David Hockney style collage

When the semester began we did PowerPoint projects on famous photographers. One of the artists was David Hockney. He was a painter, but also became well-known for his work with photography. Several of his most important pieces involved taking literally thousands of photographs and fitting them together as a collage. We are going to do something similar, on a much smaller scale, of course. Over the holiday I'd like you to take many photos of one general subject which can be fitted together to form a collage. We will make contact sheets, cut the small photos out, and paste them together. You should have at least 35-40 pictures from which to choose. Your finished collage will likely have about 20 photos. You should not try to line the photos up perfectly, but use a more free-form style. For examples, see http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/hockney/ (Place Furstenburg and Pearblossom Highway)
Finished project will be due on Friday, January 5th.

Research Paper--Careers

You have a research paper due Wednesday, December 20th. You will research and write a three page paper on 'Careers in Photography'. Students should discuss at length at least three very specific career choices that utilize photographic skills. You should describe exactly what is involved, skills other than photographic which would be necessary, required education, locations where the job could be readily obtained, pros and cons of the profession, salary to be expected, difficulties to overcome, etc. Make the paper personal! Tell what YOU would enjoy about the career choices. It should be written in your own words, typed, and double-spaced. All reference material should be cited on a fourth page. At the end of class on Wednesday, we will print the papers and hand them in. They will be graded like a project. Do a good job!

sub

I will be out December 13, 14, and 15th. You will have a sub. I expect very good behavior from each of you! You'll have a two-part project to do, and you'll watch a movie on wildlife photography that I think you'll enjoy.

December 7th Classwork

Today you will do your choice of ONE of the two assignments specified below. It will be due at the end of class, and will be graded as a project (60%). If neither is turned in today, your grade will be zero. This is not a project which may be turned in late as we are moving on to another tomorrow. This assignment will serve to prepare you for the next.
1) If you came to class prepared today, with last night's homework done, this will certainly be the easier and more fun assignment to choose! You will make a contact sheet of 12 DIFFERENT food/beverage still life photos. Then you will choose the best, crop and enhance with PhotoShop, and turn in as a 5x7 JPEG. Please do not try to pass off old photos, or photos of other subject matter! Unless your photos can be classified as food/beverage still life, and were taken last night or today, you should take the second choice!
2) You will research and write a two-page HAND-WRITTEN paper on 'Still Life Photography'. Do not type. Do not double space. Use your own words! You may discuss the history of the still life, tips and techniques on creating good still life photography, photographers who specialize in this type of work, etc. Make it interesting to read. You may include your opinions. Cite your sources on seperate page. You may use the Internet or our text books for material. If you'd like to print some samples off the Internet to accompany your two pages, this will be considered toward a better grade.

NHIs---A reminder

If you had projects listed as NHI (not handed in) on the last interim, you have through this Friday, December 8th to complete this work after school in room B314. This classroom will be open until 4:30-5:00 each afternoon for you to use PhotoShop. You know your late work will lose a letter grade. However, since projects account for 60% of your grade in this class, missing even one can have a serious detrimental effect on your grade. After Friday, if not submitted, these projects will be a zero.

Metaphor Self-Portrait

Read this carefully. This assignment is a picture about you. It is a portrait of you. The only thing different is that you are not in it. This picture is a STILL LIFE, a metaphor that contains at least three things that represent who you are. Your friends should be able to look at it and recognize you in the picture. This picture should not contain any living things, only still objects. It should represent things you are passionate about.

Give thought to the elements of good composition! Pay special attention to lighting, background, and the arrangement of items. Take some with flash and some without. Take a photo and then change the arrangement, add or subtract an item, change the lighting, and take another. You will make a contact sheet with 12 DIFFERENT photos that represent YOU. There should be lots of variety in the arrangement of objects and the lighting among the 12 photos. You will turn in the best one as a color 5x7, manipulated in PhotoShop if you wish. The contact sheet is due on Monday, December 11th, and the final at the end of class on Tuesday the 12th.

Still Life Photography

Check out the following sites:

http://webhome.idirect.com/~dpl/gallery1.html
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/dynoGall2.asp?cat=17
http://www.usefilm.com/photo_category/16/Pictures_of_Still_Life.html
http://www.apogeephoto.com/mag2-6/mag2-7winners.shtml
http://www.stilllifewith.com/2006/07/14/photo-contest-from-food-wine-magazine/
http://stilllifewith.com/2006/12/01/stw-challenge-for-december-tradition/
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/09/15/food_photos.html
http://www.markhemmings.com/MarkWebsite/food_photography/index.htm
http://dessertfirst.typepad.com/dessert_first/2006/05/food_photograph.html

Basic Principles of Still Life Photography:
Throughout the decades, artists have depicted still life scenes—arrangements of inanimate objects—in paintings and photography. Shooting still life subjects is one of the best ways to sharpen your photographic skills. You can take your time, and your subject remains stationary. Good composition, framing and lighting are all very important to translate your still life into a great photo. Every day we are bombarded with still life images of appetizing foods, shiny housewares and other appealing products in magazine ads, brochures and catalogs. Professionals spend a great deal of time setting up these shots and you can learn a lot just by studying the photos you find most appealing and unique. Notice how photographers use repeating shapes and lines to create patterns and use complimentary colors. Study the lighting that they use. Simplicity is very important when composing still lifes. You don’t need to collect a wide range of complicated objects to create an interesting picture. Instead, choose a few objects with a common thread. The arrangement of a still life should begin with the positioning of a single dominant subject. Then add other objects one at a time, and examine the arrangement through your camera’s viewfinder. Experiment with your camera angle until the scene shows the elements in the most pleasing balance. Photograph the original grouping, and then rearrange or remove objects to see if it improves the composition.

Your next project will involve setting up a still life of specific objects and photographing it. To help prepare you, read the previously mentioned articles and find 6 still life photographs from the Internet that you particularly like. These photos should include only inanimate objects. Paste the 6 photos to a one-page word document (two columns) and write a short paragraph about each. Tell what techniques the photographer used that appeal to you. This will be due at the end of class Wednesday, December 6th. This will prepare you for the homework assignment for Wednesday night.

For homework, take still life photographs of FOOD AND/OR BEVERAGES. Experiment with the arrangement and lighting. Take some photos with flash and some without. Be creative! Think about the elements of composition we have just studied. Be prepared to work with your food photos tomorrow, December 7th. If you do not have this homework done, you will be doing book work and writing a paper.