Category: Photo I

EXPECTATIONS, REQUIREMENTS

• STAY IN CLASS. When the class is outside, remain within the limits announced.
• Bring a lock for an assigned locker.
• Keep your camera in the assigned locker at all times, unless you briefly take it home overnight or over a weekend to finish a roll. It MUST be available during the week so that the class can go outside together in order to work on assignments.
• Use class time to work on class-related tasks. ABSOLUTELY no internet use during class. Earbuds are fine, but only  in the darkroom or while you are on the computer.
• If you have no work planned during class for your own assignments, extra credit becomes mandatory. In other words, you MUST use class time to work on photography-related assignments.

ABOUT PHOTO I ASSIGNMENTS

• Consider each assignment just a framework, like an empty shell. It is your job to fill every single assignment with life, to make it yours. Take pictures that have meaning for you, that say things you care about. In other words, be honest. Communicate something (ideas, feelings, questions).
• Shooting assignments are your homework in Photography. For those rolls you do at home, have each week’s shooting completed by Monday so that you can develop on Mondays and make full use of the lab time all week. If you know you will be busy a particular weekend, take a roll the week before. Plan ahead!
• An assigned roll consists of at least 20 frames related to the assignment. With the five or six “extra” shots in a roll of film, feel free to take pictures of your family, a boyfriend or girlfriend, whatever interests you.
• As in any other class, turning in work done by others is considered plagiarism. No “negative borrowing.”
• Assignments cannot be repeated — unless you want to do an assignment over for
  • 1) a higher grade, or
  • 2) extra credit

WHAT TO TURN IN EACH WEEK

TURN IN YOUR ROLL(S) EACH WEEK WITH SHEETS ARRANGED IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER, AND WITH THE MOST RECENT ASSIGNMENT ON TOP:

1. The analysis sheet
2. A contact sheet showing at least 20 exposures related to the assignment.  (Circle what you print w/ a red sharpie)
3. Two 5X7 prints (in the first quarter)
4. Two 8X10 prints (in the second quarter)

Take a second roll for each assignment on weekends. It will raise your grade and will also serve as backup, in case the first roll doesn’t come out.

HOW TO TURN IN ASSIGNMENTS

• TURN IN 1-2 ROLLS OF FILM EACH WEEK
• DUE DATES ARE POSTED ON THE BOARD
• Always put the most recent assignment on top in your binder.
• Circle the images on the contact sheet that you have printed.
• To add contact sheets to the notebook, simply punch holes in one side.
• Never punch holes in a print. To turn in prints, make a tape tube and stick them on to sheets of paper.
• Do not put the analysis sheet in a page protector — so that I can write on it.
• Turn in notebooks on the table below the TV and pick them up in the file cabinet drawer for your period.

DIRECTIONS: Below are terms we use when we want to talk about the composition of a photograph.

• First look up the term in chapter 8. A  few of the terms below (weight, motion, etc.) DO NOT carry the common definitions of the word. Make sure you understand the term’s meaning in your text. The accompanying photos in chapter 8 are especially useful.
• Add one http://www link pointing to a black-and-white photograph that illustrates the term. The best way to do this is to use the “insert link” command. Limit your links to the lists of links below.
• Rename your link to the name of the photographer and the website
• Only select black-and-white images.
• Double check that clicking on the link will take someone directly to that particular image.
• Add one sentence below the link to explain the connection between the term and the image.
• At the end, add  your name and your partnerʻs name.

Confused? Look at my sample entry below under the first item, “Static Balance.”

PLEASE DO NOT use the same photos/links as other students. Be Unique! Once an image has been used by one group, it isn’t available, even to illustrate other terms.

WARNING: When you are editing this document, it is possible for you to delete work others have done, which would be really junk. PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

INDIVIDUAL PHOTOGRAPHER WEB PAGES

Alan Ross
Philip Brower
Jan Becket
Bob Douglas
Eric Volpe
Roy Harington
Phil Bard
Lynn Radeka
Tom Mickllin
Clyde Butcher
Mark Citret

PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERIES

EDELMAN GALLERY (links to individual bodies of work)
EDELMAN GALLERY (links to past exhibits)

MAJOR PHOTOGRAPHIC CENTERS AND INSTITUTES

Photo Lucida (one of the best sites)
Center
Time Life Photography Archives
Newspace Center for Photography
Photographic Resource Center
Light Work
Houston Center for Photography

TERMS RELATED TO COMPOSITION — FROM CHAPTER EIGHT

1. Static balance (major visual elements at dead center or along the bottom)

• Rocky Schenck, Edelman Gallery
• Mr. Becket – The major visual element (people) is along the bottom of the frame.

