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Floating Food

2/26/2024

Georgia D. :: Class of 2023

Ever wonder how these photos were taken? For this project we are going to explore the idea of floating food. This can be done with a whole meal, or something more simple, but there needs to be a lot of planning and some setup. You can do this with a single item, but using something that has several layers (sandwich, or hamburger, or a stack of pancakes) adds to the interest of the final image. Do you want this to be funny? How about holding your hand below to levitate the food. Or what about throwing something at the camera (please fake throw) to make it fun?

What Am I Learning: How to use LR & PS to create imagery that cannot be created in the camera

Why Is This Important: Photographers can feel limited by their camera and this helps to break that reliance on the camera alone

How Will I Know I am Successful: When I create an image using new editing techniques that are otherwise impossible to capture by using the camera alone

Assignment:

Create 2 floating food images. Remember items with more physical layers is more interesting, but having those layers be easily attached helps to make them interesting (i.e. it is very hard to float a layered trifle or an ice cream cone). You will need to take several images of each food to give yourself options, but the setup is most important. Think about a clean background to make it easier to use the content-aware fill option, also think about your lighting. Creating a mini studio is helpful in making this very clean in post production.

Steps:

Start by checking out this website on one way to photograph your floating food
Also check out this video on throwing a donut (this one was done with clear fishing wire)
Think of ideas—what kind of food do you want to float? Think back to your food photography project
You are creating 2 floating food images, you want to take several images for options but they may be of the same setup. Remember to change your lighting.
Post-production is where these are going to come together by erasing objects that hold the food up, so be sure to have a clean background that is easy to use for content-aware fill.

Objective: To create interest in your image by implementing photoshop editing techniques to make pieces of your photo disappear

Toy Stories

12/12/2023

Georgia Doherty :: Class of 2023

Remember when you were a kid and you could make up entire adventures for your toys? We all did this, that's why Pixar Animation Studios made a whole series of movies literally based on the secret lives of toys...enter Toy Story.

So going back to your own toys from when you were a kid (or maybe using new ones) how can your toys get into some mischief today? Are they more mature now—swimming on the top of soda cans, or making snow angels in your driveway, maybe they are trying to brush their teeth with a human sized object. Think about how to make your toys come to life and give us a peek into the secret life of the toy.

Assignment:

Create a series of images using old toys. You can make up adventures and photograph them in interesting scenarios. This can be a series of 6-8 images, or 6-8 separate scenes with the same or different toys. You may want figurines instead of stuffed animals as it will look more real. Lego characters can work, as do Barbie's, action figures, or doll house characters. You can also purchase miniatures and even have more fun as they are tiny figurines.

Steps:

Check out this "behind the scenes" of a toy photographer
Think of ideas—how can we have the most fun with these toys?
You are creating 6 images at minimum
Pay attention to focus and make sure you can get close enough to make these interesting. Blurry photos will not help your audience to be interested in your photos

Artists:

Objective: To use your imagination using tiny toys and bringing them to reality by the way you photograph them.

Recreate a Famous Album Cover

5/31/2023

Album covers have long been a favorite pastime of mine. As a child I loved looking through my parent actual vinyl albums, seeing the cover art and reading the back. In my teens it was all about the CD cover, and reading the insert. I love when I see the art from an old favorite album. I want you to choose a favorite famous album cover (one that we will recognize) and recreate it at home. We should be able to tell that it was a recreation, and add the text back in to make it look more like an actual album.

Assignment:

Choose a favorite famous album cover (at least one that we would recognize) and recreate it at home. You can have a little fun with this assignment by modernizing it, or try to stay closer to the original roots of the album design. Choose something interesting, not a solid color album or anything like that. You will create one single album cover, take a photo of the recreation and add the original text of the cover back on to make it look like the original. You will pass them in side-by-side like you see above.

Steps:

• Research different famous album covers, when you find a few you like think about how you are going to recreate the image on the front.
• Create a strong recreated image like the album and edit it to look like the original. Pay attention to lighting and framing and objects—it doesn't have to be perfect but we should be able to see where the inspiration came from.
• When you are finished, submit on google classroom.

