HDR Hot Link

http://www.stuckincustoms.com/

Stranger Portrait

If anyone has a decent Stranger Portrait, I'd love to have you post them for my future class usage. It was probably the only assignment I didn't document well. Who did this one anyways? It looks good but is too small a representation.

Your Class

http://tangledeye.photoshop.com

Hugin

Hugin, open-source photo-assemblage program:
http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

Video!

Jason has kindly posted the video our group made for the Breakfast/Art assignment from a few weeks back.

http://vimeo.com/5038407

Alternate Final

You must communicate with me before doing the alternate final.

Compare and contrast two photographs.

Find one photograph that fits into the area of "art" or "fine art" and another that fits into an arena such as an advertising, photo-journalism, catalog imagery, or any other context in which the original photograph would not likely be found in a gallery or museum. While from different contexts, the two images you select should somehow inform one another.

Describe each in detail. Describe the context of each. Describe what might be the "purpose" of the photographs. Then compare and contrast the two images in terms of why one might be art, and the other not. Draw the images together in some way and bring your investigation into some kind of conclusion.

You may submit this electronically. Please attach the images or provide links so that I may see them.

Noise Reduction in Photoshop

Basic Method:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/photoshop/ss/cs2reducenoise.htm

Advanced method:
http://tricks.onigo.net/guides/2005/09/noise-reduction-step-by-step.html

Last Chance

Just a reminder that your extra credit assignments or redos of previous assignments are due this coming Wednesday. Please re-submit in whatever format originally submitted. Digi=digi, prints=prints. If possible, please include the original work so that I have something to compare it to. On Wednesday you will have plenty of work time.

You can do an HDR image or Panorama as extra credit to make up for a late assignment or part of a missed class.

Post either to your Flickr page and send me a fresh link. If you've forgotten how to do them, there should be links on the blog with directions.

Let me know if I'm missing you. At times e-mails get lost in the shuffle.

Sites for Technical Learning

Ken Rockwell: http://kenrockwell.com/

Luminous Landscape: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

Alternate Final

Constructed

5+ 8.5x11 prints

In this assignment you will be asked to construct a tableau, fiction, a manipulated scene - or combine photography with other mediums such as drawing, sculpture, etc. Since the advent of photography a powerful characteristic has been its connection to the existing world. Although it has been demonstrated again and again that a photograph is deceiving, people still believe that it recreates "reality."

Consider these possible approaches:
tableau scenes
heightened theatricality
still-life photography
digital manipulations
text and image combinations
make your photograph 3D or combine it other mediums

Artists to consider:
Chris Engman: http://www.gregkucera.com/engman.htm

Jeff Wall: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2007/jeffwall/

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison: http://www.parkeharrison.com/

John Baldessari: http://broadartfoundation.org/artist_12.html

Sandy Skoglund: http://www.sandyskoglund.com/

Ana Mendieta: http://www.akinci.nl/Ana_Mendieta/Mendieta.htm

Croissan'wich

There are startlingly few images of the Croissan'wich available on the internet.

Hot Wacks

Dylan:
http://antovich.tumblr.com/

Erik:
http://erikturnquist.tumblr.com/

Isabelle:
http://ijwoodward.tumblr.com/

James:
http://wraxawru.tumblr.com/

Juliana:
http://mar-mal-lover.tumblr.com/

Kathleen:
http://pygmygoat.tumblr.com/

Kelly:
http://kellyjgraham.tumblr.com/

Tiffany L.:
http://tiffanyyl.tumblr.com/

Renee:
http://rtakara.tumblr.com

Christopher:
http://kreestofar.tumblr.com/

Stephanie:
http://stougas.tumblr.com/

Tiffany V.:
http://mymorningcupofcoffee.tumblr.com/

Portrait Images

We may give the studio another shot this week or the week after but I've posted our images to the Art Student Share for your access.

Final Project

The final project is an open assignment and opportunity to apply the numerous ideas we have explored term in a way that best suits you. What kind of working method did you enjoy the most? You don't need to think of only the recent printed assignments, but everything we have done that could be called art. Whether it was a game of charades, photographing symbols, eating food together, writing about other people's work in musical chairs, making collages, or just taking pictures of family members, this class has been about taking everyday experiences and twisting them in simple ways to make art. Don't make art; make what you already do into art.

The content of what you produce for the final project is up to you, but I will require a written, paper proposal submitted next Wednesday containing a general description of your project and the approximate number of images and prints you anticipate making. The proposal will be followed on Monday with a short, to be scheduled, meeting with me or Jason, to talk about what you wrote as well as what you have produced so far. Also, if you don't feel comfortable doing whatever you want for a final project, I will also create an alternate assignment which will be posted shortly.

Final Critique/breakfast party
8:30-10:20 a.m.
Tuesday, Jun. 9, 2009

If you are unable to attend, I will require a written assignment TBD to make up for your lack of participation.

Project redos and extra credit assignments will be due Wednesday, June 3rd.

