Art with Ms. Djordjevic
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  • Home
  • Contact
  • Classes
    • Photo I
    • Photo II
    • Creative Photo
    • Photo Portfolio
    • Advanced Photo
  • Resources

Photo I

This class explores the basics of traditional black and white photographic printing as well as digital photographic processes using Adobe Photoshop. We will examine both the aesthetic and technical aspects of the photographic process through several method based assignments. The uses of metering, lighting, composition, and technical aspects of the camera will be reviewed during class to give students a basic understanding of the art of photography.

Photo i Course expectations

Recreate A Famous Painting

1/14/2021

 
Picture
Nathan Siket :: class of 2016
For this project you are going to choose one famous painting and recreate it using any interpretation you think would be appropriate. You must approve your choice with me before you begin. You will pass in the recreation along side the original image (as seen in the gallery below). 


Things to think about:
  • Choose 1 FAMOUS painting that you are interested in. Think about what is possible for you to do. If you choose a painting of a ship at sea, how will you recreate a sea? You’re going to have to do a lot of preparation for the photograph.
  • Think about every little detail. Socked feet are ugly. A pile of clothes in your room is ugly. Get rid of unnecessary objects BEFORE you take the picture.
  • Brainstorm with your friends. You will have to set up your space or spaces. Involve your friends/family as models or assistants in the shoot. You most likely won’t be able to accomplish this on your own.
  • Remember, natural light or controlled studio light is best.
  • You will need to know the artist and the name of the painting

Resources: Recreate A Famous Painting Pinterest board

Light & Shadow

1/4/2021

 
Via Wikipedia: The word "photography" was created from the Greek roots (phōtos) "light"and (graphé)"drawing"; together meaning "drawing with light". The root of photo means "light" while graphos means "drawing".
PictureAndré Kertesz "The Fork"
Light is the very basis of photography; everything we do with photography is related to light and how it is captured. Good light, interesting light, needs to be discovered. In this project you are going to explore the differences between light and shadow or reflections. I want you to focus on strong contrasted light and the resulting deep shadows that are produced. Use the natural effects of light and shadow to either enhance or remove the actual object that is creating the shadow to bring us out of context. These images should be interesting in composition and even slightly abstract in their final printed version. Because we must have a sunny day to create the contrasted light for light and shadow you may also focus on reflections if the day is overcast. Think about interesting reflections—like the way the light reflects in the window, or your reflection in a spoon or shiny metal object. You can not use a mirror in a traditional manner. 

Assignment:
You must photograph 50 frames that focus on light, shadow ,and reflections. Think about how to make your compositions interesting using only strong light or reflected imagery. You can photograph people, objects, or even just the design that is created by shadows. Take multiple images of different designs of light, shadow, or reflection. Use your imagination and think about how the final image will look. 

Steps:
  • Think about making an ordinary scene look different with the way you photograph it.
  • When you want the shadow to be dark you should meter for the light part of the image. When you want the light part to blow out you should meter for the dark (or shadow) part of the image. 
  • When photographing reflections be sure that you can see what you want in the frame of the camera.

Resources: Light & Shadow Pinterest board and Reflection Pinterest Board

Symmetry & Asymmetry

12/7/2020

 
Picture
One of the most common compositional elements that all artists use is symmetry and asymmetry. Symmetry is when all of the compositional elements are equally pleasing on either side of the frame, and asymmetry is the lack of symmetrical elements or when the framing tends to favor one side over the other. The other piece to think about with symmetry/asymmetry is the use of negative space and balance—allowing the negative space to actually become a compositional element to balance out your photograph. 
Assignment:

You must photograph 50 digital frames focusing on symmetrical and asymmetrical elements. You can photograph architecture, people, still life, or anything you see that is either balanced or not. Think about shapes and arranging objects in a pleasing manner if you cannot locate naturally occurring symmetry.

Steps:
  • Our living spaces are filled with symmetry and asymmetry, take a look around the room
  • Think about using the rule of thirds and allowing negative space to be an important element in your composition
  • Take both symmetrical and asymmetrical images in your images, I'd like to see both. 

