Self Portrait (Winter Break Assignment)

Self Portrait Assignment

The Art of Constructing a Self-Portrait

A self-portrait comes from within. Injecting 'those we love' into the portrait steers one away from the harder task to trying to reveal self without adornment.

If you eat, sleep, and live for speed then your self-portrait should reflect motion and movement as one of its cornerstones.

If you are a reflective type, then reflections and patterns and their intersections should occupy a primary space.

If overall you feel more flawed then whole, then you wouldn't want to go about photographing the most pristine parts of yourself; you would want, instead, to capture your essence in a manner that describes and defines you without complaining. I say that because the essence of self-discovery requires you to be a benign observer of self so as not to hone in too closely on this or that part.

A sense of 'wholeness' is difficult to capture at best. Indeed, wholeness is almost impossible for some people to even understand -- let alone capture in themselves -- because their persons and their lives are so fragmented, so disorganized in general.

But that is what self-portraiture is all about, capturing the whole -- the whole of who you are as a person.

Try to be unforgiving in a benign and neutral way. Study yourself in the mirror and photograph what you see there. Then go inside yourself and photograph what you see there.

You will shoot four different good self-portraits over break (it will take LOTS of images to achieve 4 good photos). You need to pick four photo types from the following five categories.

1. A self-portrait where color is emphasized. Color may include wardrobe, location, props, or natural objects. Think of your picture as a one or two color concept picture.

2. A picture that emphasizes lighting and shadows. This will be a grayscale self-portrait.

3. A self-portrait that showcases your interests and hobbies. In this picture we learn what you like to do away from school. Think about what interests you and transfer that into a photo.

4. A fantasy self-portrait. Dress up and use costumes. In this self-portrait you can use Photoshop to enhance your picture in any way, shape, or form. Transfer yourself to Hawaii or become a Viking like you have always wanted.

5. The Supermodel self-portrait. Dress up like a GQ or Cosmopolitan magazine model. This can be a grayscale or color picture. You will use Photoshop to airbrush and enhance this photo.

6. An abstract self portrait that focuses on textures, shapes, and interesting lines and patterns. You must be the subject of this image, but represent yourself in a creative, abstract and unique way where you are only partially recognizable...

First of all, I want you to look at the photos on the following websites for self-portrait ideas and then answer the following questions. Please use text edit, Abi Word, or Word and drop the answers into the proper class folder.

• http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGall2.asp?catID=441

• http://www.teachingphoto.com/school_work.html

• 
  

Also, go to Getty Images and do a portraits search (self-portraits on getty show people taking pictures of themselves. We do not need to see the camera)

What four categories do you think you will pick? Why?

What are your interests and hobbies that you can showcase in your self-portrait?

What colors will be the best for you to work with for self-portrait where color is emphasized? What are your favorite colors?

Do you have any costumes or props you can use for the self-portraits?

Next, I want you to grab two separate sheets of paper and sketch two of your ideas for self-portraits. Include location, outfits, poses, costumes, and facial expressions etc. I realize that not everything is an amazing artist, but do your best.

Hints for self-portraits:

Use colors or lighting to create a concept.

Costumes or uniforms work great.

Change angles.

Use props.

Vary the lighting.

Try different emotional looks.

Pose in action.

Most importantly for this assignment don't forget your composition rules. Use framing, leading lines, rule of thirds, color contrast etc. to enhance your photo. Fill the frame.

Photo Essay in iMovie

Photo essays images should be edited in PhotoShop. Then each image should be imported into iMovie to create a slide show telling the story of your photo essay. Titles and transitions should be added. Music can be found here freeplaymusic.com to add an audio track.

EXPORT your iMovie to a quicktime file set to CD-Rom quality. Turn into the classes folder of the staff server. Due 12-18/19 at the START of class!

Photo Essay Deadlines

Dec-10 -- you should have shot 25 + images for your photo essay.

Dec-11/12 -- you will have the day to edit your images or shoot more if needed.

Dec-13/14 -- today is your day to begin to stitch your images together into a slide show. Consider the order they are in, captions, background music (or lack there of), etc.

Each image should be interesting, unique, and related to your topic. You should not have repeat images, but images should have a throughline aesthetically and emotionally.

Photo Essay...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photojournalism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_essay

Photo Essays tell stories with pictures in ways that words cannot. They show us the faces of joy, pain, pride and fear.