2. Visual center

3. Dynamic balance (counteracting, opposing motion)

4. Symmetrical balance (left-right mirroring with elements similar size, number and weight)

5. Rule of thirds

6. Visual weight (importance, significance)

7. Linear perspective

8. Aerial perspective

9. Textural gradient

10. Interposition

11. Juxtaposition

12. Shape

13. Space

14. Value

15. Line

16. Texture

17. Volume

18. High key image

19. Low key image

20. Replication

21. Interaction

22. Reaction

23. Symbol

Link to this document in Google Docs

A photograph has a quality that makes it different from the snapshots in your family photo album, or the snapshots you might take of your friends at a school event. Snapshots are the equivalent of Snickers — quick and satisfying at first, but not very interesting in the long run. Once you have looked at a snapshot, you do not need to look at it again for a long time because you have seen everything it contains. On the other hand, a photograph is like a full meal, with many complicated courses, and a wonderful desert. It is something we can return to often and each time, find something new and surprising.

 

A photograph (as opposed to a snapshot) has some or all of these qualities:

• Planning. Photographers talk about “previsualization,” meaning that they imagine what it will look like in black and white before they press the shutter release.
• Spontaneity. Sometimes, the photographer is at the right place and time to capture a truly memorable image. Don’t be fooled. The photographer captured that image partly through luck, but also through training, and an ability to recognize the image when it presented itself. (We say that the photographer has a good “eye.”) In addition, the photographer probably had a general idea of what kind of image he or she wanted, and waited for it to pass by.
• Emotional content. Just because you don’t feel anything when you see a photograph, don’t assume that it doesn’t communicate anything to other people. A photograph uses a visual language to communicate emotion, and like any language, it needs to be learned.
• Ideas. A photograph can ask questions or make statements just like an English essay. It communicates ideas with the same visual language it uses to communicate emotion.
• Depth. Some images are like visual Snickers: good for a quick kick. A photograph (like a good meal) has complexity and depth. We feel new emotions or perceive new ideas in it each time we return to it.

Now, for Today’s Lesson …

Pick an image from these images taken by students in previous semesters. It needs to be an image you like, one that appeals to you for some reason. Use the sheet I pass out to do the following:

• Sketch the image, reducing it to what you feel are the most important elements. Do not sketch the entire image. This should take you just a couple of minutes per image. The sketch should take up about a third of the page.
• Identify the center of interest. Each photograph has a visual center of interest. Draw an arrow to it on your sketch.
• Describe the image. Pretend you are writing for someone who is blind who wants to know about the image. In other words, go into some detail.
• Describe what you think the photographer felt or thought when the image was made. This should take about two or three sentences. Explain why the image carries that emotional content for you.
• Explain why this image appeals to you.

DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

(rèves et cauchmares)

With one roll of 25 frames, try to capture some images that illustrate a dream you have had. Write out the story of the dream on a separate sheet of lined paper and turn it in with the assignment.

Some dreams are fun and happy, others are frightening and others are just little fragments of our daily lives bubbling up as we sleep. In this assignment, try to capture the “feeling” of a dream by using some non-standard techniques:

• Use a slow shutter speed (1/30th or 1/15th) and jiggle the camera as you expose the film.
• Shoot deliberately out of focus.
• Shoot from a crooked angle, so that nothing lines up at right angles.
• Cut off people, so that only parts of them appear in the frame, or so that they are too close to be in focus.
• Go to a creepy place that makes you feel weird and try to capture that feeling on film.

Pay attention to the entire frame of each shot, not just to the center of interest.

