shocked to see a camera in nearly every pocket with the rise of the modern cell phone. After viewing Snapchat or Instagram for just a few minutes, they almost certainly want everyone to learn just a few basics about taking a good photo!

However, some fantastic photos are taken with simple cell phone cameras. Browse these 395 Photos That Prove Cellphones Make Great Cameras to prove what kinds of photos can be created with basic tools.

As you browse, select the five photos you think are the best. Do some analysis, and write down notes on the following for each.

• What is the subject of the photo? In other words, what object or person was the photographer focused on?
• How did the photographer frame the subject? Was it off to one side or another, or was it directly in the center of the frame?
• Describe the lighting of the image. Was it very brightly lit or primarily dark? Was there a mix of light and shadows?
• What makes the photo or its subject interesting to you?

After recording your thoughts, reflect on the following questions.

• What makes an interesting photo?
• What makes a photo artistic?
• What do you think it takes to become a good photographer?

The ease with which we can take pictures has resulted in many low-quality photos. Learning a few basic principles, however, can turn an ordinary cell phone into a tool for great art!

In the Got It? section, learn some guidelines for transforming picture-taking from awful to awesome!