Ms. Kalnay’s blog

Digital Photography – Kalnay: Final Portfolio Project

 
Overview: This final project is meant to encompass every aspect of the course, including history, art and aesthetics, photographic discourse, photography terms, the elements and principles of design, Photoshop knowledge, and familiarity with the camera and with creating meaningful, interpretable works of art using photography as your medium.

 

Requirements: Your portfolio must consist of:

v     10-12 photos, black and white or color, united by a common theme.

v     These photos must be printed on photo paper and mounted on black or white cardstock or foam board pieces.

v     Each photo must be signed and titled, each must be the best quality post-production (free of blemishes, etc.) as possible.

 

Thematic elements: Your photos must be united by a common theme that is visible (if not immediately obvious) to the trained eyes of your classmates. This theme can be broad-reaching in nature – e.g. love, charity, darkness, etc. – or more specific – e.g. photos of the same color, photos of similar objects, photos with the same Photoshop techniques applied to them, etc. 

 

You must provide written documentation (outlined below) that supports your theme and shows the thought process behind choosing the theme. In other words, the idea should come before, not after, taking the photos.

 

Written elements: In addition to your suite of 10-12 mounted photos, you must also provide:

v     A 1 page typed artist statement. See the links to artist statement ideas on mskalnay.com > Student Files to get an idea of how to write your artist statement.

v     A 2 page typed essay detailing:

o        the theme of your final portfolio project,

o       the photographic processes and techniques you followed,

o       your reasoning for choosing your theme,

o       how you incorporated the elements of design (a 4-point analysis),

o       your successes and failures with the project, and

o       your overall satisfaction level with your final work.

v     A list of 15+ descriptive adjectives that help define and illustrate your project/theme. These should just be in a bulleted or un-bulleted list and typed as a separate sheet of paper

v     These three typed projects should be stapled or paper clipped and turned in as one file.

 

Grading: This project is your final exam and is worth 20% of your overall grade in this class. You will be given a written series of questions as a final critique that will analyze the thought and meaning you gave to your project, and will help asses your understanding of beginning photography.

 

After today's in-class assignment and discussion, please answer the following questions on a sheet of paper to be turned in tomorrow (Wednesday) at the beginning of class:

--If you were the mayor of your city, how would you address your city's social problems such as homelessness, poverty and drug use?
--Do you think that using pictures of suffering people to further a social agenda is a form of exploitation? Why or why not?
--What is the role of photographs in preserving history?
--How can photographs offer a side of a story that may not be captured in a newspaper article?
--Why would a photographer want to take candid pictures of people he or she does not know?
--How do an artist's background and views of the world affect the work that he or she produces?
--What photographs do you have that are the most important to you, and why are they special to you?
--What is the role that pictures play in your life and in society? Why do people who must flee their home because of war, fire, or natural disasters often only take photographs with them?
--How do other art forms (literature, paintings, sculpture, dance, music, drama) effectively depict the lives of their subjects?
--What ways do people express themselves, either artistically or otherwise? Is self-expression important? Why or why not?

1) Please read this article on The Rule of Thirds: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/rule-of-thirds/

2) Do some image searching on the stock photo websites listed on mskalnay.com under Student Files and find/save one good example of a photograph using the Rule of Thirds.

3) In Photoshop, pull out guides to indicate how and where the photograph is using the Rule of Thirds.

4) Save the file as PS3_yourlastname.jpg

THEN...

1) Read this article on Photo Cropping: http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/using-cropping-to-improve-photographs/

2) Do some image searching on the stock photo websites listed on mskalnay.com under Student Files and find/save one photograph that could be more interesting if it was cropped in a different way.

3)  Using your selection tools and the Crop feature, crop the photograph into a more interesting composition.

4) Save the file as PS4_yourlastname.jpg

5) I will come around and screen check these files once you are done.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/arts/dance/23maca.html?scp=42&sq=photography&st=nyt

1) Who is Mikhail Baryshnikov?

2) Did you know who Mikhail Baryshnikov was before reading this article? If yes, where did you see him or hear of him before?

3) In what ways to the art forms of photography and dance overlap?

4) What terms of photographic discourse (design elements and principles, i.e. color, mood, shadow, etc.) that we discussed in class can you apply to dance? Give 1-2 examples.

5) If you were to take a series of photos about dance, what would they look like? Think about how you would set up the shot, whether you would use color or black and white, how man dancers, what the environment would look like, etc.

