Learning to Look

Work with another student in the class and respond to their images. to give them feedback. The photographer should take notes for each response and then write the responses with the images and post the reflections to the blog.

Learning to Look: Looking at and Talking About Photographs

Describe the photograph briefly, identify the subject, and elements that support the subject in a sentence or two. Looking carefully at the photograph, consider and discuss the four categories described here. As objectively as you can, address the properties in each category that seem important for the photograph.

Note: This exercise works best when comments and responses relate to something seen within the work. It is not necessary to discuss every visual element.

1. Visual Elements within the Photograph: What You See

respond to each of the following:
subject: Is the main idea easy to identify? Are there visual devices that lead to the main subject? What are they? Are there elements that distract from the subject?

light and shadow: Does the light seem to be natural or artificial? Harsh or soft? What direction is the light coming from? Describe the shadows. Are they subtle or do they create strong contrasts?

value: Is there a range of tones from light to dark? Squint your eyes. Where is the darkest value? The lightest? Where are they?

focus: What parts of the image are clearly in focus? Are some parts out of focus? Note: The range between the nearest and farthest things that appear in focus define the photograph's depth of field.
space: Do overlapping objects create a sense of space? Is the space shallow, deep, or both?
shape: Do you see geometric or organic shapes? Are there positive shapes, such as objects, or negative shapes that represent voids?
line: Are there thick, thin, curvy, jagged, diagonal, or straight lines?
color: What colors do you see, if any?
texture: Do you see visual textures within the photograph? Is there an actual texture on the surface of the photograph?

2. Design of the Photograph- How Things are Arranged

respond to one or two of the following:
angle: From what vantage point was the photograph taken? Imagine the photograph taken from a higher or lower angle or view. How does the angle affect the photograph?
framing: Describe the edges of the view. What is included? What does the framing draw your attention to in the photograph? Can you imagine what might have been visible beyond the edges of the picture?
dominance: Close your eyes. When you open them and look at the photograph, what is the first thing you notice? Why is your attention drawn there? Are there other centers of interest? How are they created? How do the focal points help move your eye throughout the photograph?
contrast: Are there strong visual contrasts--lights and darks, textures, solids and voids, etc.?
repetition: Repetition of visual elements can create unity--a sense of order or wholeness that holds the work together visually. What elements are repeated? Do they contribute to a sense of unity?
variety: Variety often creates interest. Can you see a variety of visual elements such as values, shapes, textures, etc.?
balance: Is the visual weight on one side of the photograph about the same as the other? How about top to bottom and diagonally.

3. How the Photograph was Created- Method/Equipment Used

Consider anything about the photographic techniques, camera, or film that is pertinent to the work.

4. What the Photograph Communicates- Feelings/Mood

Based on what you have seen, what do you think the work is about? What does it mean? What does it communicate? How do you know? What words would you use to describe it?

Historical Photographer Project Reflection

Historical Photographer Project Reflection

1.      What did you learn about your photographer and about yourself from this assignment?

2.      How did you re-interpret your photographer’s style?

3.      Describe your most successful image, explain how is it your best, why are you happy with it?

4.      Describe your an image that you were not happy with, why were you unhappy with it?

5.      What were you happy with? What excited you? What frustrated you? What would you do differently if you could do it all over?

6.      Think of a name for your image for the hallway frame.

11 Book/Theme Project

• Plan your book: write/brainstorm a few ideas of what you are interested in photographing. Then once you decide on your topic, write a short outline of your topic 2-3 sentences. Find 5+ images to clarify/inspire your topic.
• 3++ Contact Sheets exploring different mediums/styles/techniques.
• 8 Prints organized professionally in a Book
• Front and Back Cover with a title and your name (cover can be same image as one in book).

