Prompt Shoot, Post-Shoot Reflection and Sensory Overload. Assigned 9/18, due 9/23 - MAJOR, Minor, Minor

FIRST - post your "Prompt Shoot #1":

Please post your FIVE prompt shoot images on a new subpage on your Google Site called Prompt Shoot #1. One for each prompt. Please make sure to LABEL the images so viewers (ME) know which prompt they are looking at. While you are are posting the images, make sure to type a couple of sentences explaining what rule of composition evident in the image and explain the rule to me in your own words.

If you need to go take photos, please make sure to ask me ASAP.

SECOND - "Post Shoot Reflection":

At the bottom of your Prompt Shoot #1 subpage, make a new text box and answer the following questions:

1. What challenges did you encounter while trying to get the photos of your first 5 prompt?

2. What technical aspects of photography or the assignment in general (focus, framing, holding the camera, etc.) did you find yourself thinking about the most? Provide a specific example of what you did to do this correctly.

3. Are you interested in shooting those same prompts again, why?

4. List FIVE prompts that you think would be fun to go take photos of.

THIRD - "Sensory Overload"

Check out this link:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/01/world/cnnphotos-commodity-city/index.html

After you read the story please answer the following questions on a NEW subpage on your Google Site called Sensory Overload.

1. The last sentence of the story says

"I believe that more and more, we are defining our environments not as the spaces themselves, in terms of the buildings or architecture, but rather by the objects and devices that we buy and surround ourselves with. ... I would like that message to carry through universally," Seymour said.

Please write at least 2-3 sentences on what you think about this statement, you should explain why you agree or disagree.

As an aspiring photographer how does this make you feel about your photography?

2. When you looked through the images, did you want to visit this place and take your camera?

3. What do you think it would be like to be the child of someone who worked at this place?

4. Please take a screen shot of your favorite image and tell me why it is your favorite.

To take a screen shot - hold down the SHIFT, COMMAND and the #4 key. This will then give you a new cursor that looks like a little target - you can then click and drag across any image to take a screen shot. That screen shot goes into your download folder and should be moved to your desktop folder, and then into your Google Drive to place on your Google Site page.

Prompt Shoot #1. Assigned 9/16, due 9/18 - MAJOR

Today you will go out to shoot your first "Prompt Shoot"

Here is how the prompt shoots work - you will each have your own camera and about 40 minutes to go out and shoot images. You will get quick instructions with the camera again, and then when you return, you need to make time to move all of the photos off of the SD card and into a folder on your desktop called Prompt Shoot #1. I think you should have time to move SELECT images from your desktop to your Google Drive before class is over. You will NOT need to finish this assignment until next class. Next class you will make a new Google Site subpage and post your images with a reflection portion.

In the prompt shoot, I will give you a few key words that should guide your shooting that day. You can interpret the words any way you want, but you should make it clear which photo goes with which word when you turn them in.

For example, I might give you an emotion like Angry - you might shoot something that makes you angry, you might find a color that you associate with angry (like red or purple) and shoot that, or you might find someone who is actually angry and shoot them as they talk. You can ask your classmates to work with you, but be careful the photos aren't too "posed" or made up.

A couple of words of advice from me - be careful shooting through glass - those usually don't turn out too well. Also, be careful with big, huge wide shoots with lots of stuff going on, it is hard to pick details out and to show off some of these prompts. And finally, make sure you are watching your backgrounds for people - I know at school its hard, but be looking so it is very clear who your subject is.

You will, generally, be graded on the following:

Focus - is the picture in focus? If not, you will lose points

Subject - is the subject clear? Are there distracting elements in your photo?

Interest - how interesting is the subject

Uniqueness - is it something new, something I haven't seen before, were you creative?

Most people get a 90+ on this assignment unless they don't turn in the required amount of photos, or they really mess up the focus and subject portion. The rest are minor deductions. Remember getting a 95+ means you are doing something very right AND there are very few people who get all four perfect, so don't expect a 100.

