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“A good
portrait shows more than merely what someone looks like. It
captures an expression, reveals a mood, or tells something about a
person. Props or an environmental setting are not essential,
but they can help show what a person does or what kind of person he
or she is.” —Barbara London
 
For your 1st
Photographic assignment I would like you to demonstrate your
understanding of the steps in taking a photograph by doing the
following:
- Select a subject for
every photograph you take. Your subject must be an animal or
person. Some possibilities are friends, parents, siblings,
strangers, people at work, people at play, pets, wild animals,
animals at a zoo, or a combination of the above. The entire
roll can be shot on one subject or a variety of subjects.
- Adjust the format of
the camera to suit your subject. To get out of the
horizontal mode of taking photographs, I would like you to shoot
approximately 10 verticals and 10 horizontals.
- Adjust your camera
angles to make photographs more dynamic. Include a
combination of bird’s eye views and bug’s eye views.
Whenever possible take the photograph at your subject’s eye level,
NOT your eye level
- Remember to watch
your backgrounds. Keep the photograph simple and the
background free of clutter or objects growing out of your
subject’s head.
-
Get as
close to your subject as you can while including elements of the
environment necessary to communicate the message of the
photograph. Remember that if you are
using a point-and-shoot
camera and you are closer than 4 feet to your
subject, your photographs will be out of focus and you will need
to reshoot the assignment.
- The most important
thing to remember is pick a subject that interests you. Have
fun. Shoot with someone else if you want, but don’t take the
exact same photograph as your friend.
 
Assignment given: Please refer to
Film due: Blackboard for
Contact prints due: all due dates
5 Prints due:
People Slide Show |
Pets Slide Show |
Life Slide Show |
Portrait Student Work
Here are examples of renowned photographers
who have contrasting styles of expressing an inner vision.
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Duane
Michals
was born in Mckeesport, Pennsylvania into a typical working-class
environment: his father was a steel worker and his mother a housekeeper. His interest
in art began at age 14, when he began taking Saturday-afternoon watercolor classes
at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh.
http://pdngallery.com/legends3/michals/
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After viewing the images of the
photographers above, choose one photo and describe:
- How they composed the picture
(through point of view, framing, space, light and focus)
- Their choice of subject matter and
- How that contributes to what
the picture expresses.
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