First Flight Photography I (Semester Class): February 2008

Monday, February 25, 2008

sub...

I'm sorry I must be out for a few days. While the sub is there, you should complete your landscape/seascape project by turning in 6 edited photos on a contact sheet and your best 5x7 JPEG. You also have quite a bit of reading to do in both the 35mm book (gray) and the digital one. Please complete all worksheets. Expect an open note quiz when I get back.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Landscape/Seascape

Our next photo shoot will be a landscape or seascape. It can be a beach scene, wooded area, or farmland. People or structures should be incidental--not the primary focus. You are going for beauty with this shot--think "calendar picture". It should not be a close-up. You must show the horizon in the distance. Take at least 35-40 photos (the equivalent of a roll of film). Twelve photos on a contact sheet will be due on Monday, February 25th.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Spirit Week Project

Tuesday you should download your Spirit Week photos! Hopefully, you took at least 35-40 pictures (the equivalent to a roll of film). First, make a contact sheet of 12 spirit week photos straight out of the camera, and turn in to the shared folder on the 'n' drive. Next, you will crop, correct for brightness/contrast, check your levels on your histogram, and edit all photos. Experiment with the 'red eye' tool if necessary. Straighten photos using the measure tool if necessary. Use your map of the tools and try to create ten really good newspaper-worthy photos. For this project, we will be practicing to be Photojournalists! You will paste your ten best photos to a word document and write appropriate 2-3 line captions to accompany each. You will be graded on the project as a whole---the photos, the editing, and the captions. This project will be due Wednesday.

If you did not take Spirit Week photos (or did not take enough photos--minimum of 12), your assignment is as follows:

Since Spirit Week has passed, this is not an assignment you can turn in late. I feel that an alternative assignment should require an equal amount of effort as displayed by those who actually took their cameras out all week and got their photos, and the editing and caption-writing they are to do this week. That's only fair to the ones who put forth the effort to do the assignment.

Therefore, as an alternative to the Spirit Week project, you may hand-write a five page paper expressing to me how you might become a better Photographer, and a better Student of Photography. You may analyze specific study skills which would enhance your performance in class. You may talk about specific strategies you might adopt. You might also explore the different types of photography which appeal to you and how you can become a better photographer by using tips listed on the many Internet Photography Websites. You may specify the actual tips for each type of photography. A list of works cited should be attached to the five-page report. This should be hand-printed on notebook paper. Do not skip lines. Make your paper heartfelt and to the point for a passing grade.

Since projects make up 60% of your grade in this class, I suggest you take the next one seriously and put forth the effort necessary to get it done. However, I am willing to offer you this alternative so that you might pass this course!

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Substitute Friday

Hi class. I guess by now you realize that you will have a substitute teacher for the short 2nd period on Friday. I have left an important worksheet for you to begin the next unit on 'cameras'. Please behave like the mature students I know you can be for the sub.

Be ready on Tuesday with your Spirit Week photos---an absolute minimum of 12. I am a little concerned that I haven't seen some of you taking pictures this week. You have through the weekend to get photos of any school-related activities. If you don't have Spirit Week photos, you will be writing a paper as an alternative.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

SPIRIT WEEK PHOTO SHOOT

As we discussed last week, you should be taking pictures at school of all the Spirit Week festivities. We will put together a "Day in the Life" project with photos and captions as if for a newspaper or yearbook. You will make a contact sheet of 12 on Monday, February 18th.

TESTS

YOU WILL HAVE A TEST ON YOUR PHOTOSHOP SKILLS TODAY (WEDNESDAY). YOUR TEST ON THE HISTORY OF PHOTOGRAPHY WILL BE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH. WE WILL DO A REVIEW TODAY, BUT YOU SHOULD STUDY ALL WORKSHEETS AND NOTES ON THE FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS WE HAVE PRESENTED.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Architecture Project

Today you learned how to make a contact sheet for your first deadline grade! Unfortunately, some of you did not have your architecture photos, and now have your first zero! Please make sure you're taking your spirit week photos for next weeks deadline on Monday! If you missed the deadline, you still have to take your architecture photos and make your contact sheet of 12. This week we will be editing these photos and turning in your best 5x7 JPEG. You will also make a contact sheet of six photos that you edited before deciding on your best shot. All of this is due THURSDAY (12 on contact sheet, 6 edited on contact sheet, 1 best). Even if you got a zero for deadline, you can still make 100 on your project, so use your best efforts!

P.S. I HAVE JUST BEEN NOTIFIED THAT WE WILL BE HAVING A PEP RALLY DURING 2ND PERIOD ON FRIDAY, SO THERE WILL BE NO CLASS. THEREFORE, I WILL GIVE YOU TIME TODAY (WEDNESDAY) TO COMPLETE AND TURN IN YOUR ARCHITECTURE PROJECT. YOUR PROJECT WILL BE LATE AFTER THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14TH.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Quiz

Be expecting an open-note history quiz very soon!! Test will most likely be February 14th, with a review just before.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Presentations/Quiz

The few remaining students who have not presented their research projects to the class MUST be ready to go tomorrow! Thursday, February 7th, will be the last day to present. We will continue reading about the history of photography and will see some films. You should have quite a few notes on the subject by now. You will be getting an open-note quiz shortly. Be prepared!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Architectural Photo Shoot

Your first picture-taking assignment will be due on Monday, February 11th. You should take 35-40 photos (the equivalent of one roll of film) of architecture. Any man-made, permanent structure qualifies. It can be the whole structure, or architectural detail. We'll go over this a bit more later in the week. For now, you can check out the architectural tutorial at photo.net.
http://photo.net/learn/architectural/exterior

Photographer Research Project

Presentations start today! Please make sure you have your 12-slide PowerPoint finished! Leave it in your own folder on the 'N' drive until time to present! Make sure you take notes as others present. You will be responsible for knowing each of the photographers for the first test.