Today, I also expect to see evidence of composition rules. In fact when you reflect on these next class, I will ask you to share what composition rules you were trying to achieve with the images you turn in. You will write a couple of sentences on this subject, so make sure you fully understand the six compositional rules. In your five images, I expect to see AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT composition rules.

Compositional rules that you can use are: 

Simplicity, Rule of Thirds, Lines, Framing and Balance

Of course, you should be trying to AVOID MERGERS as much as possible. Be aware of the foreground and background for all images you take.

Here are your prompts today:

Sign

Current

Lost

Transportation

BONUS PROMPT: Change 

For the bonus, I will be picking three people's images from this bonus photo to share with the class and the best three will get a prize for their efforts!

Composition 9/11 PART 2. Assigned 11/14, due 11/16 - Minor

Now, let's talk more about composition. I will be going through the Composition Rules and giving you my interpretation of them. Once I am done, you will move on to the assignment below.

Please complete this assignment:

Analyze and reflect on your 9/11 composition selections.

Now that you have found good examples of the different composition techniques in 9/11 photos, go back and edit your Google Site and write about the photos you picked out.

Explain your choices. Help me understand how the photo you picked meets the rule you think it shows.

What to discuss - Be specific - Describe specific elements in the photo. Explain what the technique is all about. Explain the EFFECT of the technique.

If you can't remember all the rules, here is the website again:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/192HfRA92dE7FSuc3UNKx8eswGOvWk4loZv2jcsrTE8M/edit?usp=sharing

Example:

Below you will see examples of a well written description and one that isn't so great:

Lines

Example 1 (a good one) - In this photo, the red stripes of the flag and the grey ladder all form lines that lead the eye to the man playing the bagpipe. Since these lines are diagonal, they give the photo a dynamic feel.

The above example is the correct amount of writing and analysis.

Example 2 (a not so good one) - The flag makes leading lines to the guy.

The above example is too short and doesn't really show me that you understand the rules.

Do this for all six of the photos in your post. Make sure you clearly explain who or what the subject of your selected photo is, and how the rule of composition works with the subject. Remember, the goal of all of this is to prove to me that you understand the composition rules which are focused on making the photo more appealing to the viewer so they can better "see" the subject.

If you think you didn't pick a very good photo, feel free to go back and redo the assignment. Eventually you will be asked to prove your knowledge by taking photos that show me you understand these rules.

Composition 9/11 AND Extra Credit. Assigned 9/11, due 9/14 - MAJOR

  Overview Like great pieces of art, great photojournalism shots are well composed. The photographer carefully places the elements of a photo within a frame in order to tell a story in the most visually powerful way possible.

Unlike art, the content of photojournalism is not, for the most part, controlled by the photographer.
This was never more true than during the attacks of September 11, 2001. This has been called one of the most photographed events in history. Most of you weren't even born when this event happened, but it is still a very important moment in the collective memory of most Americans.

Imagine being a photojournalist on that day, running into this disaster while most people are running away. In the midst of this misery and chaos, it's a photojournalists job to capture the the human side of the story in an orderly and effective way.

Assignment

You will learn about some composition techniques and find examples of how photojournalists applied them to the chaos of 9/11.

First - Everyone must read about the the rules of "Simplicity, The Rule of Thirds, Lines, Balance, Framing, and Avoiding Mergers" on the following web site:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/192HfRA92dE7FSuc3UNKx8eswGOvWk4loZv2jcsrTE8M/edit?usp=sharing

Next- Go to the four websites below, and find excellent examples of photos shot on 9/11 that follow each of the rules. When you find one that you think fits the Composition rule, save it into your AISD Google Drive. I would suggest you make a new folder called Composition 9/11 inside the folder you made for my class.

On your Google Site, create a new subpage called Composition 9/11 and share one example of each of the six techniques from the composition web site, that you saved into your Google Drive

Make sure to title each photo with a text box that tells me the name of the technique.

