In this class you will learn much about how to see the world from a different perspective, how to use the digital SLR cameras, upload and organize photos and how to edit in Photoshop. This class will allow a fair bit of freedom, but with this freedom comes responsibility. Along with Photography you will be learning how to improve your creative writing skills by way of various exercises and assignments.
( Class Guidelines: to be discussed)
We need good photography for the yearbook. Students are encouraged to use their phones for taking photos as much as possible. School cameras will be available for student use in class and may be able to be signed out to take home with teacher permission. Techniques on how to use your phones/digital slr cameras will be taught in class. Students should carry their phone charge cords with them for uploading photos.
Requirements for success in this course:
a positive attitude and a willingness to learn and push beyond the level you are at
your own cell phone and charger cables
using class time effectively and a respect the freedom you have in this class
realizing the benefits of taking photos outside of class occasionally
be a good model for your peer/help out others when you can
Keeping up with writing assignments and getting your work peer, parent or teacher edited
: ALL COMPUTER KEYBOARDS AND MICE ARE TO BE WIPED AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS
TRY TO REMAIN DISTANCED APART FROM OTHERS WHEN PHOTOGRAPHING
SHOOT OUTSIDE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
Core Competencies
Critical and Creative thinking
Self and Social Responsibility
Visual and written communication skills
Assessment:
Students are at the beginning stages of learning a skill so taking lots of photos will be important for skill development. Assignments in Photo will focus on developing an eye for composition and learning how to take photos from different angles. Students will have various assignments focusing on specific skills and will be assess by a portfolio of their work. In writing the same format will be in place. Writing is broken down into understanding character, setting, poetry and creative short assignments. I am a firm believer in process based teaching and assessments for the arts.
Even if you do not have enough photos to put in your slideshow make sure you complete the assignment with something to present. Not done will get you an incomplete which means you will still have to do the slideshow to pass the class. This assignment is worth 30 marks.
The slideshows will be shown in class on Tues April 20 and Wed April 21 no exceptions. After your slideshow you should prioritize any Photoshop work that needs to be done. Your deadline for all other assignments is the end of the week: Fri. April 23. Please email me if you were unable to complete the slideshow, or are missing any other major assignments.
Criteria for assignment:
Slideshow should include your best photos from the class. All photos should be in focus and well composed. There should be 30 shots total.
10 of these photos can be from before this class/assignment photos from the class, but the other 20 need to be recently taken photos by you.
Try to include a variety of different shots. Include: macros, landscape, portrait, and other creative shots.
You must include music that works well with your slideshow NO SWEARS!!!(some mp3 audio files are on the m drive)
You must save on the m drive under your class folder. Your file name should include your first and last name (WMV file extention for Photostory Files)
photos should have simple, non distracting transitions, and be timed 3.5-4.5 seconds in length
your name should be on the first slide of the slideshow
Mon/Wed classes you only have 2 classes this week and 1 class next week to get your slideshows done. Tues/Thurs classes this week you have 3 classes to finish up your slideshow.
Even if you do not have enough photos to put in your slideshow make sure you complete the assignment with something to present next week. Not done will get you a zero, something done/some effort might just get you a passing grade. This assignment is worth 3 times the marks of other assignments, so it should be your first priority this week. The slideshows will be shown in class on Tues April 20 and Wed April 21 no exceptions.
Criteria for assignment:
Slideshow should include your best photos from the class. All photos should be in focus and well composed. There should be 30 shots total.
10 of these photos can be from before this class/assignment photos from the class, but the other 20 need to be recently taken photos by you.
Try to include a variety of different shots. I do not want to see 30 dog shots, or 30 flower shots, or 30 ocean shots. Try to include: macros, landscape, portrait, and other creative shots.
