英米 １年
Alun Sensei’s lecture was so informative because I have a tiny problem about photographs. Every time I take (or make) them, I found them to be lame. They always have similar compositions and do not produce any impression. The element of subjects seems to be most useful for me since I often travel and take photos of landmarks. Actually, there is a suitable tool available on iPhones. I found I can add “Grid” to the camera setting on my iPhone. The moment the class was over, I rushed to open ‘Settings’ and did it. After that, I took some pictures of my house. They were much cooler than that without it. Although other elements besides Perspective may not be able to be used in daily life, I would like to make use of them in presentation or other special occasion. Speaking of the model talk (dictation), catching words whose first letter is vowel proved to be tough for me. I could not write “only” and “our.” As I could find my weakness, this was a good chance to reflect. Although I’m not good at listening, I feel like I can get good results (of course I need more deliberation) by keeping this fact in my mind.

英米　２年
Before Alun Sensei’s talk, I had not really thought about the quality of photographs I take. So, the vocabulary of that, and the way of thinking were new for me. He talked about 7 important elements of composition. I was interested in the “Rule of Thirds” and “Leading Lines”. When I take a photograph, I tend to place the subject in the center. However, to make my photos better, it is important to place the subject ‘off-center’. He taught us that it is a technique named the “Rule of thirds”. Also, he taught us “Leading Lines”. It is that if there are lines in a photo, they help to bring the viewer into the photo and lead them to the main subject. They can also help create depth to a 2D image. 2 photos he showed us proved this theory. One has no lines, another one has S lines. The latter one really gave me the feeling of depth. I realized the effect of the technique. I learned interesting and useful techniques. I look forward to the day when I can use these on my travels.

英米　２年
Thank you for your presentation. I had a great time because I like making photos (I’m fond of this expression!) with my phone. Also, I like drawing, therefore, I will apply your advice to my drawing works as well. Your class let me realize that photography is not only for fun, but also it gives people information about the past. My heart was broken when I saw the photos which capture brutality of war and child labor. Even if you just hold a camera up and click the shutter, you can capture a moment. However, I learned that if you try to make photos more attractive using the tips introduced today, you can touch people’s hearts more, and the moment will pass on through history, whether it is good memory or bad, to people in the future. I hope many pictures, especially which capture good memories, will be preserved for the future.

英米　２年
Thank you very much, Professor Alun, for a wonderful presentation today. I see how photography can affect people in many ways. I usually take pictures with my smartphone, but I have never been able to take pictures that I am happy with. However, I felt that I will be able to use my photos better if I can use the techniques I learned from this presentation. I think of photography as a collection of memories. By looking at a photo, you can immerse yourself in the memories by triggering various emotions, such as happy or sad things that happened at that time. I also think it's very interesting to try to read what the person who took the photo wants to say in it. Thinking about what techniques that are used, what emotions they evoke in us, and what the photographer's intentions are, it makes us realize the depth of photography and enriches our lives.

フランス　１年
One of the elements that I got interested in is “Leading Lines”. When I saw the photo of the bike on a bridge, my eyes were actually led to the center of the photo due to the lines of bridge. I was also interested in the “Rule of Thirds”. Imagine Instagram - this app is widely used around the world, so I can see a lot of photos taken by various people. Among a lot of photos, outstanding photos are not taken from strait on, but taken according to the rule of thirds. Before taking this lecture, I didn’t notice why those pictures are captivating, but today I feel refreshed because I could find the reasons. Through today’s lecture, I deeply understand what professor Alun stated at the beginning, “It is the person who makes the photo, not the camera.” Even if I use an iPhone camera, I will be able to make artistic photo by using the elements that are introduced today. I want to use the elements I learned when I take photos.

フランス　２年
“Photographs are tools of expressing each person. “ This is my opinion. Do you think so, too? As we study through this class, there are many kinds of camera techniques. Although we hold cameras at the same place, the photos may be different. It is related to one’s personality. Viewpoints differ from person to person. Looking the page of an album, in spite of the same theme, the angle and the contrasts vary. Moreover, nowadays, many people use “Instagram”. We can put our favorite photos on own pages. Through attachment photos, we can introduce and tell about our own favorite things and events. Besides, everyone can see photos and pages. That’s why, the way of taking photos and exhibition of own collections are self-expression.