For example- Post a photo with "Framing" as the title. You will need to do a post for each of the composition techniques. Which means you should have SIX photos on your page today, labelled correctly.
Here are the websites - they should be clickable links, if not copy and paste then into a new browser window.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/911-attacks-photos-aftermath/13/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/09/pictures/110908-about-911-september-9-11-twin-world-trade-center-towers-indelible/

https://time.com/3449480/911-the-photographs-that-moved-them-most/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2013/09/11/iconic-911-photos.html

(for the Daily Beast website above, there are 25 pictures make sure you find the clickable link labelled NEXT and look at all 25 photos.)

It may be hard to get these images to right-click and save to your folder on the server. If you want, you are welcome to do a google search for specific images and save those images. The important thing is that you are picking photos that show me you understand the six composition rules and getting them onto your Google Site. 

When you have found 6 photos; ONE for each of the composition "rules" we looked at today, make sure you have them labeled and then push Publish. Don't forget you have to push that button TWICE.

When your done - you might be interested to read this story - if you post your reactions (meaning you create a new Google Site subpage called Falling Man extra credit and you write at least TWO paragraphs (250 words minimum and I will be checking this one, if you need a word count, write your paragraphs in a google doc and then copy and paste it onto your Google Site subpage), responding to what you read and saw, I will give you extra credit points. This is graphic and not the easiest thing to read, so if you are squeamish, you might want to skip this one. Once you click the link, hit continue and it should redirect you to the website.

https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/the-falling-man-story-behind-the-most-powerful-image-of-911/news-story/33c7bd71bf1de7f158c02e372c3244c1

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mggbey/long-fall-the-most-famous-9-11-photo-is-still-suspended

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1596786/posts

Famous Black and White Photographers. Assigned 9/9, due 9/11 - Minor

 PART I

To learn what it takes to make Great images, it's important to look backwards at some of the most famous photographers and their work to get ideas and examples of what great photos look like.

The first photographers worked mainly in the Black & White medium. Each spent thousands of hours  in the darkroom perfecting their prints which were as important to the final power of their prints as was their hard work and artistic eye when they originally shot them.

Although we won't be going into a traditional wet darkroom this year, we will be using another type of darkroom, Photoshop, to change and manipulate our photos. In the near future we will begin using Photoshop but first lets look at some of those famous photographers and their work.

First - Preview some of the masters

Go to:

http://www.masters-of-photography.com/

Click through all of the master photographers linked at that site. Look at their photos. You should be able to click each individual photographer's name, or if you like you can scroll down and see some sample photos. You will also be able to click on those photos to see more. Take a look at a minimum of 12-15 different people to find your favorites. DO NOT PICK THE FIRST 3 YOU LOOK AT. Spend some time with these photographers.

Next - Choose three you like - make note of their names.
Choose well because you will be assigned one of these photographers for a more extensive assignment. At least two of the three must have done documentary work (candid photos of people). Also please make sure that at least 2 of the 3 you pick have black and white images. I do not want to see a bunch of color photos.

On your Google Site - Create a new subpage and call it Famous B/W Photographers. Create a new text box and put in the names of the three photographers you like and insert your favorite photo from each near their names. You may have to do a google image search to find the photo you want, as not every photo on the "masters-of-photography" website are linkable. Make sure you SAVE the photos you pick out to either your Google Drive or on your desktop somewhere. Make sure you can find it.

PART II

Now it's time to get to know your favorite in detail. Select ONE of your three favorites from Part 1. Head to the Internet and use your favorite search engine to get more information about that person, please verify your facts by finding TWO sources to make sure it's accurate.

Add a new text box on that subpage and share a biography of that person. Important information that should be included: name, birth (and maybe death) dates, origin of birth, education, jobs, books published, etc.

DO NOT COPY AND PASTE this information, retype it in your words.

Yes, its just a bio, but don't plagiarize. 

Now find another 3-5 images from that photographer that you like. Save those images onto your Google Drive OR your desktop and insert them onto your Google Site page.

At the end of this assignment you should have a single Google Site subpage called Famous BW Photographers that has the following information:

3 photos and the names of your top-3 favorite B/W photographers from the masters of photography link.