You must include music that works well with your slideshow NO SWEARS!!!(some mp3 audio files are on the m drive)
You must save on the m drive under your class folder. Your file name should include your first and last name (WMV file extention)
photos should have simple, non distracting transitions, and be timed 3.5-4.5 seconds in length
your name should be on the first slide of the slideshow
Hopefully you all had a relaxing and enjoyable break. We have 3weeks left of school and a fair bit of work still to complete.
SORRY PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATES FOR ASSIGNMENTS:
The following assignments are due no later than FRI. APRIL 23 on Flickr,but I would prefer to have skatepark shots, sky shots and photo poem wrapped up by the end of this week
skatepark shots 10 shots = 20 mark
sky shots 5 shots = 10 marks
writing: photo poem = 10 marks Please note: I have taken out the thank-you letter assign
portraits 10 shots = 20 marks
NEW spring shots 5 shots = 10 marks
writing: dialogue (16 lines) = 10 marks
photoshop headswap = 10 marks
Final Slideshow: 30 photos, 10 of which can be from your assignment shots or any good photos you have taken within this year. The other 20 shots are a variety of your choice quality shots.
NEW PHOTO ASSIGNMENT this week SPRING SHOTS: 5 shots = 10 marks. Go outside and look for signs of spring....cherry blossoms, tulips, spring birds, buds on trees, sunshine or pussy willows etc.
SLIDESHOWS WILL BE SHOWN IN CLASS ON Mon Apr. 19 and Tues Apr. 20
Lesson on PhotoStory 3: Unless you have i Movie on your computer, laptop, or phone, or another program you know how to use well, you should be using Photostory 3 program on the school computers to produce your Photo Slideshow.
CHOOSING PHOTOS
Choose a variety of different photos including: macros, landscape, pets, portraits, friend shots, your own choice shots, creative shots etc. Basically anything goes, just provide some variety.
Choose photos that are of high quality and ones that you think are your best photos.
Make sure the photos you choose have been edited, are IN FOCUS, and are well composed.
It really helps if you have all the photos you want to put in your slideshow edited and saved on the computer. MOVING PHOTOS FROM FLICKR TO THE COMPUTER: Go to Flickr, click on your photo, go to the arrow down button, view all sizes and go to the largest size, and then to the top left to download, pick up the photo on your L drive under Downloads and move it to your slideshow folder.
You may want to think about a song that would work well with your photos. It must be in an mp3 format. Your first slide should have your first and last name on it, and should be a photo like a sky shot or a shot that is mostly a background shot.
MOVING PHOTOS INTO PHOTOSTORY
1. You will import your photos into Photostory by opening Photostory and going to Import Photos. Make a point of saving your project every time you go into the program to add photos or edit. Once you save your slideshow, you will find it under My Videos on your L Drive.
2.You will need to go into customize motions to edit the timing and framing of the shots. Each shot should be timed around 3.5-4 seconds in length. Try to keep your start and end positions quite close in size. If it goes from really small to really large, the slideshow will blip the photos or zoom them in and out too fast. You do not want to have your photos scrolling in and out of the frame, the less movement the better.
3. Do not use the music in Photostory (BAD CHOICE) choose from audio files on the m drive or download your own music by going to a You Tube to mp3 downloader.
4. Choose one transition and stick with it, a fade is probably best.
5. Do not use the Photostory Editor and do not over edit your photos.
6. Your working project file is a WP3 file and once you are satisfied with your slideshow you will combine the music and video by clicking next all the way to the end. Your final file name should have your name on it and be a WMV file. lisachasephotostory.wmv You do not need to type in wmv, it will do this automatically when you press next.
7. You will be saving the file to the M drive under your class folder. Make sure your name is on the video file, and it says wmv after your name.
You should be working on the following work this week.
Skatepark Shots:10 shots
Portraits: 10 shots of 2 different people
Skyshots: 5 shots
Dialogue: 16 lines: moving plot or developing character:10 marks
Headswap: exchanging heads and bodies:10 marks
Please put all work in albums on Flickr. Make sure you have met the criteria and have put your best work in albums. Continue to take photos for your final slideshow.
