1. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I. Applied Design: Prop & Styling 21 slides Copyright © 2003 - 2009 Kenji Tachibana

2. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback P hotographic Design Opportunity: This is a split subject composition with both the car and the person on the sides. The most attention getting element in this image is possibly the highly saturated yellow hose which cuts across the image in a diagonal path. It also leads to the ‘snag’ on the front tire. Since I have had that experience, I get a huge sense of frustration which was not the story being told… Best

3. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback P hotographic Design Opportunity: Next thing to catch the eye (if not the first) is the ugly soap bucket. My intuition suggested taking advantage of the color possibility. So, I change the ugly Costco soap bucket into a yellow bucket.

4. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback O ver-the-Top: Yellowizing… The yellow colorization idea grew into a full yellow wet weather gear. Now the new subject is the triangular grouping of yellow objects.

5. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback C hoices: Next & Least These variations are more natural and less staged looking than the ‘Best’. Of the two, I like the ‘Least’ based on the relationship between the subject, car, and action. Except for the right leg amputation and buttocks tangency, it’s a better composition. NextLeast

6. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback C hoices: Compared to the Best, the Least composition is more unified. The Least makes a simple ‘A guy washing his car’ story. The background shows his neighborhood which fits with the Saturn car.

7. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback N eed a Prop: Complete the picture. That third reading element is missing. Add back that soap bucket which is a natural thing in the scene. But, change the color to a blue that makes it fit into the scene.

8. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback I mage Shape: 4:3 This was shot with a DSLR which has a 3:2 shape. All assignment images have to be in the 4:3 shape. And that translate to 3:4 in this case. Asymmetrically cropped image shown to the right. Symmetrical cropping would have take equally from the top and bottom. Cropped as is, the roofline and bright sky is not competing for attention. Use the Up & Down arrow keys to compare this with the previous image… Shape Crop Layer

9. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Student feedback C onclusion: Look for natural Photographic Design opportunities. Start with cropping tight for story. Don’t show anything in the Composition that is irrelevant or just distracting to the story. Position the focal point in one of the composition grid points. Take full and meaningful advantage colors, line, shape, or movement opportunities. Don’t forget to use props that might help you to introduce color or add the 3 rd point to a triangle shape. Also try to take advantage of any natural angles found or packed in the background,

10. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: G reenwood Library Bulletin Board: The yellow ad-sheet is an example of an text and graphics joined together to tell the whole story. I shot it because I thought it was ‘cleaver’, funny, and simple.

11. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Greenwood Library: Bulletin board The fun subject is an example of an image and text joined together to tell the whole story. I shot the left image using the idea of applied diagonal and filling-the-frame. Applied Design: Mundane subject

12. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Set up L ocal Pride: Washington Mutual Bank had been my bank for close to 25 years. On my last visit to Los Angeles, I saw more WaMu banks than any other. They had bought out the ubiquitous California Home Savings, so that made it seem like there was a WaMu Bank at every turn. Kind-a-like Starbucks……

13. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Intro change L ocal Loss: WaMu was heavily into home loans. And, when the bottom fell out of the real estate market, they dropped the ball. And Chase picked it up to the chagrin (shame?) of many Washingtonians…

14. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: Establishing shot S oft Sell: This is my establishing shot for the story. The white car is gone and the vertical lines have been aligned to the sides. This deceptively informal ‘neighborly’ sign is high end design with story designed for the end viewer squarely in mind. It’s a perfect soft sell for Chase.

15. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: The point M essage: White with pale blue, very Nonthreatening combination. There real logo color is a much dark (Royal) blue. I Know because I’ve also had a Chase credit card for over 15 years. Using a name tag motif and letting it get split up by the window divider is just a perfect touch. Usually, things like that happens as a mistake. And the little fold on the top right tells you that it was high design…

16. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: My addition M y Accidental Lighting: The street sign is casting a shadow across the name tag That’s intentional bad lighting To continue on with Chase’s amateur signage story.

17. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: L ab Work: Photoshop Improved… 1.Presence (snap) 2.Depth (more 3-d) 3.Color (saturation) Use the keyboard Up and Down arrows to compare this lab-worked version with the previous camera original.

18. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: D esign Modification: Original The real logo was also modified to appear friendlier. Since I’ve actually had a Chase Visa card for over 15 years, I know what the real logo looks much more precise with very sharp edges like what you see to the right…

19. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: O riginal Logo: In position The original logo is very corporate looking as shown ‘in position’ to the right...

20. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: F riendly Logo: Comparison The logo has been remade to look much friendlier using rounded corner, raged edge, and textured color. Use the keyboard Up and Down arrows to compare this friendly version with the previous corporate look logo.

21. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: C hase Logo: Harder original.

22. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: C hase Logo: Friendlier logo face… Know also that the type face is also much harder … CHASE

23. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I Applied Design: S ummary: The more you subject knowledge you have, the more interesting life can become. Please live a more light and design aware life… CA (Communications Arts) magazine is chock full of this kind of information… check it out!

24. Teacher: Kenji Tachibana Digital Photography I x End