Photograph a basic topic that interests you (i.e. the ocean, or street life) and compile a series of 12 photos in a book. Each image should have a strong composition and be able to stand on its own, but share a common thread. Each image should be framed in a unique way that showcases your series effectively. You must take at least three "rolls" (min. 20 images each) or engage in 3+ shoots to construct your series and submit at least 3 contact sheets of your idea development. Try a few different photographic mediums or techniques to creatively explore your topic. You will be organizing your work in a final book, but the final product is up to you- you can mount and bind it yourself, or you can have it published. If you print and bind it yourself, then the book should be no more than 5 x 7 in size. There should be a cover that reflects the contents of the book with a title and your name.

Here are some links to inspire your concentration/book projects... to name a few...

Anne Geddes-  Babies
Phil Borges - Women
Robert Frank - Americans
Richard Avedon - American West (look under archive, and portraits)
Andreas Gursky - Consumerism
Mary Ellen Mark - Mexican Circus
Colleen Plumb - Animals Are Outside Today
Sandy Skoglund - Installation works based on pixels.
Misha Gordon - Manipulated political photographs.
Michael Kenna - B/W Large Format Landscapes minimalist
Scott Edwards - Extreme close up botanical forms
Lois Greenfield - Dance portraits
More Links

Here is a list of themes and items that may be interesting to shoot to get you started.
Abandoned Buildings
Abstracts
Amphibian
Anger
Arches
Architecture
Autumn
Back Alleys
Bad Weather
Bald Heads
Balloons
Bare Feet
Bark
Barns
Bees
Bicycle Parts
Bikes
Birds
Black and White
Blimps
Blue
Bolts
Bones
Books
Bottles
Bridge
Bridges
Broken Glass
Bronze
Brown
Bump
Butterflies
Butterflies / Bees
Campsites
Car Details
Catching People Unaware
Cats
Celebrations
Choice
Church Windows
Churches
Circles
City Hall
City Skylines
City Street Scenes
Close-up
Clouds
Cold
Colours
Contrasts
Covered Bridges
Critters
Culture
Curves
Custom Cars
Dancers
Decorations
Demonic
Demonstrations
Devilish
Digital
Disappearing Professions
Disappearing Technologies
Dishes
Documentary
Dogs
Domestic Life
Doom and gloom
Door Knobs
Doors
Dots / Dashes / Diagonals
Drawers
Duplicates
Easter
Eggs
Elation
Embrace
Emergency Situations
Enthusiasm / eager
Environmental Trash
Events
Eye Glasses
Eyes
Family
Fashion
Farm Animals
Feathers
Feet
Feisty
Feline
Femininity
Fences
Fetes & Festivals
Fetish
Fire
Fire Engines
Fireworks / Fire
Fish
Flags
Flower Petals
Flowers
Food
Forks
Forms in Nature
Fountains
Framed
Freeways
Friends
Frozen
Fruit
Games
Gardens
Gates
Gears
Geriatric (older folks)
Glamour
Glass
Gold
Graceful
Graffiti
Green
Halloween
Hallways
Handles
Hands
Happiness
Harbours
Harvest
Hats
Hidden
History
Holiday
Horizon
Horses
Hot Rod Cars
Hunger
Ice
Inclines
Indian Ruins
Indigenous Things Or People
Industrial
Insects
Inspiration
Iridescent
Iron
Isolated Objects
Jails
Jets
Jewelry
Jobs
Joints
Journalistic
Joy
Jugs
Junk Yards
Keys
Kids
Kin or Families
Kite
Kites
Knives
Landscapes
Lazy
Learning
Leaves
Legs
Letters
Light
Lightning
Lights
Locks
Machine Parts
Macro
Marine life
Masculinity
Masks
Mass flowers
Mirrors
Money
Monuments
Mood
Movie Theater Marquees
Muse
Mushrooms
Neon Signs
Night
Night lights
Nighttime
Nonsense
Noodles
Numbers
Nut
Nuts
Objects
Odd Couples
Old Everything
Olympic
Opposites
Opulent
Orange
Pairs
Paper Abstracts
Parallel Lines
Patterns
Peacocks
Peeling Paint
People
People At Work
People Walking Dogs
Peppers
Perspective
Pets
Pictures in Pictures
Piles of Things
Pink / Purple
Polished
Porches
Quad
Quarters
Queens
Railroad Cars
Railroad Tracks
Raindrops
Rainbows
Red
Red Barns
Reenactments
Reflection
Reflections in Glass
Reflections in Water
Religious
Roadscapes
Rocks
Round Things
Rows of Things
Rust
Rustic
Sand dunes
Sand Patterns
Sea Shells
Seascapes
Seasons
Self
Shadows
Shoes
Signs
Silhouettes
Skulls
Sky
Sleeping Animals
Sleeping People
Small Furry Animals
Smiles
Smoke Stacks
Snow
Soft Curves
Sorrow
Spanish Moss
Speed
Spoons
Sports
Spring
Squirrel
Stacks
Stairs
Statues
Steam Railroads
Still life
Strange Signs
String Instruments
Structures
Summer
Sunrise
Sunset
Superstitions
Sweets
Swings
Tattoos
Teddy Bear / toy
Textures
The Local School
The spot (X marks it, you know)
Toads
Tombstones
Tools
Tools of the Trade
Transport
Tree Knots
Trees
Ugly Everything
Umbrella
Umbrellas
Ungulates (hoofed animals, pigs, goats, deer horses)
Uniforms
Urban
Utensils
Vacation
Valves
Vegetables
Vices or Habits
Views
Vignettes
Vines
Visitors
Watches
Water
Waterfalls
Weather
Weathered Wood
Wet
Wheels
White
Wide Angle Everything
Wildlife
Windows
Winter
Woods
Xenon
Xenophobia
Xylophones
Yachts
Yellow
Yo-yos
Zebras
Zig Zags
Zipper
Zombies!
Zoos
to name a few... Now get out there and take some great photographs!