Final Collection of Best Work: This should include your best photos from the class. 10 of these photos can be from before this class, or old assignment photos from the class, but the other 20 need to be recently taken photos by you. Try to include a variety of different shots. I do not want to see 30 dog shots, or 30 flower shots. Try to include: macros, landscape, portrait, creative shots. Marks : 30
NEW ASSIGNMENT
Photo Poem: Plan to take a photo that has some space around it, (or use one you already have) focus on a subject that you think you can write a short poem on. The poem should be a least 4 lines long. Focus your poem on meaning not rhyme. I really do not like poems that have no meaning and meaningless rhyme. Your poem needs to be about something. Think about the concept of simplicity with regard to the poem and the photo. Make sure your text is large enough to read. Below are 3 poems I wrote from some of your photos to show you as an example. Thank you to the photographers! Please post in an album on Flickr call it Photo Poem. Before putting your poem onto the photo, have it edited by a parent, teacher or friend for spelling, grammar and meaning. (Marks 10)
FYI: Quality is expected when shooting and choosing photos for the final SLIDESHOW. Here is an example of "A" quality work. See LINK: Cheri Garcia Photos
New Assignment: Portraits: You are to take 10 photos of 2 different people. The photos should be taken from different angles and in different locations. You should not be too far away from your model. I do not want every photo to look the same. Please see samples shown on Flickr. This assignment is worth 20 marks and should be put into an album on Flickr.
Working with 2 models of your choice, you should plan to set up a portrait shoot. You will need 5 different shots of each model. Plan to shoot a variety of different shots even on different days, including but not limited to: a couple of head shots, a couple of full body shots, a fewcreative shots using props etc. Study other portrait photographer's work and learn how to effectively pose your model. To get 10 good shots you may need to take 30 or more shots.
Tips:
get ideas for your shoot
be aware of where the light is ( best times to shoot dawn and dusk: outdoors)
choose a good background
use a prop ( umbrella, hat, scarf, sport equipment, pumpkin etc)
shoot people in their element ( skateboarder with a skateboard at the skatepark)
create a rapport with your model and direct the shoot, which means tell the model what you want them to do.
So maybe you can research posing and plan your model and location. If you have done your shoot, you should spend some good quality time editing. If you are doing your portraits at school, find someone to photograph and get busy. There are lots of places to shoot around the school. ( skate park, woods, garage door near the soccer clubhouse, metal storage containers on the soccer fields. )
SHOW THIS VIDEO: Really good example of how to do a portrait shoot and how many photos you need to take to get 10 good photos. Also shows the importance of editing.Video 5 min on How to Pose Guys
Next class show students some sample portrait slideshows from the M:drive or my desktop.
TOP PRIORITY: All of the assignments below are due by the end of this week. Make sure your photos are edited and in albums on Flickr. Any of these assignments not completed by Friday will receive a zero. Check and double check to make sure you have met the criteria and put all photos in albums and you have the required number of photos for each assignment. All writing should get handed in to Mr Reilly.
Flickr set-up: 10 marks
Headshots: 5 photos of 5 different people: 10 marks
Composition: 5 shots : 10 marks
Red, Round, Rectangular etc. 5 shots: 10 marks
Writing #1 Bio: 10 marks
Writing #2 Setting:10 marks
Photoshop#1:Background change. Upload and put in an album on Flickr, 10 marks
Composition Test/RETEST: 10 marks
Bucket list: 10 marks
1. Continue working on Skatepark/Angle shots
2. Give/REVIEW lesson on dialogue from last day. Students should spend one hour on finishing up any writing work before heading out to take any photos.
3. Give/REVIEW lesson on Head swap in Photoshop. Students can also work on this.
4. NEW PHOTO ASSIGNMENT: Sky shots : 5 shots. This assignment cannot all be done in one day. Students are to take 5 sky shots, preferably on different days and/or times of the day. Try to find a focal point in the sky like clouds, sun, chem trails etc.
