Semester Final - The OFFICIAL Final Assignment

The Final, spelled out:

• Selection of a famous photographer from the official list
• Research completely:  Know them, Know their work, know WHY they did what they did
• How were they and their images influential?
• Why was their work important and ground-breaking?
• Create/recreate a photographic image in the style of the famous photographer you have selected.  Here's what I will be grading on:
• Creativity in your set up/props/likeness to the photographer
• Composition 
• Lighting
• How well do you REALLY know your photographer?
• Final execution of the physical print (minimum 9 x 12") to be turned in

The PowerPoint/iMovie:

• 5 minute presentation
• Minimum of 10 images showing a BREADTH of the famous photographer's work
• Your presentation must be knowledgable, not just a few "wiki-facts"
• Your image/s is/are to be at the end of the presentation

Due date: December 11 - 14

Point value:  100

Final Semester Assignment - Photographers you should know about...and will.

How many of you actually LOOK at photographs done by professionals?  How many of you KNOW something about who these incredibly talented and ground-breaking people are?  This is just a taste of what is to come for your semester final...

Extra credit if you know who these photographers are.

Assignment 19 - It's so Surreal!

What is the difference between real and surreal?  What does it mean when, in conversation, someone says, "That's so SURREAL!"?  Take a look at the images below created by two Surreal artists and think about where the images take the viewer and why.

The assignment:

1.  Answer the two questions above - to be turned in at the end of class.

2.  Post images from two Surreal Artists (one from each artist) you are intrigued with and a short paragraph explaining why.  You will be using one or both of the artists you have discovered to create a surreal image with a strong concept.

Using your research, create your own surreal photograph, using Photoshop, Lightroom, and/or double exposure to create the final pieces.  Post your final image on your blog.  Below each of the images you post, explain what your concept is and how you achieved the end result.

Due date:  November 28

Assignment 18 - OFP

OFP

(One Fabulous Photo)

Today, during class, you are to go out in the world and take ONE fabulous photograph.  It should be the best photograph you have ever taken (or at least what you're striving for).  You will open in Lightroom and make it even more fabulous (it that's possible...).  Post to your blog.

Due by the end of class.

Assignment 18 - Will the real Aaron Siskind please stand up?

We never seem to look enough at photographers who could make a difference in the images we want to produce.  In this assignment you are going to be looking at the work of photographer Aaron Siskind.  After researching his images, you will be using your camera to shoot in his "monochrome" style, concentrating on shapes, patterns, contrast, and textures.

Post 2 of your best photos on your blog with the technical information - camera mode, f-stop, ISO, shutter speed, and lens.

Write a short paragraph describing what you see in your work that was influenced by Siskind's work.

Due Date:  November 14/15

What elements do you see in Aaron Siskind's images?  Pattern?  Texture?  Contrast?  Shape?
Now you take the lens and see what you can discover around you?

Assignment 17 - A few "How to's" on Text

Using the word "beautiful", in a font you think actually IS, create the two assignments below.

Sometimes you just have to play around with how to create the text look you often see in magazines but have never actually attempted - usually because you have no idea where to start or you just have no time.

Now you do.

Because you will be using text a great deal in the magazine image you are creating, I have a few tutorials I want you to try in class.  You may or may not end up using these on your cover but now they'll be a part of your "tool belt" for future projects.

There are two parts to this assignment.

Part 1.  The link below will show you how to create transparent text over an image you have already taken:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w27q0P4cUqg

Part 2.  The link below will show you how to create text with a transparent background in 21 seconds:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQNrHXolqMU

Due at the end of class, posted to your blogs.

Assignment 16: Yo, Paparazzi!

Let’s see how much fun we can have with new-found fame!  We take and look at selfies all the time, but what if we were suddenly to be able to be on the cover of a magazine?  What magazine would you select?  What would the headline be? (“Artist of the Year!”)

Now’s your chance to be famous before it really happens.

1.  Select a magazine you will appear on the cover of.  Use Photoshop or whatever means you need to  

     recreate it.

2.  Create the cover using your own photographic image.

3.  Include a cover title (Artist of the Year, Girl Hikes Skyscraper Solo!) and a list of stories/features that would be in that magazine.