12 Landscapes

Each landscape shot should have a definite point of interest.
[Check out "Landscape Photography Tips" and keep in mind the following:

1. Try placing your point of interest according to the rule of thirds.
2. Don't place your horizon across the middle of the scene. A third of the way from the top or bottom is best, depending on the sky, or the ground.
3. Be aware of foreground, and consider information that supports/enhances the primary interest.
   Consider using framing in your shot if appropriate.
   Where should you focus? Read this.
4. Include the weather.
5. Consider the time of day (golden hour is an amazing time to shoot- early or late in the day when the sun is low).

Landscape Assignment:
Take 25-40 photos of landscapes where you consider the above landscape techniques. Also, please read through "Landscape Photography Tips" 
Try each one of the tips above. Create a contact sheet of your explorations and post one of each techniques on your blog. 

12 Mini Concentration

Explore what you are curious and even confused about. For the concentration project, seek out what interests you and explore it in depth through your lens in three different photographic mediums.

You are to photograph a series of images that communicate a topic. Your series should be intentional, thoughtful, and significant to you. Dig deep into your heart/ soul/ memory/ ancestry/ travels to find something meaningful to you; it should be something that you care about enough to photograph several times in many mediums. Each of your 6 final concentration images should be eye catching, incorporate strong composition techniques and integrate visual devices to clearly communicate your idea. Each image must be able to stand on its own and work together as a series conceptually and thematically.

• Plans/Journal Ideas
• 2++ Different Photo Techniques [other than plain old digital]: different lenses, filters, digital pin hole, film (B/W or colour), medium format, lomo/toy, pin hole, cyanotype/lumen prints, experimental, ...
• 4+ Contact Sheets, (1 each week).
• 12- 5 x 7 Working Photos 3 each shoot.
• 6 Final 8 x 10 Portfolio Photos- professional presentation printed and presented in a book.