One famous photo essayist was Larry Burrows. Burrows was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam but his work helped show the face of war to Americans.


TimeLife.com has a Burrows memorial page that has some of his photographs including 15 photographs that served as covers for Life Magazine. This photo is from the cover of his book, Vietnam. You can see some of the photos from this link to the book on Amazon.com.



Time and Life magazines both have a long history of photo journalism. Many of these photo essays are on-line and available for viewing.

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Assignment - Photo Essay (Part 1)

In this assignment you will create your own photo essay. To help prepare you for this you should review some other photo essays and prepare a report.

Select a photo essay from the Time.com web site.

Select one essay and to review it. You will need to respond to these points in a word processing program:

1. Did the photographer use staged photos, candid photos or both?
2. Color or B&W? Did it make a difference? What factors contributed to the selection of one over the other?
3. Find examples of good framing and composition and point them out. How close does the subject feel in the photo?
4. Find examples of good use of color and light. Do you see backlighting? Were the photos taken early or late in the day?
   
5. How much narration and text support the essay?
6. Do the photos in the essay stand alone or do they need to be seen as a part of the whole?
7. Describe your reaction to the essay. Do all photo essays illicit a reaction in the viewer?

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Assignment - Photo Essay (Part 2)

Criteria:

1. Minimum of 8 photos
2. Single theme or "story" for the essay
3. Consider the following in composing your photographs:
• Color or B&W
• Composition
• Lighting
• Angle and distance to subject
• Candid or posed photos?
4. Consider the need for text to accompany each photograph.

Do some advanced planning and make a list of the photographs you'd like to take. MOST of the work for this assignment will happen OUTSIDE of class and AWAY from school. Plan early and get started early on this one...

Abstract Specifics...

You should have 45+ good abstract images that make the ordinary extraordinary. From these 45 you need to select 3 pics to modify and manipulate in photoshop. select your best of these and make 3 versions of this image. Manipulate it, crop it, rotate it, alter it, adjust it, etc. You will turn in all 5 images (3 pics, one with 3 versions) as .jpg files in a folder using the naming convention.

Abstract Photos!

For Monday 11/26 you should have 25 GOOD images of abstract, unique and creative composition. Abstract images are not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature; they are unique, thought provoking, and interesting.

Abstract Art is defined as: any art in which real objects in nature are represented in a way that wholly or partially neglects their true appearance and expresses it in a form of sometimes unrecognizable patterns of lines, colors and shapes. View our collection of contemporary abstract paintings

here are some links to online abstract galleries:

a gallery of recognizable but interesting abstracts

abstract images from Cambodia

abstract in nature

Return Cameras!

If you have borrowed a camera, please return it ASAP. Cameras are available on a day to day basis, not for the term. Thank you.

Masters of Photo Shooting Assignment

Once you have selected the photographer of your choice from the list below please determine an image(s) or technique of theirs you would like to try and replicate. You task is to mimic their photographic style and aesthetic principles with your own photograph. Imitation is the best form of flattery, and this is your task.

Example:

Herman Leonard: known for photographing jazz legends both in portraits and in jazz clubs. Images were black and white with stark contrast and vivid lighting. To mimic his style you could shoot images of an indie band at a show with similar conditions (intense lighting, black and white, high contrast, etc.)

You will be printing out one image of your photographer and one of your own creation in line with their style and technique...

MASTERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

In no LESS than one page please explain:

• Who you chose and who they are (i.e. when, where, what etc)
• Describe their photography (what is unique about her/his style and technique)
• And explain how he/she (or something they did, used, or created) has impacted or changed the world of photography.
• Why did you choose this photographer? What do you like about their work/style?