1 biography of your absolute favorite B/W photographer.

3-5 images from that photographer.

This is the first part of a project that you will complete later.

Posting your 1st photos AND The Camera. Assigned 9/2, due 9/4 - MAJOR/Minor

The first day of school, you got to go take some photos. Now is the time to access those photos and share them with me. If you were not in my class the first day, you will be excused from this assignment!

Now it's time to turn those photos in. Here are the instructions on how to do that:

1. On your Desktop please make a new folder called Digital Media. To do this, all you need to do is RIGHT click on the desktop and select MAKE NEW FOLDER. You should be able to name it immediately. If not, RIGHT click on the folder and select RENAME. I will make sure to help you with this step if you need it.

2. Click on the appropriate link below to access your photos. 

3rd period

4th period

3. Find your name. Click on your name. At the top, find the download button. Click the download button.

It will create a ZIP file and it will put that ZIP file into your download folder. Find your download folder and MOVE that ZIP file to your Folder on the Desktop. Once you have the ZIP file into your personal folder, you can double click the ZIP file and it will open all your photos.

Now open the photo folder and look at your photos. You can use the Gallery Mode to see them bigger. I will show you how to do that.

4. Move your favorites to your AISD Google Drive. You might make a folder in your Google Drive and call it Digital Design - Reeves.

5. Once you have selected your favorite images, make a new subpage on your Google Site, title it First Photos. Insert at least THREE IMAGES and not more than FIVE IMAGES onto that new subpage. Make sure at least ONE is of a person.

6. Once you have the images uploaded from your Drive - insert a text box and write a paragraph explaining to me your photography experiences. Have you used a camera like that before? How did you like using that kind of camera. Have you used any other kind of camera besides your phone? Where and When?

Make sure to hit PUBLISH (you have to do this twice!!) so I can see your work. 

I WILL BE SHOWING YOU HOW TO DO THESE THINGS ON THE SCREEN!!

When you are finished sharing your best photos, please begin the following assignment:

 The Camera - 

Overview: To take good photos, it is necessary to understand the parts of a camera and how they work to take photos. To learn more about cameras click on the following link and then answer the questions that go with that link.

Assignment: Click on the link and answer questions in a new subpage titled The Camera on your Google Site. Make sure you do the following:

Under the words Publish on the top right side, create a new page by clicking the THREE DOTS next to the HOME page and select Make Subpage. Name it "The Camera". If you use the + sign, you will then need to make it a subpage of your home page, by clicking and holding on the page titled the camera, and dragging it into your home page. When you have done this, make sure to go up and hit the publish button. You will have to hit Publish twice. The first time will open the Publish page and show you the changes you made, the second actually publishes it so I can see it. Although Google sites has an auto save function, I cannot see your work until you hit Publish. You should get in the habit of doing this when you make a new page at the beginning of every class period, AND most importantly at the end of every class period before you log off. 

On that new subpage, called The Camera you will answer the following questions. Please read the questions and then click the link to appropriate website for those questions. There are multiple places I an sending you today to learn more about the camera, the history of photography and what all the buttons and screens on the back of the camera mean. We will go into greater depth on all those functions later, but these are the important ones for now.

First, lets take a look at the History of the camera:

https://photographylife.com/what-is-photography

1. Who is credited with taking the first "permanent" photograph?
2. What specific materials did Louis Daguerre use to create the first "commercial photographic material"?
3. What type of images is Ansel Adams famous for?
4. What are the three fundamental settings you need to understand to be an excellent photographer?

Now let's shift to Metering briefly:

https://photographylife.com/understanding-metering-modes

5. What are the three types of metering modes?
6. When does the article suggest you use "Center-weight" metering?
7. What is one very specific subject does the article suggest would be great for "Spot" metering?