Resources: Album Recreation Pinterest Board

Alternative Lens Effects

3/27/2023

In this project we are going to mess around with lens effects. There are several different types of strange lens filters out there that create these interesting effects, but for this project we are going to find and/or make our own. Think about making a soft lens effect with vaseline (don't you DARE put it directly on the lens) or colored cellophane in front of the lens. What about crystals that make kaleidoscope effects, or fairy lights, or even a good old CD. How can we add interesting effects to our photos with items we find in the house?

Assignment:
For this assignment you will photograph 50 digital frames with different lens effects. Consider what you want to create and try to be creative with what you find in your home to use. I don't care what effect you do use, but you cannot take a straight photo for this project. Remember you can do soft lens effect, halation effect, crystals, CD's, fairy lights, cracked glass, small mirrors, zoom the lens while photographing...anything at all that alters the image inside the lens.

Steps:
• If you are using crystals or CD's you may need a light source (hello sunshine!) to help throw the light inside the crystal
• Portraits work well for this but are not required
• Many of the objects you hold in front of the lens are small, so be sure to zoom the lens in so we can't see the item
• If you want to try the vaseline effect you HAVE to put plastic wrap in front of the lens...nothing is to go directly onto the lens!!!!!

Low Key vs. High Key

3/17/2023

We all love a black and white image. The mood, the feeling, the nostalgia...but did you know that black and white images generally fall into two categories? You can present your B&W photo as a high key photo or a low key photo. But what is the difference? In easy terms, low key means lower contrast and mostly dark and high key means higher contrast and mostly bright. But why do we have these two types of B&W photos? What do they do? In this particular case high key and low key effect the mood of the photos...the feeling it gives off. Low key is darker, usually a moodier and more dramatic image. While high key is brighter and airier, more open and more fun.

Assignment:
For this assignment you will photograph 50 digital frames with high key and low key B&W images in mind. During the shoot you'll want to consider what mood you are going for because that will dictate how you light and expose the image. If low key is moody and high key is more airy then consider not only your subject while you are shooting but also your lighting and camera settings. Some of this can be done after the fact with your editing in photoshop, and some has to be done in camera while you are shooting. You are showing me equal high key and low key photographs for this assignment. It may take two separate shoots with different ideas in mind.

Steps:
• Check out these 2 resources on low key photography (article #1, article #2)
• Check out this resource on high key photography
• Portraits work well for this project but really any subject works
• You do not need to show the same object as high key and low key, the subject you photograph may dictate the mood you are going for
• When you are focused on low key, be sure to have a darker background and expose it a little below what the light meter asks for.
• When you are exposing for high key, make sure to have a brighter background and expose maybe a little bit higher than the light meter dictates

Food Photography

11/2/2022

At some point or another I'm sure every one of you has thought about being a food photographer. Maybe just with your phone because that donut looks sooooo good, or maybe even trying to make something more appealing. If you've ever perused instagram or magazines or cookbooks you've likely enjoyed looking at the photos of the food. This is true for everyone and this is an actual job, a really well paying job in fact. For this assignment we will be focusing on traditional and modern styles of food photography.

Assignment:

You must photograph 50 digital frames focusing on food photography. You can photograph meals, focus on a table scape, make a whole meal, just a dessert, you have many options. Think about shapes and making your food look appealing to your audience. Search instagram for cooks and even local favorite restaurants—how do they photograph their food?

Steps:

We eat every single day of our lives. Not all of our food is set up like a dinner spread, but think about ways to make each one of your meals look interesting
You'll notice that many of these photos are shot from above (birds eye view) but how else can you make an interesting food photo?
Watch your edges, notice that most foods are not perfectly centered...or alone. So consider breaking the frame with your food, or pouring a few bowls of food instead of just one
Consider your dish wear, the more beautiful (or simple) the serving dish the more interesting the image is
Lighting: definitely consider your lighting, many of the food photographers use natural window lighting to enhance their photos

Resources:
- Pinterest food photography board for more inspiration
- Food photography tips and tricks
@bakeritablog
@halfbakedharvest
@ambitiouskitchen

Objective: To use the camera and lighting to make a professional image that makes food more appealing to the viewer.

Renaissance Style Pet Portrait

6/2/2022

These Renaissance Style pet portraits are mostly just done for fun. But people on Etsy have made tons of money with these. By taking a photo of your pet and attaching his or her head to a true renaissance oil painting and adding some effects in Adobe Photoshop, you can make your pet into a person and maybe even use this as a gift to the pet owner!