中国　２年
Professor Alun talked about how to think about photography. These days, due to Instagram’s expansion and the increasing of a camera’s performance, I’m taking photos more and more. I have many foreign friends who are cosplayers, and I’ve seen many people who take extremely fascinating, tempting photos. However, I can rarely take pictures that look great. Once I tried to learn the skill of taking a good shot by myself using the internet, but it was too difficult for me. Compared to friends of mine and the people around me, I am not good at taking a photo, so I stopped doing taking pictures little by little. However, I met today’s speaker, and I listened to his speech. What he taught us was very comprehensible. It changes the thoughts that I have towards taking a photo and how to look at pictures. First of all, I was surprised that he said we should not “take a photo” but “make a photo.” I learned from him that the angle of photos implies the angle of one’s mind and their point of view. We don’t need expensive cameras, and we don’t have to think so much to take a good photo anymore. What we need is quite simple. That is to grasp the 7 points and practice many times. Oh, man, he made me feel like taking photos! Now I can practice taking pictures that can express myself without any worries or confusion.

国際関係　１年
At first, when I heard today’s topic, I imagined how to take beautiful photos. So, for me, I thought it will be difficult to understand because of photographic terms or vocabularies. But Alun Sensei’s presentation was very clear and an interesting one. I felt photos change for the better by arranging a little bit. What I was very surprised by was considering proportion of object and space. I often make main object such as people or animals in the middle of the frame when I take photos on my smartphone. But in the presentation, one of the elements, “Rule of thirds” made me amazed. I realize I have to grasp what is the most important thing to show you and make that what I emphasize. I’ll really want to try it and as Alun Sensei answered my question, I’ll decide which elements I should use from now on. I’m sure my camera roll will be an exciting and beautiful one.

国際関係　1年
First of all, thank you for giving me this interesting presentation! I like taking photos, too. Actually, I noticed the importance of the Rule of Thirds by myself about 2 years ago. However, my photos in which objects in the photos were off center were too unbalanced and too strange. Therefore, I thought I’m not good at taking beautiful photos. In today’s class, I learned 7 rules. Thanks to your presentation, I noticed that there’re another six rules (I knew only the Rule of Thirds before taking this class.) The most interesting rule of the 7 rules was Leading Lines. The example picture for explaining leading lines in your presentation was very good! I want to take these beautiful photos, so I’ll try taking photos with not only the Rule of Thirds, but also the other 6 rules. In addition to that, I have a question to you. In these days, I think most people who have smartphones take photos with their smartphones. Which smartphone’s camera is best do you think? (By the way, I use an iPhone 11 Pro.)

外国語学部　２年生
Thank you very much, Professor Alun, for a wonderful presentation today. I see how photography can affect people in many ways. I usually take pictures with my smartphone, but I have never been able to take pictures that I am happy with. However, I felt that I will be able to use my photos better if I can use the techniques I learned from this presentation. I think of photography as a collection of memories. By looking at a photo, you can immerse yourself in the memories by triggering various emotions, such as happy or sad things that happened at that time. I also think it's very interesting to try to read what the person who took the photo wants to say in it. Thinking about what techniques that are used, what emotions they evoke in us, and what the photographer's intentions are, it makes us realize the depth of photography and enriches our lives.

留学生
In today’s session, we listened to Alun Roger who talked about conceptual photos, what their basic elements are, examples images of these, and how we can apply this even when we don’t have any professional camera. An amazing phrase he told us was, “It is the person who takes the photo, not the camera.” He started by telling us what was the difference between taking a photo and making a photo. Taking is just something spontaneous, while making is thoughtful; we want to share something, and make the viewer feel the message in the image. This was really interesting because just taking the photo doesn’t always convey something, it can be beautiful, but not as ‘strong’ as making a photo. When you make the photo, you want the viewer to think about something, to feel something, to share an emotion. He then proceeded to show us the basic conceptual elements in photo making. The first was ‘Rule of Thirds’ when you off-center the main subject of the photo. Second was ‘Leading lines’, and how we can use this to direct the viewers eyes using lines to the main subject. After that we saw ‘Fill the Frame’, that is when you take a close photo to the main subject, so you can remove distractions with the background. Next was ‘Negative Space’, it is when you change the mood with empty spaces around the subject. We had then ‘Juxtaposition’, where we create contrast between two opposite things together. Then we learned about ‘Perspective’, and how we make something familiar unfamiliar changing the angles. And finally, he showed us the ‘Pattern’, when we use shapes or colors to create a pattern. They were really interesting, and the way he showed us in each photo how these elements were applied was amazing. You could even see many of the elements he mentioned in different images, and they were great. The one I liked the most was the ‘Rule of thirds’, because it’s something I always do when I take photos, and they always end up being really good ones! Lastly, we did and activity where we had to identify these elements in an image of a baby and a puppy. Both had wrinkles and were close to the camera, but the triangle composition was good. You could see how they were placed in a way they would make a triangle. The baby arms, or the puppy legs were also making triangles. I don’t know if this was intentional, but it looked great. This was an amazing presentation by Alun Roger, and I hope we continue having great teachers like them to show us a little bit about everything. Let’s make art together!