Troop Meeting Ideas

Things to do when working on this merit badge:

• Get a "blue card" from Danny Stewart, fill in your name, etc, then get the card signed by Clyde Carter.
• Contact the merit badge counselor
• Use the attached worksheets to help prepare for Photography Merit Badge.  When the requirement says to "explain" something, you will need to be able to make the explanation to your counselor, even if you have already written the information down.  Bring the worksheets to all the meetings this month, or get the Photography Merit Badge book and work on it at home. Worksheets for other merit badges are on the internet at http://www.meritbadge.com
• Start taking pictures!!
• When you have finished all of the requirements, get the counselor to sign the completed "blue card" and turn it in to Danny Stewart.

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Boy Scout Merit Badge Requirements

PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Tell what makes a good picture. Show your understanding of these as you take pictures for requirement 2.
2. Do the following:
1. Take pictures illustrating at least EIGHT of the following picture-taking techniques. Use comparisons to illustrate your points.
1. Camera steadiness.
2. Rule of thirds.
3. Level horizon.
4. Moving in close -- fill the frame.
5. Framing.
6. Direction of light -- front, side, and backlighting.
7. Quality of light -- flat light, bright sunlight, and time of day.
8. Point of view -- eye level, high and low angle.
9. Use of leading lines.
10. Flash -- proper range and reflective surfaces.
2. Do one of the following, utilizing techniques of planning a photo report. Start with planning cards; then do your photography and editing, and complete the requirements by presenting your report in an organized manner to your counselor.
1. Expose a roll of print film and select five to 10 good pictures for your picture story. Mount the pictures on a large art board or in a photo album.
2. Expose a roll of slide film and select 10 or more good slides to tell your story.
3. Explain how photographic film is processed and tell how black-and-white prints are made, or process and print your own pictures and show your counselor, explaining the steps you took.
4. Do the following:
1. Explain to your counselor the basic parts common to all cameras using a diagram you prepared.
2. Explain common photographic terms such as lens, shutter, viewfinder, camera angle, exposure, negative, transparency, f-number, and planning card.
5. Describe jobs in photography.

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The SLR Camera.

This illustration shows a fairly standard traditional SLR camera with manual controls. The make and model are not important as most cameras of this design will have similar controls in similar places.

Film winder.  Shutter Speed Dial.  Flash Hotshoe.  Focusing ring.  Film Rewind Crank.  Film Speed Dial.  Flash Synch Socket.  Lens.  Depth of Field Preview.  Self Timer/Exposure Lock.  Aperture Ring.  Shutter Release. Some Olympus cameras have the shutter control on the lens.

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Photographic Terms

Lens
One or more pieces of optical glass or similar material designed to collect and focus rays of light to form a sharp image on the film, paper, or projection screen.

Shutter
Blades, a curtain, plate, or some other movable cover in a camera that controls the time during which light reaches the film.

Viewfinder
A viewing device on a camera to show the subject area that will be recorded on the film. Also known as viewfinder and projected frame.

Camera Angles
Various positions of the camera (high, medium, or low; and left, right, or straight on) with respect to the subject, each giving a different viewpoint or effect.

Exposure
The quantity of light allowed to act on a photographic material; a product of the intensity (controlled by the lens opening) and the duration (controlled by the shutter speed or enlarging time) of light striking the film or paper.

Negative
The developed film that contains a reversed tone image of the original scene.

Transparency
A positive photographic image on film, viewed or projected by transmitted light (light shining through film).

F-Number
A number that indicates the size of the lens opening on an adjustable camera. The common f-numbers are f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, and f/22. The larger the f-number, the smaller the lens opening. In this series, f/1.4 is the largest lens opening and f/22 is the smallest. Also called f-stops, they work in conjunction with shutter speeds to indicate exposure settings.

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Picking the best viewpoint
	Here, on the left, is a very unsuccessful photo! The cameraman had snapped away without positioning himself where he could see his subjects properly. Contrast this with the two pictures below:
These photos of the same scene are much more successful because I had:  decided exactly what I wanted to show. Here it was not only the children's faces, but what they were doing.   got in really close. The most common fault of all the photos sent me for criticism is that they are taken from too far away!
So, once you've decided exactly why you want to take a photo, the next job is to search around for the very best position from which to take it:
Here, I knew what I wanted to photograph: the peacock. But is this really the best view I could have got of it? You can't see its tail, and the peacock doesn't stand out from the background. Compare it with the picture below ....
....where I had selected a better angle to show off the the tail, and had waited until there was a background that contrasted with it. As always, it's a matter of deciding what most interests you in a scene, then making sure that you show it really clearly.

Improving the picture

The photo on the left would benefit from some foreground framing, as on the right. It was only a question of moving back, so as to include the tree branches. These add depth to the scene. Watch any amateur photographers in action and you can often pick out the more experienced: they are the ones who have moved from the most obvious camera position to search for foreground framing! The other main fault with the photo on the left is that the roof comes exactly halfway up the picture. Usually try to avoid having the horizon exactly in the middle as it cuts the picture in two. It would have been even worse if there had been no chimney pot to break the line.

It's often better not to position your subject right in the middle of the picture as I've done on the left. It is usually more pleasing if the subject can be positioned at one side, or at least some way off-centre, as on the right. The best place for your main point of interest is often at or near the intersection of thirds (these are shown by the lines I have added). If you have an automatic camera, though, remember to focus on your main subject before you swing away from it.   The composition of the picture can be changed by using azoom lens (or separate lenses of different focal lengths, such as a wide angle or telephoto). This way, the apparent distance between background and foreground can be modified:

The photo on the left was taken at the telephoto end of the zoom. The one on the right used the wide angle end of the zoom . Notice the change in the foreground-background distance: the telephoto setting (on the left) makes the background appear much closer in. (The same foreshortening effect can be seen if you look at the path in front of the house in the picture on the top right of the page, for which I also used the telephoto end of the zoom. Here the telephoto also usefully reduced the apparent distance between the foreground leaves and the house in the background.)   Portraits should preferably be taken at around 80-90mm to avoid distortion. If you use a wide angle setting, your subject can end up with a very large nose, disappearing ears, and a generally distorted face, as shown on the left below:

Left: using the wide angle end of the zoom (35mm) is not a good idea for portraits! Right: using the telephoto end of the zoom, or at least 70mm (as here), is much more pleasing.