Reminders

• Be sure that you do each assignment with the current roll, rather than digging back into previous rolls for pictures that might fit the assignment.
• Each contact sheet you turn in should contain strips with a continuous sequence of frame numbers, and should have been taken within the assignment’s time frame.
• “Mixing and matching” among your own rolls is unacceptable, and borrowing from the rolls of your friends is plagiarism.
• Take several different shots of each idea, from different angles or with different compositions (horizontal, vertical, etc.) so that you can pick the best one later. In fact, take several different shots of each image, and change your exposure with each one. This is called “bracketing.” Take one exposure with the needle (or light) one aperture stop up, one with the exposure right on, and one with the needle or light one stop down. That way, you are sure to get at least one perfect exposure, even if your development is slightly off when you process the roll.

Self Portrait

What is a self-portrait? It can be a photo of you, taken in a mirror. It can be a picture of just a part of your body, or of a reflection of a part of your body. It might be a picture of some favorite possession, or of a place where you spend a lot of time, such as your bedroom.

• Whatever you choose to photograph, take your roll of film so that other students in the class can identify you just by looking at your self-portraits. This might be harder than you think. What defines you, makes you unique?

• Try to get creative on this assignment! One student brought her favorite doll to school and photographed the doll in all the places she went that day. How about doing the same thing with an (empty) set of your favorite clothes, or pair of sneakers?

• Take a complete roll of 25 shots related to the assignment, and do not photograph other people or animals. Even though you may feel close to them, they are not you — they are them!

Reminders

• A shutter speed under 1/125 will cause camera shake (and fuzzy pictures) if you are not careful. Learn to brace your camera for slow speeds, or use a tripod.

• At this point in the semester, you might want to try some photos indoors, under artificial light. Set up your shot so that you can compensate for the slow shutter speed by bracing the camera. Your light source needs to be bright!

• Begin to make yourself aware of where the light is coming from. As a rule of thumb, take pictures with the sun (or other light source) behind you, so that your subject is lit from the front. Side lighting is nice as well.

• Remember that your eyes see much better than the camera and film do. A subject that seems well-lit to the eye can come out a gray, lifeless photo. The best light, remember, is bright but diffused (sun through a thin cloud layer, for example). You want shadows, but not strong, harsh ones.

X-treme light: shadows

Remember an earlier assignment: It’s All About Light. You photographed someone or something at different times of the day and compared the prints. You were really comparing the different ways light fell on your subject because the sun was at different angles. Perhaps you found that the images taken in the morning and afternoon were the most pleasing, just because of the direction and angle of the light.

It is hard to take an attractive photograph at midday. Many photographers only work in the early morning or late afternoon — or they re-create that light indoors.

Take a roll of images in the early morning or late afternoon that contains mostly shadows. The shadows will be the center of interest in your images, not the objects creating the shadows. At that time of day, the sun is at a low angle and shadows are their longest, creating the best opportunities — assuming the sun is shining.

Remember one other earlier assignment: patterns. Think of creating repeated shapes as you photograph, such as light falling between the rails of a fence or through the legs of a crowd of people standing on Konia Field. Too much repetition is boring. Too little is chaos. Find the balance between the two.

Make these sharp pictures, with nothing out of focus. That means using your knowledge of depth of field and of course, using shutter speeds of 125th sec. and above.

In addition, use your light meter carefully. Take a reading of the darkest spot in the photo and one of the brightest. If there are more than seven or eight stops between .

REMINDERS

• Understand the way your light meter works. It is calibrated to take an average of all the tones you point it at and suggests a camera setting (aperture / shutter speed). If you point it at a totally black board, take a reading, take a picture and then do the same with a totally white board, the negatives and prints will come out identical – middle gray.
• If you want something to print dark, take a reading and then open up three or four stops.
• If you want something to print light, take a reading and then close down three or four stops.

Picture – within – a – Picture

This is a wide-open assignment. The only requirement is that your images contain another image, such as a photograph, that somehow relates to, comments on or contrasts with the rest of the photograph. You can photograph landscapes, buildings, or other people. Just make sure that each shot contains another image.

The image does not have to be the center of interest of your photographs, although you can make it the center if you wish. Remember that the best place for the center of interest is often not the center of the rectangle.