Masters of Photography

• Abbott, Berenice
• Adams, Ansel
• Adams, Robert
• Alvarez Bravo
• Arbus, Diane
• Atget, Eugene
• Bellocq, E.J.
• Blossfeldt, Karl
• Brandt, Bill
• Brassai
• Callahan, Harry
• Cameron, Julia M.
• Coburn, Alvin L.
• Cunningham,Imogen
• DeCarava, Roy
• Doisneau, Robert
• Eggleston, William
• Evans, Walker
• Friedlander, Lee
• Gutmann, John
• Hine, Lewis
• Kertesz, Andre
• Klein, William
• Koudelka, Josef
• Lange, Dorothea
• Lartigue,Jacques H.
• Laughlin,Clarence J.
• Levitt, Helen
• Mapplethorpe,Robert
• Modotti, Tina
• Muybridge,Eadweard
• Nadar, Felix
• O'Sullivan, Timothy
• Outerbridge, Paul
• Porter,Eliot
• Riis, Jacob
• Rodchenko,Alexander
• Salgado,Sebastio
• Sherman, Cindy
• Smith, W. Eugene
• Sommer, Frederick
• Steichen, Edward
• Stieglitz, Alfred
• Strand, Paul
• Talbot,William H. Fox
• Uelsmann, Jerry
• Weegee
• Weston, Edward
• White, Minor
• Winogrand, Garry
Guy Bourdin
Cartier Bresson
Andreas Gursky
Annie Leibowitz

Click here to view some of these photographers images

Here are even more from Wikipedia

PTSA photography contest & assignment...

“I can make a difference by…”

Have you ever thought “how can I make a difference?” Try expressing yourself, using your creative ability, to portray this in your own unique way. Artistic merit, creativity and interpretation of the theme will be the criteria by which an entry is judged. Each entry will be judged at the School, District, State and National levels, if you continue to become a finalist! All entries must be original works of art, done entirely without help.

Timeline: You will have Thursday/Friday to shoot for this. Monday, Tuesday/Wednesday are going to be workdays.

You will be turning in ONE amazing print to the shareserv (not the staff server!)

Tue/Wed Sabotage Assignment

You will only have the period today to shoot, edit, and turn in your finished photograph. Your assignment is to create a Star Wars lightsaber action scene. Please follow any one of the following tutorials to add a lighsaber to your photograph. Be creative with your poses, consider your background (photoshop one in...), and have fun!!!!



http://www.empiredezign.com/version2/portfolio/pages/tutorials/lightsaber.htm
http://www.bluesfear.com/tutorials/Lightsaber.php
http://www.users.on.net/~george/lightsabers_101/
http://r2.robotbuilders.net/cgi/DaiBuckley/index.htm

Photoshop tips for portraits

http://www.photoshoproadmap.com/Photoshop-tutorials/Photo-retouching/Most-popular/1/

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/cb/glamour.html

studio lighting...

here are some techniques for studio lighting:

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/1615.htm

http://www.studiolighting.net/studio-lighting-tutorials/

Photo Contest for EXTRA CREDIT!!!

North End Seattle High Schooler’s Photo Contest at
The Haller Lake Community Club

The Haller Lake Arts Council is putting on a High Schooler’s Photo Exhibition, to be hung on Saturday, Nov. 3rd. The show will be up for the Salmon BBQ event the following day. We are inviting the following 6 High Schools to participate: Nathan Hale, Ingraham, Shorecrest, Shorewood, Ballard, and Roosevelt. Awards to be determined.

Submissions: Each student can submit 1 black & white photo. All photos should be should be 8” x 10”. The image size can be smaller, and have a border. Bear in mind, viewers will stand 5 feet away from your image. Photos will be placed in an 11” x 14” clip frame, against a white or black backround. All entries must be submitted by Wed., Oct. 31st. Although the Art Council has no wish to place limitations on your work, we ask that you omit nudity or vulgar language, as the viewing audience will be families with children. Please leave your entry & completed application with your instructor in a large envelope. Nancy Cubbage and Nina Carmichael will pick up all entries from your photography teacher on Oct. 31st.

Students must pick up their work by 5:30 p.m. the day of the Salmon BBQ, Sunday, Nov. 4th. The exhibit will be juried by members of the Haller Lake Arts Council.



The Haller Lake Community Club is located in North Seattle, 3 blocks east of Aurora Ave N. at the corner of N 128th and Densmore Ave N.


12579 Densmore Ave N., Seattle, WA 98133


The application looks like this:
Haller Lake Photo Contest Application Form

Submit this application & one black and white photo entry 8” x 10” size to your photography teacher by Tuesday Oct. 30th. Your image can be smaller and have borders, bear in mind that your work will be viewed at a distance of 5 feet. As this is a family event, no nudity or images of vulgar language will be exhibited.