Here is the criteria and deadlines for the Concentration Project

Photography 11 Historical Photographer Project

Photography 11

Historical Photographer Project

Timeline & Evaluation

Part 1: Research                                        /25

Due Date: Feb 26

Research 5+ photographers: collect one+ signature photo and 5 points about each of them (what they contributed to the field, what they are known for etc). Finally, write 1-2 sentences about why you find (or don’t find) their work appealing.

Part 2: Article                                           /25

Due Date: March 5

From the list of 5 photographers you created in Part 1, select one photographer you would like to study further and share your choice with the rest of the class.  You will be writing an article about this photographer.

500-750 words – The paper is formatted with a title, image, and columns

Well Organized – Include and introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion

Historical Background – Include the photographer’s life events that relate to their photo pursuits; include experiences, education, and career development.

Describe their Work – What do they photograph? What makes it their style?

Personal Opinion – What do you like/dislike about their work? What interests you about their work?

Part 3: Contact Sheet #1                            /25

Due Date: March 12

Decide how you want to emulate the photographer you have chosen and create a contact sheet of images in their style. Consider the photographer’s use of lighting techniques, subject matter, perspective, etc. After this contact sheet is finished, have a mini-conference with Ms. Knowlson to talk about your photos, and where to go from here.

Part 4: Contact Sheet #2  & 5 – 5x7 Prints            /50

Due Date: April 2

Create a second contact sheet, and from both contact sheets select your 5 best images to print.

Style – There is a distinct likeness that captures an essence of the photographer’s style through the subject matter, lighting, format, treatment, perspective etc…

Technical – The use of technical considerations apply: focus, contrast, depth of field, exposure, however you craft your photo, it should mimic the photographer’s style.

Composition – The information is effectively organized, subject, emphasis, simplicity.

Creative – You have adapted the style of your chosen photographer in a unique way

Professionalism – The final presentation is professional, clean, and thoughtful.

Presentations                                                     /25

Due Date: April 9^th, Presented on the 13, 14, or 16

Your presentation must be 5 minutes long and can take the form of a video, or PowerPoint presentation. Don’t include every detail you find about the artist – just what seems relevant to their work as a photographer.

Include:

-        5 examples of the artists work – explain why you chose the photos you chose. Why are they significant? What do they tell us about the artist?

-        5 samples of your own work, emulating the artist. Explain how you emulated the artist. What was the process you went through?

-        5 Questions. Prepare these in advance to ask your classmates at the end of your presentation. Try to think of questions that can spark a discussion about the artist.

Total:             /150

12 Art Historical Reproduction

Birth of Venus- Botticelli

Select one Art Historical painting/portrait and reproduce it photographically.

Medusa- Caravaggio

Judith Slaying Holofernes- Artemisia Gentileschi

Self Portrait- Rembrandt

Young Woman with a Water Jug- Jan Vermeer

Don Manuel Osorio Manrique de Zuñiga- Francisco Goya

The Swing- Fragonard

Viscount Lepic and his Daughters- Edgar Degas

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair- Mary Cassatt

Old Guitarist- Pablo Picasso

Summer Evening- Edward Hopper

1         Select famous art historical painter who interests and inspires you (share this with the class, so there is no over lap). The content should be portrait based, have a story, they should have a keen awareness of light, colour (white balance), and details. 

2         Research information about your chosen one, post the image to your blog and relevant details. Your notes should include 5+ observations about their work and 5+ notes about the artist themselves: history, a description of their work and style,

3         Then plan how you are going to re-create their style- pay attention to details, props, lighting, expressions, models, costumes, poses, architectural feature. Fully plan to adopt every aspect of their style, format, subject matter, angles, and or perspective so that the original will be recognizable. You can create a modern adaptation, or try to recreate the era if you choose.

4         Take the photo mimicing the work of your chosen artist. Try various expressions, poses, angles, perspectives. Create a contact sheet post to the class sharing site, and post your three best variations and print one best final. You will be printing a final 8 x 10.