Last Blog Entry for Fall 2013

Grades have been submitted and all portfolios are ready to be picked up. Portfolios left over break will be stored until the second week of the spring term then tossed. Please pick your work up in a timely manner.

I had a great semester with you all, keep up the good work and keep pushing that shutter button. Remember what I told you on the first class, you can't get better at this by sitting on your ass, drinking coffee and bullshitting about making photographs, you need to actually get out there and make them!

photographing in New Orleans

End of Semester December Countdown

Here is the end of term dates you need to keep in mind:

December 3-self portrait assignment #9 critique

December 5-work day with Stan-LAST DAY TO SUBMIT ASSIGNMENTS FOR GRADES

December 10-leave final portfolios on or before this date

December 19-portfolios returned

You will need to submit a minimum of 15 prints of which 5 need to be matted or mounted. The 15 may be thematic or greatest hits from the work you did this fall. The work must be in a reusable container.

Assignment #9 Self Portrait

Assignment #9 Self Portrait

Robert Cornelius, self portrait 1839

Hippolyte Bayard, Self Portrait as Drowned Man

1840

Assignment due for crit December 3!

Studio Lighting demo and class portrait

Assignment #7 Studio Portrait

Assignment #7 Studio Portrait

The studio is the ultimate additive photographic experience. It is a clean slate you build visually from the ground up. In this assignment you will select a subject, human, no younger than 14 years old and if under 18, with written permission of the parent or guardian as your subject.

Using a range of lighting styles, flood, spot light or soft box, photograph the subject to speak to issues discussed in the class lecture. Review work of Avedon, Karsh, Scavullo and Leibovitz to name a few.

Shoot 50-100 images, process files and bring best images to class for crit on November 14th.

Richard Avedon 1981

Assignment #8 Night Photography

Assignment #8 Night Photography

The world is a very different place at night, light, which normally falls from the sky to the earth, now radiates up. Pleases once illuminated are now in deep, deep shadow. The color of light is also an issue, mixed light sources record in a range of color.

What are our tools in night photography?

ISO experimentation, with excessive noise in mind, try a range of ISO's on your camera depending on conditions.

Tripod. While not always necessary (see further on for how to cheat on this), a tripod will give you the greatest flexibility to get the angles you need while keeping your camera steady for those long exposures. The department has some for limited check out.

Wide-angle lenses. This is a personal preference, but I love the way they work in night photography. If these are out of your price range – don’t worry! Try it out with whatever you’ve got as the only thing that will limit you is your imagination.

A lens hood. To minimize lens flares from light entering at angles outside of your frame.

A flashlight. Sometimes you’ll want to draw attention to or simply lighten up an important part of the foreground which is too dark.

Tools lie all around us in everyday objects to help us make our work better in this; I’ve used bicycle lamps, lampposts and newspaper boxes to get it done.

The same composition rules that apply to day apply to night, except with night we have our long exposures to take advantage of and more negative space to consider.

Stan Strembicki, Florence, Italy 2005

Assignment #6 Narrative

Gregory Crewdson

Assignment due November 7.