*Check out the Pinterest symmetry/asymmetry board for more inspiration 

The Still-Life

12/1/2020

 
Picture
Irving Penn
The still life has been around for centuries, used by artists in order to practice painting techniques. In photography however, we can manipulate many factors in a still life to create a pleasing composition using the elements and principles. Using lighting in the studio, we are going to make interesting compositions of very simple objects. The idea of this project is to get you used to artificial lighting and learn how to compose an interesting image. 

Resource: Still life pinterest board, 5 lighting tips for beginners, 50 still life images

Assignment:
Your assignment is to photograph 50 frames of a still life. You will pass in 3 high quality images to google classroom from the shoot and print your most successful still life. You will manipulate lighting. You will also learn about ISO and shooting with a tripod. One final 8x10 print must be mounted on the front of black paper. 



Steps:
  • Analyze your still life
  • Manipulate the artificial lighting
  • Set up a tripod for your camera
  • Shoot a 50 digital frames (*Make sure your ISO is set at 400 for half the images, then play with ISO 800 and ISO 1600)
  • You must have multiple angles and views of the still life and focus on one area, not the whole mess of a still-life
  • You will cull down to your best 10 images and edit ALL 10 and make a contact sheet
  • Then choose your best 3 images with Ms. Djordjevic

PASS IN:
  • contact sheet of 10 edited images
  • 3 top still life images as single files
  • PRINT your best image

Objective: Use the camera to capture still life, both in studio and outside of the studio. Use lighting to enhance the image and shallow depth of field to focus on specific pieces of a composition.

​Resources: Still Life pinterest board 

Patterns & Texture In Nature

9/30/2020

 
Picture
This project will be your second project for the semester and hopefully you are feeling a bit more comfortable being very intentional with your shooting with the cellphone (I know it's different) and more comfortable with your editing in photoshop. Your assignment is to find the beauty in nature through the use of pattern and texture. Pattern is identified as a repetition of a certain element or elements. Texture refers to the properties held by an external surface. Although we cannot actually feel the texture in a photograph, implied texture will give the viewer the feeling that he or she can actually reach in and touch the image.

Assignment:
  • Shoot 50 photos of texture and pattern—25 textures and 25 patterns
  • find both repeating patterns and textural elements outside the school
  • edit your 10 best images on photoshop
  • create a contact sheet of your 50 unedited photos


Tips to Get Started:
You should decide how you are going to frame your subject. Use the rule of thirds. Consider your outdoor lighting. Is it sunny or cloudy? How can we zoom a little closer to take a better photograph. Fill the frame with your pattern or texture. Watch your backgrounds (no cars or random people).

Resources:
  • Pinterest board for Patterns & textures
  • ​http://char.txa.cornell.edu/language/element/pattern/pattern.htm

Composition :: The Rule of Thirds and the Golden Ratio

9/17/2020

 
Picture
There are several ways to create interesting images, even if you are using a point and shoot camera or your phone. Most of what makes an image wonderful, impactful, and interesting has nothing to do with the tool (the camera or the lens) but everything to do with the artist who is taking the image and how they composed the image. Here are a few quick compositional tools to help create stronger compositions in your photographs. Starting with the rule of thirds and the golden ratio we can explore these fundamental compositional elements. 
In photography, there are several ideas behind the creation of a strong composition. The first of these is called the rule of thirds, which refers to breaking your frame into three parts either horizontally or vertically and weighting the composition along one side or the other and not fully centering every image. The second is called the golden ratio or golden spiral, putting more focus in the corners of the image and spiraling outward. Both are extremely successful but should be considered while photographing and not after the fact.
Another major compositional technique is called leading lines—this refers to perspective or actual lines in the image leading to the part of the image you want your viewer to notice. It is essentially highlighting the important subject of your photograph. Last is framing--use natural framing (windows, doors, etc.) or make sure to compose your image how you want it to look while taking the photo and not later in post-production. Cropping is an option but it is always better to frame the image with intent.
 Assignment:
Shoot between 25-50 images showing off the rule of thirds and a second compositional element from the above video (there are 8 more). You should be shooting brand new photos using your phone (hint: try keeping them in separate project folders on your phone to make life easier later on). You will be editing and passing in your best 10 photographs.

