Thursday, December 18, 2014

Self Portrait 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 paint what you see there. Then go inside yourself and paint what you see there.



 
You will shoot three different self-portraits over break. You need to pick three photo concepts 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.  
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.
Use your PORTRAIT HINTS notes.
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.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Portrait Editing


1. Please look through your photos and pick you 20 best portrait pictures. Ten from each day. Make sure these 20 showcase a variety or angles and camera compositions. Simply put, make sure these photos are examples of many of the Portrait Hints you used last week.

2. Start editing the 20 photos in Photoshop using the techniques below. You should make your subjects look like supermodels!

To get rid of blemishes or red marks on the face:
Use Clone Stamp
Change Blend Mode to lighten
Sample a portion of the face with "nice"skin

To eliminate a glow or shine on the face:
Use Clone Stamp
Change Blend Mode to darken
Sample a portion of the face with "nice"skin






I don't expect you to edit all of the pictures today. Please spend roughly 8-12 minutes editing each picture. Don't forget basic crops and color adjustments.

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

AP Photo 10 Pics A Day Assignment

Project
Beginning today, Tuesday December 2nd, h, you will take 10 pictures a day, for 1 week, totaling 70 pictures.  This also means that you will need to shoot 20 images over the weekend. There is no theme for this assignment.  Your images can be of any subject matter.  You can take the pictures during school (in class) or after school (out of class). The following week you will edit your images in Photoshop (basic color corrections, cropping, editing, etc.). 
You will turn these images in on a Contact Sheet.  Each image will be labeled in Photoshop with a title that should include the date each photo was taken.  I will check to make sure you have turned your images in on a daily basis.
This assignment is designed to get you thinking about subjects & concepts you enjoy to photograph.   This will help you to begin to brainstorm your ideas for your AP portfolio.
Due: November 24th, 2014.
Naming convention _70photos
Your grade for this assignment will be based on several factors:
  • Completion of each image.
  • Turned in on time (formative)
  • The quality and creativity of your 70 images
  • Your choice of which photos to possibly use for your portfolio (summative).