6) Searching through any and all of the following photography collection websites, find and list 3 examples of other photographs or photographers that remind you of dance or seem dance-like in nature in nature and describe why you made that connection.

 http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/pphome.html

 http://photography.si.edu/

 http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/art/photo/photo.html

 http://www.eastmanhouse.org/inc/collections/photography.php

(Hints for searching, if you are unsure how to begin: conjure up search words that make you think of different types of dance or movement and use them as search terms on the site. Also, don’t limit yourself to photos of dancers themselves – anything can seem dance-like if you are looking in a certain way: trees, buildings, animals, etc. Be creative!)

 

Digital Photography

PS photo coloration project (Photoshop project #2 – 25 points)

 

1) Download (right click and choose "Save Target As" or "Save File As" one of the zipped image files from mskalnay.com/student files.html.

2) Unzip the file and save it to your jump drive as "PS2_yourlastname”.

3) Open the image in Photoshop by clicking on File > Open.

4) Change your image resolution to 180 DPI. (Image > Image Size).

5) Remove the color from the image using by changing the file mode from RGB to Grayscale (Image > Mode > Grayscale) THEN change it back to RGB again (Image > Mode > RBG).

6) Using a variety of selection tools and various coloring techniques, re-color the image as naturally as possible.

 

Ideas:

• Read the online tutorials on hand coloring at mskalnay.com/student files.html
• Google search for "Hand Coloring Photoshop" to find tutorials and step-by-steps
• Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation
• Paint with paintbrushes using low opacity
• Play with channels
  

Due: Tuesday, 4/1/08 (Due date subject to change)

Digital Photography

PS photo montage project (Photoshop project #1 – 25 points)

 

1. Open Photoshop and create a new document by choosing File > New
2. From the Photoshop preset menu, click on the drop down menu and choose 640 x 480
3. Note that the resolution of your image will be 72 dpi
4. Save your image to your jumpdrive and name it: “PS1_yourlastname” and allow it to save as the default file type (.psd).
5. If you forgot your jump drive, you may save it temporarily to your desktop, but keep in mind that you will want to e-mail the file to yourself at the end of class! These computers tend to delete files on the desktop overnight so please follow these directions so you do not lose this project
6. Find 10-15 photos or photographic elements from the Internet to collage together. If you do not initially choose an image that takes up the whole background, you should collage together enough images by the end so that little or no background is showing through.
7. You may add text to your image as a design choice, but not as an explanation of the subject or theme of your montage.
8. Use a variety of selection tools, Move tool, Layers, the Eraser tool, etc., create a photo-montage / collage photo. You may use images with text in them or the Text tool to add text to your image, if you like.
9. Make sure your montage has an obvious theme and that you are using the design elements and principles with regards to balance, unity, repetition, etc.
10. Please take your time with this project! If you are a new PS user, you will want to get as familiar as possible with the tools and methods of Photoshop so we can move on to more complicated projects. If you are a more experienced PS user, you want to make sure your selections are as tight as possible, that you are considering how well you have used your tools (erase, etc.) and that you have displayed your Photoshop skills to the best of your ability.

 

Due Friday, 3/14/08

This assignment is listed in 3 parts. Please read the ENTIRE entry before beginning, so you know how to pace your work, if you are behind in any assignments:

History of Photography Timelines (Catch-up):

 Students should get in their small groups and finish up ANY outstanding work on their timeline projects, including:

v      FINAL slides completed, spell-checked, arranged

v      All slide material should be turned in to turnitin.com

v      Final works cited document should be printed out and handed in OR added to slide in PowerPoint

v      Students should be 100% ready to give presentations beginning tomorrow morning – this means everyone should know her part, should know what order they are speaking in, should know their material well enough not to stumble around or act like they have never seen this material before. Practice today in your small groups. Points will be subtracted for ill-prepared presentations!

v      Presentations begin tomorrow morning. If you have group members absent today, MAKE SURE you inform them that presentations begin tomorrow. They are responsible for coming to class prepared to present with your group!

 Visual Storytelling Projects (Catch-up from last week):

 If a group is done with the Timeline Project, individual students should make sure they have turned in:

v      Very short written story (2-3 sentences, not too complicated, but engaging, with a clear beginning, middle and end)

v      5 photos to represent the student-written story. Photos are gathered from stock photo websites or Google/Yahoo images, etc. Watermarks may appear on images. Final 5 photos should be in a JPG (Photoshop), PowerPoint or Word document.

v      5 photos to represent the story The Faery Handbag (linked from mskalnay.com) in the same manner as the student-written story, above.

v      If you have ANY questions about how to complete this project, ask someone who has completed the project; most assignments turned in were done correctly!

v      More information about this project can be found on mskalnay.com, under "Weekly Syllabus"

     

In-Class Project / Homework (Today!)