Steps:
  • Go outside, starting your shoot with outdoor lighting is very helpful
  • Consider the compositional challenge each time you take a photo "does this show the rule of thirds?" "Does this show the composition in an interesting way?"
  • Sometimes photographing nature and natural elements is easier than people to start
  • Once you're done shooting for the day, be sure to save photos in a new folder so we can find them later for download. You may shoot over several days and saving them in one place is very helpful

How to take better photos with your iPhone

Here are some quick tips to maximize your photo taking success.
1. First things first...don't zoom! This adds a lot of digital noise to your image and instantly decreases quality. If you need to get closer I would crop something out in post-production rather than zoom in during the photo taking process. But better yet, physically get closer to your subject.
2. Don't use flash, if you need more light use a friend's phone to add "off-camera" lighting.
3. Try using the grid option on your camera to help compose your images (hello rule of thirds!).
4. Change your exposure. While taking a photo, click on the screen to focus and expose for your subject, when the box with the sun pops up slide your finger up or down to brighten or darken your image.

Below is a quick video with 5 tips for making better iPhone photos. 

Pinhole Photography

3/12/2020

 
Picture
A pinhole camera, also known as camera obscura, or "dark chamber", is a simple optical imaging device in the shape of a closed box or chamber. In one of its sides is a small hole which, via the rectilinear (straight lines) propagation of light, creates an image of the outside space on the opposite side of the box. Aristotle wrote about a rudimentary concept of the pinhole camera. Today, photographers continue to use pinhole cameras for artistic purposes. Many pinhole cameras can be bought (even pinhole kits can be purchased), but we are going to make ours from scratch!

This week we have been making real working cameras out of a can of oatmeal, a piece of aluminum with a tiny hole poked into it, some paint, and a whole lot of tape. I promise these are real working cameras and they give a very nostalgic, almost dreamlike quality to the images. Here are a few examples of homemade pinhole cameras. 
Objectives:

  • Study pinhole photography and construct a pinhole camera
  • Study the application of pinhole camera to create a negative image
  • Employ darkroom techniques to develop your prints

Materials:
  • Black tempera or acrylic paint
  • Oatmeal containers
  • Tin
  • Pin (to poke hole)
  • Black & white photographic paper
  • Mounting tissue
  • Black board

Steps:
  1. Obtain an oatmeal canister
  2. Paint ENTIRE the canister black (inside and outside)
  3. If your box has a clear plastic lid, cut a circle to place on the inside of the lid and paint it black, glue in with elmer’s glue.
  4. Carefully cut out a small window (about 1 in x 1 in) on one side of the oats box. It should be about half way up the container.
  5. I have precut aluminum squares for you
  6. Poke a hole in the aluminum (we will do this together)
  7. Tape the aluminum on the inside of the box with masking tape
  8. Paint the masking tape black
  9. Let it all dry!
  10. In the darkroom, cut a 5x7 piece of paper in half
  11. Scroll a small piece of tape on the back side (non shiny side)
  12. Place the paper inside the pinhole camera so it faces opposite the pinhole "lens."
  13. Go outside (carefully holding the pinhole with your thumb), find a great shot, set up your pinhole camera on a solid surface, and take your thumb off of the hole.
  14. Expose for about 10 seconds (depending on the amount of light)
  15. Place the paper through the darkroom chemistry. Now you have a NEGATIVE.
  16. Place the negative face down on top of a new piece of b&w paper.
  17. Expose with white light on the enlarger for 10 seconds.
  18. Mount your prints
    1. Prints must be cut evenly and straight
    2. Prints must be centered (use a ruler)

Grading Criteria: 
always refer to the BHS photography grading rubric

Content
  • Effectiveness in communicating the idea within each design
  • Subject/idea is uniqueInteresting angle/perspective
Composition
  • Quality of positive and negative image?
  • Image is eye catching; has visual impact
  • Uses interesting lines/shapes
  • It is visually balanced
Technical Quality
  • Construction of the pinhole
  • The image is in acceptable focus
  • Images are well exposed/developed
  • No dust, water spots or marks
  • There are no fix stains or tong prints
  • Images are neat and well presented.
Work habits 
  • Working with peers
  • Working with materials
  • Outside behavior
  • Arrives to class on time and fully prepared.
  • Stays on task all period every day of project.
  • Always makes productive use of class time.
  • Always takes the print through the final stage of development, the water wash, and sets prints to dry before leaving the darkroom.
  • Well-organized.
  • Asks questions when help is needed.
  • Re-organizes station. Cleans up thoroughly.