4.  Have fun.  Use your alter ego, your “other” personalities, whatever you want to make this as “real” as you can.

Due date:  November 8

…and if you want to see the original cover compared to my recreations…

Assignment 15: Light...when it's right it's right.

Prada Store, Marfa, Texas

What is photography if the light isn’t right?  Where is the intrigue, the sweetness, the subtle value changes or drama of stark black and white?  What makes some images make us want wish we’d been there or taken that while other images we simply overlook? 

For this assignment you’ll be capturing 3 different images in 3 different locations that demonstrate great shadow and light.  Make sure your camera is on manual.

Post all three on your blog and include the technical information. 

Edit the images with any or all of the following adjustments:  levels, curves, color balance, hue/saturation, brightness/contrast.  Add the adjustments you made under the images after the technical information.

Lastly, what was the hardest part of this assignment (related to light), what was the most interesting part?  Which image do you think is the most successful?

Due date:  October 27, by the end of class.  

Assignment #14 - Hearts and how to capture one...

Due October 20, end of class.

Assignment #12 - Symmetry with Photography

What does "symmetry" look like through the lens of your camera?  

Original image thanks to Kasara Schmidt!

In this assignment you will be shooting for design and creating symmetry as an end result.  

1.  Capture something interesting, something that has good shape, form, composition. lines, value.  

2.  Working in Photoshop, finish your image using whatever tools you need to create a dynamic image and design, then crop to a square format.  

3.  Create a square document in Photoshop not larger than 12 x 12", resolution 180.

4.  Using the image rotation/reflect/flip tool, create a final photograph that captures symmetry, good design, and an interesting, overall image.

Due date:  Today, end of class.

Assignment 10: Great Bokeh there!

Depth of Field may not be everything in photography, but knowing when and how to use it, and in what situations, will certainly make your photograph more intriguing.  This assignment is about a term known as bokeh - the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens.

Image by Annie Manning - Paint the Moon

Take a look at the link below - research the various lens and techniques the photographer used, and create two versions of your own bokeh.  You should first and foremost, use the technical aspects of your camera and lenses.  If you don't have the ability to create bokeh with the camera you have, look at the Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials that can enhance what you create.

Most importantly, have fun.

Due date:  Post at the end of class today, 10/2 or 10/3


http://paintthemoon.net/2017/01/14-tips-get-better-bokeh/

Assignment #9: If Photography is an art, what about capturing "art" as a photograph?

We all have favorite artists, favorite paintings, favorite sculptures.  Sometimes, wouldn't it be nice to get inside the head of the creator and see what they did as they were making their creation?  Now you will.

Choose your favorite painting, sculpture, artist, and recreate your favorite piece using whatever photography means you feel you need.  The sky is the limit.  Pose your friends, use the studio, Lightroom or PhotoShop as you see fit.  Your assignment is to "re"capture the image using your own tool - your camera.

What I'm looking for:

1.  Lighting
2.  Composition
3.  Accuracy (within reason)
4.  Attitude (serious?  humorous?)
5.  Research TWO artists and the work they create that you are interested in "re"capturing through the medium of Photography.  Post both artists and their images on your blog and give them due credit.
6.  Your final piece will be saved at a resolution of 300 , not larger than 8 x 10, and posted, side by side, with the original art/artist you selected.

You can work with a partner ONLY if both of you are in the final capture, and upon teacher approval.  Set up and location is important so choose your image carefully.  Think about using the Photography Studio and think about needed props to make the image come alive.

5.  Have fun, please.  Always important…

Due date:  10/18

Pot Pourri”, Herbert James Draper – recapture by Tania Brassesco and Lazlo Passi Norberto

Girl with Ice Cream Cone”, Wayne Thiebaud – recapture by Stephanie Gonot

Le Désespéré”, Gustave Courbet – recapture by Stefano Telloni

                                                     Self Portrait 1889″, Vincent van Gogh – recapture by Seth Johnson

Girl reading a Letter by an Open Window, Vermeer - recapture by Wanda Martin

                                      Portrait of a Lady, 1640, Rogier Van der Weyden - recapture by Hendrik Kersten