Assignment:
For this assignment you will take a photograph of your pet (or a friend's pet if you don't have one) and turn them into a renaissance style portrait. This is a lot of photoshop work to attach your pet's head to a renaissance style oil painting and make them look regal. I have attached a few high resolution renaissance style portraits for your use, but you can also search your own. Make sure the image you download is high resolution though so you can properly attach your pet's head to the portrait.

Steps:
• Check out this youtube tutorial on how to make your pet into an oil painting portrait
• Download a renaissance portrait to use as your background (remember to find a large image to work with, otherwise you may not be able to print) or you can use one of the ones I attached in your google classroom assignment
• You want to consider where your pet is looking when you are decidsing on which portrait to use.
• Exposure is important in these images, as well as size, so don't use an iPhone image for this.

Shadow Art

3/18/2021

In this project we are going to explore interactive shadow art. Shadows have always been important in photography—being that we are always dealing with light, shadows are the absence of light and therefore in most of our photos. How can you use the shadow to enhance your artwork? Tell a story? Or even interact with your viewer? You can set up items to photograph, go outside and look for natural shadow art in the world, allow someone to interact with the shadow, or even allow the shadow to interact with the world.

Assignment:
For this assignment you will photograph 50 digital frames of shadow art. Consider what you want to create. Do you want interactive shadow art, where the shadow becomes part of the world that the person is interacting with, or even becomes a character that interacts with the physical world? Would you prefer to make shadow art using objects or allow the organic world to naturally create shadow and add to the composition? You can approach this in a few different ways (or all the ways) and make something interesting.

Steps:
• Start this project on a sunny day...the sun is the easiest way to do this
• Walk around your house seeing if there are any interesting shadows that fall across the walls or the floor
• Consider making your own shadows and controlling the environment with a strong light source and enlist your friends and family for some help to make these more fun!

Natural Framing

3/4/2021

For this project we are going to focus on framing in the camera. This can be done with natural framing (windows, doors, etc.) or with organic frames (tree lines). Thin about how to use frames that are naturally occurring in your everyday life—what about a fence? or a mirror? or walking around with an empty frame? Or even a lock hole? You can also create your own shape and photograph through that, or walk around making sure the natural and organic environment offers an interesting framing technique for your photos.

Assignment:
For this assignment you will photography 50 digital frame of natural framing. Consider what you are looking through. What about using a pipe and shooting through that? Do you have windows that are interesting and show something curious on the other side? What about a cutout in your wall? Think about how to use your environment to create interest with your framing. Also don't be afraid to make your own frames to shoot through if you are having trouble finding them in the natural environment.

Steps:
• Start by finding researching interesting natural framing, do you already do this sometimes in your own work?
• Walk around your house seeing if there are any interesting objects to photograph through
• Consider making your own (or bringing your own) with you to enhance an image

The Composited Image

2/11/2021

In this project you are going to explore the composited image. This composite will be a series of photos taken in one place overlapped to help reinforce the ideas of memory and evoke a feeling from your viewer. Take us on a journey—of a space, or a memory, a conversation, or a roadtrip—and take several images in a short span of time. By overlapping these photos in post-production we are literally creating an image that focuses on the idea of time, capturing an emotion or a representation of a moment in time. Using color and movement to inform the image and explore the idea of the passing of time. Will your image be happy or melancholic? Is it a representation of your favorite childhood memory, or a conversation with your best friend? What about a walk through the woods? How can you use this technique to give us a story in one single image?

Assignment:

Create 3 composite journey images. You can use object, take a walk outside, photograph several portraits in a row, or explore even more conceptual ideas about the passing of time. Remember to take several images that overlap with one another, try 10 images or 50 images...how might more images be interesting?

Steps:

Start by checking out Al Wildey's work
Think of ideas—how can you best represent a journey or the passing of time?
You are creating 3 images, this will be 3 separate shoots to create the overlapped imagery
Post-production is where these will really come together, try to think about a lot of change in your images and also about small movements if you want the image to hold together more clearly

Objective: To use separate images (taken over a short period of time) to create the feeling of time and memory.