 If you have completed all of your catch-up work, you may begin the following project. If you need the whole class time to finish catching up, please do this assignment for homework tonight.

 Read the following article (make sure to watch the slideshow that accompanies article):

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/arts/design/21bhut.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

 Respond to the following questions thoughtfully and in full sentences on a loose-leaf piece of paper:

 

1. How would you define a “sacred place”?
2. What elements would a place need to have in order to make it sacred to you?
3. Describe the perfect place for you to pray or meditate.
4. How would you photograph your sacred place in order to get the idea across to others that it was important, peaceful or holy?
5. What elements of sacredness or ideal beauty can you find in Izu’s photographs?
6. Are there any common themes to Izu’s work? How might you tell they are all photographs by the same artist?
7. Choose 2 photographs from the slideshow and write about them. Include your personal feelings and impressions of the photo as well as an interpretation (elements and principles of design) of them. Make sure you include the title of the photograph and date (both are listed on the photos in the slideshow).

Due Wednesday, 2/20, at the beginning of class.

A picture is worth a thousand words is a proverb that refers to the idea that complex stories can be described with just a single still image, or that an image may be more influential than a substantial amount of text. It also aptly characterizes the goals of visualization where large amounts of data must be absorbed quickly.
Your goal is to tell a simple story with emotional or visual depth using a series of 5 images.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

 Guidelines for Telling a Story

Guidelines are not rules, but a formula that can be used to suit your creative imagination. Several avenues exist for story telling, such as journalistic reporting, sequential photos that reveal a moment, photographic poetry, and narrative. The following guidelines are for narrative.

A good story has characters in action with a beginning, middle, and an ending. Fortunately a lot of information can be given in a single photograph, enhancing the limitations of five photographs for your story. Location, time, and atmosphere aid viewer imagination. Keep standards of pictorial beauty, but pack as many story telling elements in one photograph as possible to develop an action.*

*Adapted from: Flickr: Tell a story in 5 frames (Visual story telling)

Suggested sequence:

1st photo: establish characters (if any) and location.

2nd photo: create a situation with possibilities of what might happen.

3rd photo: involve the characters (if any) in the situation.

4th photo: build to probable outcomes

5th photo: have a logical, but surprising, end.

STEP ONE: Visualize and plan your story.
Write your story on paper. Make sure it is complex enough to be engaging, yet concise enough to be told in 5 "frames." This may be hand-written or typed and must accompany your final piece. This isn't anything major -- just a few sentences. I just want to know that you have your 5-frame story planned!

STEP TWO: Gather your resources.
View the teacher blog under "Student Files" for a list of stock photography websites, from which you may gather your photos. Other resources may be used, except for school-banned websites. Save your images to a folder on your jump drive for easy access.

STEP THREE: Analyze your selections.
Are the images appropriate and visually complex enough to tell your story? Can you think of a better, clearer way to tell this story? Are there other search terms you could come up with to find a better photo?

STEP FOUR: Arrange your photos.
If you know Photoshop, create a new file at 72 DPI that is wide enough to hold all 5 of your images horizontally. You should strive to crop and arrange your photos so they are of equal size and distance from one another, unless you are sizing them differently for a creative storytelling purpose.

If you do not know Photoshop, you have three choices:
1) I can come around and help you get started in the program
2) A classmate can help you get started with this project
3) You may use another tool you are more familiar with, such as Word or PowerPoint, to arrange your photos.

STEP FIVE: Name and save your story
Your story must have a name -- something short and descriptive. This is the only time words may be used in this story. Save your final image (Photoshop), series of images (Word) or slideshow (PowerPoint) as "Your Last Name_Title of Story" and e-mail it to me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/arts/design/27kenn.html

• Who was Robert Capa?
• What does the discovery of Capa's lost negatives mean for present day photography?
• How could the presence of these negatives put to rest many of the claims that certain of Capa's photos were faked? Why is this important?
• How might the discovery of these negatives partially rewrite the time line of women's involvement in the history of photography?

Please submit a draft of the books, Internet websites, research databases, DVDs or other resources you are using to complete the History of Photography timeline.

Each document should include:
-Names of ALL students in the group
-Date
-Block
-Works cited in proper format. If unsure, consult your MLA Handbook or Google "MLA format" or ask your teacher.

This document can be added to before you submit your final project; this is just to get an idea of where your research is headed and whether or not you could be looking elsewhere for your information.

Only one document per group needs to be submitted. It is up to you to decide who in your group will submit this homework.

Due at the beginning of class.