Digital Photo I:

Photoshop CS6 Tool Bar Overview

Digital Photo I: Weekend Work #2

Weekend Work Assignment #2

One of the absolute best ways to improve your photography is to practice!

Doing is the best way to see results. In order to help you practice your photography, I will be posting a different assignment each Friday here on this blog for you to complete over the weekend. Be sure to post your shots on your blog before Monday so everyone can enjoy the results of these assignments when we are back in class, period 1. Make sure to title your post "Weekend Work #2" Each Weekend Work assignment is worth 5 points in the practice work category.

This weekend's assignment is:

Lighting.
Light can create drama in your photos! Feature three different kinds of lighting or lights in three photos. Think about location and time of day!


Some Examples:

    

Digital Photo I:

Take a look at this interactive glossary for photography and Photoshop!  Click on each term and explore the examples.

https://www.polarr.co/guide/temperature

Digital Photo I:

Read this article and answers the questions in preparation for Intro to Photoshop on Monday.

http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2010/02/20-years-of-adobe-photoshop/

1.)  What was Photoshop based off of in traditional photography?

2.)  Who were the two people that combined knowledge to create Photoshop?

3.)  What year was Photoshop 1.0 released?

4.)  What feature was added to Photoshop 2.0?

5.)  When was the layers feature introduced and what are layers?

6.)  When did the unification in the Photoshop interface happen?

7.)  When did the lasso selection tool and the history feature appear?

Digital Photo I:

Click the Camera Sim below and practice focusing, composing, and framing with a simulated SLR. Practice until you get capture a good quality photo!


CAMERA SIM

Digital Photo I:

Check out the presentation and answer the following questions on the history of Photography:


http://www.slideshare.net/33534894/brief-history-of-photography?related=1



1.) When did photography begin?

2.) What century was the camera obscura started?

3.) Who recorded the first image that did not fade?

4.)  What company created cameras for the general public?

5.)  What did Henri-Cartier Bresson begin to use in 1930?

6.) What did Model 95 develop?

7.)  What instant film camera was inexpensive for the public to buy and use?

8.)  When and by what company was the first digital camera produced?

Digital Photo I:

In class today, go through the presentation below and find a photo online for each of the types of photography.  Post one example of each type on your blog.



http://www.slideshare.net/marciosargento/lesson-2-types-of-photography?qid=1571038c-b427-4111-a242-007f41967715&v=default&b=&from_search=2




When you are done, take a look at Digital Photo Magazine online.  Find an article that interests you about photography and share it on your blog.


http://www.dpmag.com/

Digital Photo I: Weekend Work Assignment #1

Weekend Work Assignment #1


One of the absolute best ways to improve your photography is to practice!

Doing is the best way to see results. In order to help you practice your photography, I will be posting a different assignment each Friday here on this blog for you to complete over the weekend.   Be sure to post your shots on your blog before Monday so everyone can enjoy the results of these assignments when we are back in class, period 1.  Make sure to title your post "Weekend Work #1" Each Weekend Work assignment is worth 5 points in the practice work category. 

This weekend's assignment is:


Get up close to your subject.
Pick an everyday object and focus on a small part of it. Get as close as your camera will allow you to focus and shoot. Try for different angles and/or unusual lighting to add to the mystery of this tiny world. From the details of your shoe, to a fragile keepsake, to soap bubbles, there is an entire world that we often overlook because we don't get close enough.


Some Examples:

                                                    

Digital Photo I:

View this presentation and answer the questions below.  Post your answers on your blog.

http://www.slideshare.net/Bassow/basic-photography-101?next_slideshow=1

1.)  What are the three factors that work together to get correct exposure?

2.)  What is shutter speed?

3.)  What is aperture and how is it measure?

4.) What is ISO?

5.)  What does high shutter speed help eliminate?

6.) What is depth of field?

Digital Photo I:

 

You should have your own photo taken for each of the following elements:

 

• Line
• Shape
• Value
• Texture
• Space
• Form
• Color

 

Remember that these photos must be posted to your blog by tomorrow (8-20) by 11:59 PM in order to receive full credit.  Please LABEL each photo with one of the elements.

Digital Photo II:

While you are deciding on a story to tell through a series of photos, take a few minutes to watch the video below for 6 tips on helping you create your story through photos.  Think about how you will shoot, edit, and arrange your photos.

• Plan on having 8-10 photos for your story.   Include a title, description, process, and reflection.
• 
  
• Keep your concept/theme consistent throughout your series.   Take MORE than the required about of photos so you can pick and choose which best fit your story and story sequence.
• 
  
• Think about the mood and related color/temperature of your story.  Black and white, saturated/desaturated, sepia, monochromatic, or full color?
• 
  
• Will you be manipulating or adding something digitally with  Photoshop to your photos?

Watch this video for some tips on storytelling through photos.

Digital Photo II Article & Storytelling Assignment

Visual Storytelling through Photography

by Michelle Bogre, February 2015

Storytelling is timeless. Humans have been telling stories for a very long time. We tell stories to share memories, to preserve our history, to promote ideas, and to be entertained. In the past, people would gather around the fire or sit on front porches orally telling and retelling stories. Today many of us tell our stories through photography, either distributed worldwide via the Internet or more directly to our friends via Facebook, Instagram, or other social media sharing sites.

