Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Portfolio Presentations...

Presentations start today (Tuesday 1/26).

Your presentation should be ~3 minutes long
  • tell us about your project topic
  • tell us about each images relation to your topic
  • tell us about technical aspects of each image (camera, photoshop, etc)
  • tell us about your compositional plan
  • tell us anything else you think we should know about your pics
  • Q&A
  • Friendly applause...

Friday, January 22, 2010

Portfolios are due Tuesday at the START of class...

What to include...

  1. 9+ images from your chosen topic (should all be unique and interesting take on your topic.
  2. Blurb about each image (what you did, how, photoshop, composition, intention, etc)
  3. 1+ page reflection (see below)
  4. Professional looking portfolio (framed, matted, photo album, poster board, etc)
  5. 3 minute presentation w/ Q&A (tell us what you did, why, how it relates to your topic etc.)

Portfolio Written work

A one-page reflection is also required. In this paper you need describe what you learned during your project.

  • What did you learn about your subject, Photoshop, and photography in general.
  • What was easy and difficult about your project?
  • What would you do differently if you did it again?
  • Finally, how far along do you think you have come as a photographer this semester?

Also, each image you plan to use in your portfolio should be accompanied by a 3+ sentence explanation of the image, what you did compositionally, in photoshop, on the camera, why you chose the image, how it relates to your topic etc.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Portfolio Printing


As you finish editing images and are ready to have them printed, please turn them in to the classes folder labeled as "YourName_Print". One image may be printed full size (8x10), the remainder will be printed 4x6.

To print 4x6 you must make a 2 image contact sheet (see image):

Thursday, January 14, 2010

timeline

1/14 -- contact sheet #1 : 25 images due
1/19 -- shooting day
1/21 -- contact sheet #2 : 25 images due, start printing images
1/25 -- last day to print any images in class, time to type reflection & blurbs
1/26 -- portfolios completed at START of class ready to present.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Your best pics!

Today you will be creating a blog of your favorite images from this term.
  • Create a blogger account
  • Choose a theme and title your site/page
  • post at least 8 .jpeg files of your work
  • for each post write a 2+ sentence blurb of why you chose that image and what you have done (camera or PS) to make it great.
  • email Mr. Story the address to your blogger page.
http://www.blogger.com/

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Portfolio Pondering

Once you have selected your topic, answered 10 questions about it, and firmed up that it will be a great avenue for your success on this project and in this class;

please generate a list of 20 potential images that you can take for your chosen topic. These should each be different in terms of angle, composition, lighting, etc. The idea is to tell a complete story about your topic with your images. Each image should be different, creative and unique.

Example: topic "music"
  • close up image of piano
  • shot of street performer (buckets) shot from low
  • image of scattered sheet music
  • close up of singers mouth & mic
  • image of just fingers on frets
  • image if musician on stage back-lit
  • etc

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Portfolio - photo essay

Assignment Requirements:

• First pick a general theme. For example, you might pick Macro, Wildlife, Democracy, or Responsibility. You will shoot photographs centered on this central theme. This may include camera experimentation like shutter speeds, HDR, aperture adjustments, or photomerges.

• Use what you've learned about photographic composition, lighting, color, lines, texture and use your camera to make an artistic statement. Each individual photo will be graded accordingly. It is imperative you showcase your ability to shoot many angles of shots with many levels of camera composition (Review composition elements and types of shots if necessary).

• Your photographs should make both a visual and emotional/political/critical/intellectual statement. Your photo essay should contain at least 9 photographs. Below each picture you will also describe the composition elements used on each photo, what you did to adjust the picture, the photo settings used, why you picked this picture, and where you took the picture.

• Your photo essay should be something unique, new, and your own view of your selected theme.

A one-page reflection is also required. In this paper you need describe what you learned during your project. What did you learn about your subject, Photoshop, and photography in general. What was easy and difficult about your project? What would you do differently if you did it again? Finally, how far along do you think you have come as a photographer this semester?

• You can shoot B & W, Color, or both. It’s your artistic choice.

• You may digitally alter your photos as necessary in Photoshop, but remember they need to remain as photographs, not modern art pieces.

• Your pictures should be printed out either 3*5 or 4*6, two to three pictures per page (contact sheet) with the exception of one photo that will be printed at 8.5 *11.

• Projects should be turned in in a presentable fashion (poster board, photo album, framed, etc) with the written reflection attached. Look at examples at the front of the room.

Final Portfolio Planning

Please answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. What is your theme for your final project?Example: My theme project is Seattle Music.

2. Why did you choose this as your theme? Be specific. 1-2 sentences

3. What type of locations will you choose to shoot your pictures? Why? Keep in mind that you will need to leave campus and most likely leave Shoreline.

4. What type of pictures do you hope to take? Action, portrait, landscape etc? A good photo essay will have a variety.

5. What kind of composition will you focus on in your pictures? You will need at least five composition elements (not counting rule-of-thirds). Yes, I want to know what you are attempting before you shoot.

5b. How will your pictures convey emotion, either from your subject or from the viewer of the pictures?

6. How much work will be done at school and how much away from school?

7. If you don't have a car, how will you make sure you get to your locations? Can your parents help? How about public transit?

8. This project should showcase everything you have learned in Digital Photography. How will you ensure this happens? What adjustment techniques will you use?

9. Is there anything you are unclear about in terms of composition or shot styles and angles etc? This is the time to ask.

10. What type of camera or Photoshop experimentation will you try? HDR? Photomerge pictures? Aperture adjustments?

Please Answer these questions in detail(compete sentences)and send these questions to my staff folder, period two

Monday, January 4, 2010

Portraits to do...

Hopefully your photo shoots have gone off without a hitch! You should have 25+ good portraits to work with. Now is time to start to edit those. You will need to edit 6 portraits (not from in class) using the following techniques:
  • A Vignette Photo
  • A Grayscale Method Photo
  • A One Item Kept in Color Photo
  • A selective Focus Photo
  • A minimally adjusted photo
  • One WHACKY anything goes portrait (change the colors, use the liquefy tool, use a PS filter, and make this as unique and interesting as you can)