Consider using one of your earlier images from this semester. You can also borrow an image from someone else if that works better, or carry around a family photo. How about a photograph of you when you were small — in front of a place you used to live or visit? If you really want to get fancy, take a roll of film just to create the images that you will use in your shots for this roll. In other words, take two rolls! I’ll give you extra-credit for the first roll.

In some or all of your images, use a shallow depth of field to throw something out of focus. Throwing something out of focus can sometimes make it seem distant in time, as though you are looking through a window to the past. A few years ago, a student won an award in the Scholastic Art Competition by photographing a family portrait but also including a house in the background, slightly out of focus.

Be careful not to throw your background so much out of focus that it becomes irrelevant to the image.

Reminders

• The larger your aperture opening (iris) the shallower your depth of field and the more blurry the backbround or foreground will appear. Fortunately, this means that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed, eliminating any possiblity of camera shake.
• You can also throw a background out of focus by moving closer to your subject; remember that distance from the subject affects depth of field. In other words, it will affect just how blurry the background or foreground will appear.
• Some cameras have a “preview” button that stops the lens down and allows you to estimate the depth of field, but the K-1000 does not. To compensate, bracket your shots. Take several of each image using different aperture openings.

Abstract

If you shoot all of your rolls of familiar people, objects and places, all from the same distance, the same height and perspective, your photos will appear boring, no matter how good they are. A good abstract turns our normal, boring way of looking at the world upside down, so that what should be familiar appears new and strange.

Take a roll of abstracts, images of familiar things that become unrecognizable because of the way you photograph them. This might mean getting extra close or waiting for a certain time of day, when the light changes everything. You are free to choose any subject you want: people’s body parts, plants, hallways. Think of bringing some objects into class and using our studio lights to set them up as an abstract image.

Because an abstract is detached from “reality,” it is free to communicate other things that have to do with feelings, moods, dreams and symbols. The subject doesn’t get in the way. As you look for suitable images, think of what moods you want to convey, and what shapes might work as symbols if you were to look at them in certain ways, under certain light. Some of the very best abstracts can appear to be two very different things at the same time, depending on how we view them.

Backgrounds and foregrounds often give clues about the relative sizes of objects in a photo. For this assignment, you may need to eliminate the background by throwing it out of focus or coming up close. Whatever you do, don’t ignore anything inside that rectangle. Everything counts!

Reminders

• Sometimes you want it all:

— Tight grain (which requires a low-ASA film, like 100)
— Maximum depth of field, with everything sharp
— no camera shake

• This means slow film, small aperture and probably a long shutter speed, like 1/4th second or even 4 seconds.
• Unfortunately, the only way to have it all is to use a tripod. A good tripod has to be somewhat heavy in order to stabilize a camera. Otherwise, even the wind can make your photos come out blurry. A cable release is also a good idea because it eliminates the possibility that you will jiggle the camera by pressing on the shutter release.

• Actually there is another way to have it all, but that involves using the weird, huge camera with the accordion bellows.

Kupuna Portrait

Take one entire roll of film (24 frames) of an older person. Take the portraits within twelve feet, so that you are filling most of the frame with your subject, but leaving room for some of some of the surroundings. Decide for yourself if you want to take full-body shots, or upper-torso shots. Think of camera angle, and try some low-angle shots.

• Try to use a lens opening of f/4 or f/5.6 so that your backgrounds will be out of focus. This will help to separate your subject from the background. Even though the person’s face will take up much of the photo frame, avoid placing it exactly in the center. Off-center is usually best.

• Remember to avoid taking portraits in full sun, so that the contrast (the difference between highlights and shadows) will not seem too extrteme. Likewise, avoid taking portraits under flat, indoor lighting (such as inside Midkiff) that will rob your subject of softly shadowed features. The best natural lighting for portraits is light shade or bright overcast, with faint shadows still visible.

• Try to get behind the fake “mask” that some people put on when they see a camera, so that your portrait reveals something about your subjects. What your viewer is really seeing is the momentary relationship between you and the person you are photographing. Relate!

Reminders

• Most of the time, the background doesn’t matter and needs to be made less obvious or prominent. The best ways to do this are to fill most of the frame with your subject and to throw the remaining background out of focus.
• Sometimes, however, the background does matter and can add a wonderful layer of meaning to the photograph. It may not be possible, but do your best to make use of the surrounding environment.