Name: ___________________________________________________________________
High school you attend: ______________________________________________________
Age: ______ Phone: _________________Email Address: ___________________________

Biographical statement (optional): ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Title of photo: _____________________________________________________

Pick up your photo up at 5:30 p.m. after the Salmon BBQ / Arts & Crafts event Sun., Nov. 4th. If you are unable to pick up your work at that time, contact Nancy at nan808@speakeasy.net or at 206-789-6225.

Portrait Assignment

1. Find an interesting human subject. The person you choose should WANT to be in the picture and they should be willing to cooperate.
2. Talk to your subject. You are the director of this adventure, make it what you want. Use colors or lighting to create a concept for your portrait. Costumes or uniforms work great. Imaginary ideas are OK. Choose an interesting setting based on your concept.
3. Change angles between shots. Shoot at least 25 pictures of your subject.
5. Change your lighting; Use filters, flashlights, lamps, or multiple lights to enhance your picture.
6. Remember you are the boss, make them change their expression. Pretend it is high fashion and they have to create the next great "look" like blue steel (Zoolander).
7. Most importantly for this assignment don't forget your composition rules. Use framing, leading lines, rule of thirds, color contrast etc. to enhance your photo. Fill the frame!!!! HAVE FUN & BE CREATIVE!!!!

Portrait Links

Here are some great ideas

Here are some tips

A fun gallery of portraits is here then on the 'editorial'
link.

Annie Leibovitz gallery

even more tips and images

THURSDAY 10-11

Please follow one or more of the tutorials below (under examples) for one Photomerge or sequence of images. You will notice how drastic color differences become when merging images. Keep this in mind when you shoot over your 4 day weekend.

Before our next class (Tue/Wed) you need enough images for 10 photomerges or sequences. Be creative, have fun, take lots of pics!!! The best grades on the landscapes came from those students who got out and took pictures off campus and out of their neighborhood. Remember the theme is "street life" so run with it!

photomerge here is a how to tutorial
and one more
for sequencing here is another
and another
and yet one more

PHOTOMERGE!!!!

For our next assignment we will be using 'photomerge' to blend images together. This technique can create panoramic images or sequences and time lapse...

SHOOTING DAYS: Tue/Wed Oct 9 & 10.

Your topic for this adventure is:

STREET LIFE
Prowl the avenues, alleyways, and underpasses in a relentless hunt to spike your Photo street cred. Seek out daredevil graffiti, guerilla artwork, building sprawls, concrete jungles, opulent lobbies, and hardcore blight. From urban glitz to urban grit, you belong to the city!

TUTORIALS... see below examples

Photomerge composition of the skyline of Chicago


Safeco Field

Student examples from semesters past:

for photomerge here is a how to tutorial
and one more
for sequencing here is another
and another
and yet one more

Tuesday & Wednesday 10-2 & 10-3

We will be out shooting for a majority of class. Please come prepared with ideas and objects for working with shadows and contrast!! If you are planning to shoot outside plan for the weather!


click here for an article on shadow and light.

"a good photographer can take any situation, even if it's their own hand, and figure out a great picture to take."

Shadow examples here
and here
and even more here

Be creative, think outside of the box and have fun. You can manipulate anything to become interesting, just figure out how!

final landscape image due 9-28 & 10-1

You have made a contact sheet of 40, selected and edited 5 and now chosen 1 as your best, most impressive, amazing, and awe inspiring landscape! Please turn in a folder following the SC naming convention to the appropriate classes drop box on the staff server containing all of these items. Title your best landscape as such and it will be printed off.

Please follow the page format instructions given in class! (8x10, page layout, jpeg)

Shooting Homework

Time to start shooting for our next assignment!!!

Your task is to look for shadows and contrast. Find scenes or images that have great contrast and use shadows to add interest to your photos, the shadows can be created or natural, but should add to the image. Find at least 20 different subjects to shoot! Due Tue/Wed.

Landscape Examples

These are some examples from last years students.


visit this link for some other examples
www.outdoor-photos.com

Landscapes

You by now should have a minimum of 40 amazing landscape images. All should include for, mid, and background and follow the rule of thirds. From these 40 you are to select 5 and use the Photoshop layer fill (photo filter etc) techniques learned in class. You will select you BEST of these 5 and turn it in as your final landscape. Due 10/1 or 10/2.