Next, Camera Modes:

https://photographylife.com/understanding-digital-camera-modes

8. What are the four Camera Modes?
9. What is the difference between the Aperture and Shutter priority modes?

Take a peek at Focus next:

https://photographylife.com/understanding-focus-in-photography

10. What is the difference between Manual and AutoFocus?
11. Which do you think is best for most circumstances (make sure to answer why you think this)?

How about using a Flash:

https://photographylife.com/when-to-use-flash

12. When should you use a flash indoors?
13. When should you use a flash outdoors?

Let's take a short look at Video:

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-shoot-better-hd-dslr-video/

14. Why is using a tripod a good decision?
15. Should you use auto focus when shooing video (why or why not)?
16. What are the percentages according to the article when deciding to shoot wide, medium and close up (or even extreme close up)?

Finally, lets finish off this assignment with a look at the Histogram:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/how-read-your-cameras-histogram

17. What is a histogram?
18. What will a "low key" histogram look like?
19. What will a "high key" histogram look like?
20. What is clipping?

Now click Publish in the upper right corner. Remember you have to hit the Publish button TWICE. Google Sites will show you a preview of the changes. ALWAYS HIT PUBLISH TWICE or I cannot see it.

When you finish these 20 questions and have published, you are most likely done. I will let you know if you need to do anything else. Some of you may still have some minor issues with your Google Site. Others might still need to finish the "This is Me!" slide. This is your time to finish those two assignments.

NOTE: I will be grading this weekend, so make sure you are caught up. Everyone should have a 100 when we check grades next week

About Me Slide - assigned 8/31, due 9/2 - Minor

Google Sites

If you do not have access to Google Sites go try again right now!!, 

If you do not get access, go do your About Me Slide as instructed below.

If you get access - spend 45 minutes working on your site, follow the directions on the assignment below called Making a Google Site.

If you already had access to Google Sites last class, finish your site and email me the URL, and then work on the About Me Slide below.

The About Me Slide will be due next class regardless if you have access to your Google Site or not!!

ABOUT ME!!

Create a Google slide to introduce yourself to me. I will combine slides and share on my website (and BLEND) so I can find out more about you.

Open Google Drive via the AISD portal, then create a new blank presentation.




Change the layout as necessary. (Slide>Apply Layout)
Include the first name you go by and last name initial in big letters as the slide title;
Fill the entire slide either including words and pictures to tell us about you on the slide.
Include 5- 10 facts or short phrases describing you and things that you enjoy.
Add a school appropriate photo of you (a selfie is fine) unless you make a video. (Go to Insert>Image. Take one with your phone or Chromebook, if you don't have one)
Include least 3 other images showing your likes, aspects of you you wish to share with with the class. Examples: extracurriculars, hobbies, friends, family, future plans, favorites. 

Spread your information out to fill the slide;

Format the slide so it feels like you.
Words should be easy to read and all pictures easy to see clearly.

Next, take a screenshot and save it in your desktop folder. Here is how you take a screenshot, learn it, because you will be doing it a lot this year!!

To do a screenshot - Hold down the SHIFT, COMMAND and NUMBER 4 key at the same time. This will turn your cursor into a little bullseye. You can then let go of the three keys and use your mouse to click and drag a box over what you want to take a picture of. When you finish drawing that box it will take that photo and put it either on your desktop OR in your download folder. Make sure you move it from either of those places into YOUR FOLDER on the desktop. You can then move the item to your DRIVE and from there you can put it on your Google Site.

Move it to your Google Drive.

Make a new subpage on your Google Site called About Me!

Insert the image on the subpage.

Next, go back to your Google Slide and click the SHARE button. There will be a pop-up box. In that pop-up box, look at the bottom and find the Get Link area. Find the blue words that say CHANGE. Click that word. There will be another box that opens. In the box, find the words Austin Independent School District. There is a drop down box there as indicated by the little downward facing triangle. Click that triangle and select ANYONE WITH THE LINK. It will process for a moment.

Make a copy of the link.

Go back to your Google Site, use the EMBED function in the Insert area.

Make your link a CLICKABLE link on your Google Site, under the photo.

Hit PUBLISH X2!!!

You are done for the day!!