Tips to Get Started:
  • If your image is too dark, decrease the exposure time
  • If your image is too light, increase the exposure time
  • If your image is streaked with gray or turns completely black, check your pinhole camera for light leaks
  • If your image is streaked with black, turn your camera pinhole away from the sun
  • If your image is blurry, make sure your subject and camera do not move during exposure
  • If your image is fuzzy, your pinhole is too large. Make a new pinhole lens or use another camera.

Start timing your exposures using this chart:
  • Bright Sun with Distinct Shadows
    10 Seconds
  • Cloudy and Bright, No Shadows
    15 Seconds
  • Heavy Overcast, Open Shade
    25 Seconds
  • Indoors- Bright
    30 Minutes to 1 Hour
  • Indoors- Average
    1 to 2 Hours

Vocabulary:
  • Pinhole
  • Enlarger
  • Developer
  • Fixer
  • Stop bath
  • Negative
  • Dry mount
  • Camera Obscura (dark chamber)

Resources:
http://www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholecameras/whatis.html


Pinhole Project

3/12/2020

 
PictureEleni Nacopoulos, class of 2011
Project Description:

A pinhole camera, also known as camera obscura, or "dark chamber", is a simple optical imaging device in the shape of a closed box or chamber. In one of its sides is a small hole which, via the rectilinear (straight lines) propagation of light, creates an image of the outside space on the opposite side of the box. Aristotle wrote about a rudimentary concept of the pinhole camera. Today, photographers continue to use pinhole cameras for artistic purposes. Many pinhole cameras can be bought (even pinhole kits can be purchased), but we are going to make ours from scratch!

Objectives:
  • Study pinhole photography and construct a pinhole camera
  • Study the application of pinhole camera to create a negative image
  • Employ darkroom techniques to develop your prints

Materials:
  • Black tempera or acrylic paint
  • Oatmeal containers
  • Tin
  • Pin (to poke hole)
  • Black & white photographic paper
  • Mounting tissue
  • Black board

Steps:
  1. Obtain an oatmeal canister
  2. Paint ENTIRE the canister black (inside and outside)
  3. If your box has a clear plastic lid, cut a circle to place on the inside of the lid and paint it black, glue in with elmer’s glue.
  4. Carefully cut out a small box (about 1 in x 1 in) on one side of the oats box. It should be about half way up the container.
  5. I have precut aluminum squares for you
  6. Poke a hole in the aluminum (we will do this together)
  7. Tape the aluminum on the inside of the box with masking tape
  8. Paint the masking tape black
  9. Let it all dry!
  10. In the darkroom, cut a 5x7 piece of paper in half
  11. Scroll a small piece of tape on the back side (non shiny side)
  12. Place the paper inside the pinhole camera so it faces opposite the pinhole "lens."
  13. Go outside (carefully holding the pinhole with your thumb), find a great shot, set up your pinhole camera on a solid surface, and take your thumb off of the hole.
  14. Expose for about 10 seconds (depending on the amount of light)
  15. Place the paper through the darkroom chemistry. Now you have a NEGATIVE.
  16. Place the negative face down on top of a new piece of b&w paper.
  17. Expose with white light on the enlarger for 10 seconds.
  18. Dry mount your prints
    1. Prints must be cut evenly and straight
    2. Prints must be centered (use a ruler)
Grading Criteria: *always refer to the BHS art department grading rubric
Content
  • Effectiveness in communicating the idea within each design
  • Subject/idea is uniqueInteresting angle/perspective
Composition
  • Quality of positive and negative image?
  • Image is eye catching; has visual impact
  • Uses interesting lines/shapes
  • It is visually balanced
Technical Quality
  • Construction of the pinhole
  • The image is in acceptable focus
  • Images are well exposed/developed
  • No dust, water spots or marks
  • There are no fix stains or tong prints
  • Images are neat and well presented.
Work habits 
  • Working with peers
  • Working with materials
  • Outside behavior
  • Arrives to class on time and fully prepared.
  • Stays on task all period every day of project.
  • Always makes productive use of class time.
  • Always takes the print through the final stage of development, the water wash, and sets prints to dry before leaving the darkroom.
  • Well-organized.
  • Asks questions when help is needed.
  • Re-organizes station. Cleans up thoroughly.