Storytelling and photography may seem like a natural pair, but being a good photographer does not necessarily translate into being a good storyteller. The first step in becoming a great visual storyteller is to figure out what type of story you want to tell. What kind of stories do you like? Do you prefer fact or fiction? Do you like short stories or long novels? Do you like memoirs or biographies? Do you prefer traditional writing or a more avant-garde approach? (To put it in dramatic terms, are you Samuel Beckett or Arthur Miller?) Just as you can choose what type of story to read, you have the same choice in deciding what type of photographic story you want to tell. Just remember that, regardless of the style, the purpose of any story is to interest, amuse, or instruct the audience.

© 2009 Michelle Bogre

Not all photo stories are linear. Some are conceptual, poetic, or elliptical. This long-term project on family farms, which spans families, states, and types of agriculture, would fall under the poetic or elliptical category. The images vary from portraits to landscapes to still lifes. Examples from this photo series are included in this article in no particular order.

Leo Tolstoy, the great Russian novelist (and to take you back to college English classes, the author of War and Peaceand Anna Karenina), wrote an essay in 1899, titled What is Art? He speaks of art as an “infection” whereby the artist infects others with “the feelings he has lived through” so that “other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them.” Tolstoy was using the word “art,” but we could substitute the word “story.”

A great story infects its audience with the passions and feelings of the storyteller. To tell an in-depth story, research is critical. The more you know about a subject, the more passionate you become and the more interesting your story is. Any good story shares some basic elements. Famed director George Lucas says that there are only two elements in a story: character and plot, or who and what. “Telling a story, it’s a very complicated process,” he said. “You’re leading the audience along. You are showing them things. Giving them insights.” We might augment Lucas’ two elements with the idea that a good story has a beginning (this photograph has to draw readers in, so make sure it’s strong), middle (this is where you take a lot of images), and end (the image that will resonate). You can also think about your story in terms of the five “Ws” that every journalism student learns: who, what, where, when, and why. You won’t want to include all five Ws in every image because that would become chaotic and confusing, but you should think about them when shooting and when you edit your story.

© 2006 Michelle Bogre

This image, taken in Lockwood, Missouri, would be the “middle” of a story: a typical hotdog roast on a Sunday afternoon. But on the farm, the bonfire is sometimes really big so the hotdog roasting sticks need to be very long.

You must visually vary the rhythm of your story, just as a great writer varies language with paragraphs that are descriptive, or reflective, or mostly dialogue and then within those paragraphs by varying sentence length. Multiple photographs become paragraphs and each photograph can be thought of as a sentence. To vary the rhythm photographically, you need to think about changing specifics, such as camera, subject distance, focal length of your lens, point of view, and depth of field, to name a few. Think about including close-ups and extreme close-ups with medium or wide shots. Finally, create visual rhythm by varying your composition. Remember the classic rule of thirds and think about the frame being divided into nine equal squares. If you have a higher-end digital camera, you can change your viewing screen to display a grid. Otherwise, mentally overlay the grid when you shoot. Put the most interesting part of the scene on the intersections of the lines. The middle of the frame is generally the least interesting place. Also think about the edges of your frame. They can be used to suggest what just happened or what is about to happen. Remember that a photograph exists in past, present, and future simultaneously. We view it in the present but the edges represent what just happened (past) or what is about to happen (future). You can suggest nuance or even narrative by placing a part of something on an edge. Run your eye around your frame as you compose. If the edges are empty, recompose.

© 2006 Michelle Bogre

Always look for moments or photographs that allow the eye to rest, such as this farm landscape comprised of horizontal stratifications of shades of brown, green, and yellow.

Finally, you should think about your process. How do you work best? Are you analytical? Intuitive? Linear? The way you approach life is probably how you also shoot and will inform your storytelling process.

© 2009 Michelle Bogre

This photograph of crawfish farmer Edwin Miller was taken at exactly 6:10 a.m. in Gueydan, Louisiana, because that was the moment when the morning light was perfect. I had scouted out this location the morning before, noting the sunrise.

Sebastian Liste, a documentary photographer and sociologist keenly interested in how contemporary issues, such as endemic violence, have produced profound cultural changes in Latin America and the Mediterranean has a very different approach. He works more intuitively than Calvert. Because his approach and stories are less linear, he doesn’t plan the images in advance. “I don’t work on a mega level story,” says Liste. “My stories are so specific to a micro community that I can’t know in advance how I am going to tell the story or even what story I am going to tell. I pick an area to investigate and I find people to spend time with. I listen to them to find out what my story will be.”

© 2009 Michelle Bogre

When you are shooting a story, keep your eyes open for unexpected moments such as this one. While I was wandering around, a young piglet emerged from a barn. Tightly composed, this image resembles a Renaissance painting.

Although their approaches are completely different, both Liste and Calvert are wonderful storytellers. You will discover your technique as you practice telling stories. Start with something close to home and easy to work on. Think about storytelling as developing your own emotional narrative through images. What you choose to tell, what interests you, and how you tell it makes you unique.

Text and photos © 2015 Michelle Bogre.

Digital Photo II Students, think about your story...

Investigate a story and create it through a series of photos.  Create your own story, or interpret a popular one.  Some examples would be:

• Daily Life
• Family
• Travel
• Based on Literature
• Based on a song

View some great photo stories here:
https://exposure.co/suggested-members

Brainstorm and come up with three story ideas not listed.

Welcome!

Welcome to Digital Photo I and II!

Photo I: Try posting and editing your blog layout.  It will take some time to become familiar with Blogger.  I will continue to answer questions and help you get started on Monday (8-17).


Photo I & II:  Remember to take 6 photos that have something to do with you!  They should not be portraits.  Bring these photos in on a flash drive or email them to me Monday (8-17) for discussion.