During our class this week we will be doing two things: Showing our photo books to one another (YAY!) and we will be enjoying viewing the amazing photos you will have entered for our photo competition. Depending on time I may ask you to share a bit about one of the photos you submitted (just like we normally do in class).
Here are the instructions for this week!
If you haven’t yet, FINISH your photo book. If you’ve waited until this week that’s ok but it won’t be printed and ready in time to share in class. That’s OK I still want you to finish it — in fact, sending the book to the printer is your ticket to class! I would rather you have a printed photo-journaling book then take the time to enter all three categories of our photo competition.
Your assignment for this class is to create an award-winning photo(s)! I would LOVE for these photo(s) to represent your best work of the entire school year and to become the photo that shows up in the yearbook to represent what you have learned.
You have learned about light, composition and how to capture action and emotion. You have taken pictures of nature, people and objects. You are prepared for this moment! 😀
Here is information you need to know about the photography competition:
There are three categories, you can enter one, two, or all three:
- People
- Nature
- Objects
There will be a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner for each category, awarded by a professional portrait and commercial photographer friend of mine. I will have no say in the judging process beyond giving her the judging criteria and telling her what you learned this year.
Obviously we will not all go home with a prize and a ribbon but I hope we will all go home with the satisfaction that we created our best work of the year. That we were intentional and put all of our lessons into practice to create our final photos.
Tips for success:
People photo tips: Your lighting is HUGE here. The lighting should add beauty, interest and flatter the subject. If you need a refresher re-watch the course on light. Composition is going to help you stand out so be intentional with your composition.
The focal point of this photo is a person but this person can be doing something (like action photography), be silhouetted, be a portrait, everyday life etc.
Ask yourself this: Who do I want to take a photo of? How do I want to pose them or have them move? Where could I take this photo for optimal light AND a complimentary or interesting background? Which composition technique will I use? <——- If you can answer all of those questions you are doing amazing.
Nature Photo Tips: This photo can be a landscape or focus on one aspect of nature. The idea is that the focal point is the natural world (lakes, mountains, flowers, leaves, wild animals such as birds, insects, NO pets and NO people)
I have a lesson on landscape photography that I highly recomend that you watch if you would like to do a landscape photo. Light and shadow play a big role in landscape photography so if you are taking a sweeping landscape photo on a cloudy boring sky day could be too boring of a lighting situation and I go over that in my slides.
Ask yourself this: What do I want to take a photo of? What time of day would give the most interesting light for that subject? If I am taking a landscape photo does my picture have layers? If I’m taking a picture of a wild animal or thing in nature which composition technique am I going to use? How can I ensure that my background is intentional?
Object Photo Tip: Once again, lighting and composition are going to help show off the object you choose to take a picture of. To get you thinking of WHAT to take a picture of here is a brainstormed list of ideas: light bulb/fire/matches, Food, door handle/doorways/doors, technology/headphones/phones, tools, school supplies, kitchen utensils/appliances, candy, jewlery, games, canned food, ice cubes, marbles, slinkies, bubbles, shells, books, legos, shoes, cars, architecture/buildings/city scapes …. what else can you come up with? (No nature, people or animals as the focal point) ** I recognize that you may take a picture of book in nature (for example), that’s ok! The focal point is an object, the nature is the complimentary background**
Ask yourself this: What do I want to take a photo of? What kind of lighting will show off this object the best (hint, odds are good that direct light is NOT it unless you are creatively playing with light and shadow), what objects, textures or background will compliment my object to help the photo have a sense of interest and harmony? What composition technique am I going to use?
Checklist:
So in order to come to class you must have:
- Sent your photo-journaling book to the printer.
- Taken 1-3 photos for the competition
- Text me the photos no later than Monday, March 31st at NOON! This is a hard rule, I will be sending the photos to the printer to deliver them to the judge to give her time to adjudicate.
- When you text me the photos let me know that you have submitted your book for printing OR if you will be bringing it to class to share.
FINAL THOUGHTS: You are more than welcome to text me your photos if you are having a hard time choosing which one to submit! Because I am not the judge I am happy to let you know which photo I personally think is your strongest if that is helpful. You can watch any of the slides on my website for further information or text me to ask questions about how you can improve lighting/composition/etc for feedback. I will be truthful and not just say “it’s great!” if I think there are ways you can improve.
Thanks for coming to class this year! It’s been a delight! It’s my favorite subject to teach and I only get to do it once every five years 😀 😀 I hope you have fun with this assignment.