Tips to Get Started:
  • If your image is too dark, decrease the exposure time
  • If your image is too light, increase the exposure time
  • If your image is streaked with gray, check your pinhole camera for light leaks
  • If your image is streaked with black, turn your camera pinhole away from the sun
  • If your image is blurry, make sure your subject and camera do not move during exposure
  • If your image is fuzzy, your pinhole is too large. Make a new pinhole lens or use another camera.

Start timing your exposures using this chart:
  • Bright Sun with Distinct Shadows
    10 Seconds
  • Cloudy and Bright, No Shadows
    15 Seconds
  • Heavy Overcast, Open Shade
    25 Seconds
  • Indoors- Bright
    30 Minutes to 1 Hour
  • Indoors- Average
    1 to 2 Hours

Vocabulary:
  • Pinhole
  • Enlarger
  • Developer
  • Fixer
  • Stop bath
  • Negative
  • Dry mount
  • Camera Obscura (dark chamber)

Resources:
http://www.pinhole.cz/en/pinholecameras/whatis.html
*Borrowed and adapted from Mr. Mistler's blog

Letters In Nature

2/7/2020

 
Picture
How do we see the world around us? If we start looking at the shapes created around us, we can start to see the letters of the alphabet emerge. This project will stretch your creative outlook on the "normal" world around you. Some letters are easier than others to see—I's and X's and T's are very common, but where can you see curved letters like C and S and M, or even O? For this project you are going to create an alphabet grid and spell out your name using the natural world as your alphabet.

Assignment:
You must first photograph the entire alphabet, A-Z, in nature. The natural elements can be man-made but cannot be actual letters written on a sign or wall. You will be creating an alphabet grid like the one pictured above using Adobe Photoshop, you will then create a poster of your name using the letters of your alphabet. 
Picture
You will be passing in the following to the class google drive folder:
- 1 alphabet grid
- 1 name poster using your alphabet letters

Steps:
• Think outside of the norm and consider helping nature to create some letters—for example, S is very hard to find in nature but your shoelace is a perfect tool to make an s-shape. 
• Shadows can help to enhance a letterform, think of how this either adds to or takes away from the overall composition
• If your name has two of the same letter you may want to consider photographing different options to make your name poster more interesting
• I'd like to see natural elements but you can use man-made objects (i.e. bike wheels, lamp posts, brick buildings, etc.)

Glitching

12/12/2019

 
Picture
A glitch is a momentary fault in a system. The last few years all of the photo I classes have played with the idea of glitching photographs that they made and we came up with some really awesome results. Glitching is fun and easy. To glitch, all you have to do is the following:
  • Duplicate your photo (because you WILL mess it up!)
  • Change the file extension to .txt
  • Open up the .txt file in text edit
  • Change it up! Add text, copy, paste, go wild!
  • Change the file extension back to .jpg (please remember this is NOT a proper way to save a file)
  • Open the file and see your masterpiece

Assignment:
You are creating 10 different glitched images. You can use photos you have already taken (but not ones you've passed in) or you can shoot new imagery for the project. You will be passing in your best 3 glitches and printing and mounting your favorite one.

Steps:
  • Choose a few images to start glitching—they must be original jpg files, not ones that have been edited in Photoshop (those won't glitch)
  • Images must be in color, black and white photos don't work
  • Changing from jpg to a txt file is NOT the proper way to save a file, but it is a necessary part of this process, Do NOT save your regular files this way or you will cause corruption. 

If you glitch too much you may not be able to see the photo so take your time and check back on what you have done every once in a while by changing the extension back to jpg. If you like the glitch the way it is but want to play more, duplicate that photo and try making more changes again. You will have the option of doing Photoshop editing once you've finalized your glitch. 

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