If you are interested in using the studio again for your own exploration, please let me know and we can schedule time for you to use the studio with supervision. Because of the high-voltage nature of strobe photography, students are not allowed to use the equipment by themselves. Because studio photography is a new concept I would prefer that you not do it for the final project, but it could be a fun chance to make portraits of your friends or play dress-up.

Hot Links/Tumblr/Your Madness

Make a Tumblr page with ten images collected from the internet:

http://www.tumblr.com/

Here are some links to get you started:

http://iheartphotograph.com/

http://www.pictureyear.blogspot.com/

http://beautyinphotography.blogspot.com/

http://chngyaohong.com/blog/


http://www.artfagcity.com/

On Wednesday you will share your new site with us, as well as the photo book you picked from the art library.

Avedon in the New York Times

The above picture looks like it has suffered from some compression, per our demo image of the beach ball!
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/fashion/14AVEDON.html?_r=1&ref=style

Cute Art

Homework for 5/13, due 5/20

DREAMS
inspired by the work of Wendy Ewald

To dream some of the dreams I've dreamed, my mind has to be five or six times as big as the world
-Darlene Watts, Kentucky
I think there are some things like clouds in my mind. When I imagine lots of things, the clouds fill up as if it's about to rain.
-Teresa Lopez, Mexico

Your assignment is to create the visual representation of dreams. Can you write about and picture your dreams and fantasies? Is there a way in which your imagination can shift its stance?
Produce 6-8 images, 5x7” or lager, and associated contact sheets.

Possibilities:
Describe life from the viewpoint of a character or an inanimate object or narrate a fantasy.
Use an object as a kind of totem, or magical object
Have friends or props to enliven the images
Use light and dark to differentiate from everyday life. What could you do with flash at night, or by playing with lamps, flashlights, and candles?

In-class:
Write three dreams you can remember, or make up ones if you can't remember anything, paying attention to the images that come to mind. Read what you have written aloud and have classmates suggest few photographs that could be made to describe the dream.

Extension:
If someone dreamed about a frightening dog, how could you photograph a dog to make it look frightening?
Write a descriptive list of things/scenes you might photograph.
The pictures will probably be more successful if you create single images but you can use multiple images that tell a dream story.

For Wednesday-Breakfast As Art

"The line between art and life should be kept as fluid, and perhaps as indistinct as possible..."
-Allan Kaprow, 1966

"John Baldessari once told me that in making art what is important is not what you make, but the stories that come out of making it. After an object is gone, the stories will be around. Aren't stories involving other peo9ple and situations a bit more interesting than ones about just you, alone, in your studio?"
-Mungo Thompson, 2000

Vik Muniz: http://www.vikmuniz.net/www/index.html

Tom Friedman: http://www.designboom.com/portrait/friedman.html
http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/beverly-hills-2006-10-tom-friedman/#/images/1/

Rirkrit Tiravanija: http://www.operacity.jp/en/ag/exh31rt.php
http://www.gavinbrown.biz/artists/view/rirkrit-tiravanija

Breakfast:
Do something, anything, that involves yourself and at least one other person. Bring something, anything, to class at 10:30 that is evidence of the work. The piece can take almost any form you like but it needs to be in a form that will allow the rest of the class to discuss it later.
Consider how this engagement with someone changes your own practice. What is the role of the group? How can you turn the disadvantages of a group into an advantage? How could you turn food into art, or how can you utilize the power of an omelet to change society?

-apologies and honors to Ken Fandell for inspiring this assignment

QTPFSGUI

Open source HDR software: http://qtpfsgui.sourceforge.net/

Today!

Bitspace!
http://www.photoshopessentials.com/essentials/16-bit/page-3.php

HDR in Photomatix!
http://www.hdrsoft.com/gallery/index.php

Speed of Art!

Hello,

I won't e-mail everyone regarding the image quality of their uploaded files. It is an inefficient use of time to look at everything so I'm only going to look at them if your prints look off- that way I can have something more tangible to work from.

A number of people still uploaded jpegs or more than just the images they showed in class so it's hard to open everything and hope that it actually reflects your work.

Thanks,

Gregory

How do I make a portrait?

Richard Avedon Foundation: http://www.richardavedon.com/

Here are some good portrait tips: http://www.photographytips.com/page.cfm/368

How long will my photographs last?

http://www.wilhelm-research.com/shutterbug/hlwy.html

Homework for 5/6

Assignment : Portrait : Due for Wednesday's class 5/13
Produce three portraits and one self-portrait. They may be people you know or don't know. They can be candid or not, but should reveal something about you and/or the person photographed that is somehow different than ordinary snapshots you might make of them. Produce at least four prints and include printed contact sheets for images shot. There is no minimum or maximum number of images to shoot, but keep in mind that your contact sheet will represent all of the work you put forth...or didn't.

August Sander: http://www.masters-of-fine-art-photography.com/02/artphotogallery/photographers/august_sander_07.html
Diane Arbus: http://www.artphotogallery.org/02/artphotogallery/photographers/diane_arbus_01.html

Assignment: Make a photo-collage in the style of David Hockney done in Photoshop:
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/photoshop/articles/phs8ppphotomerge/phs8ppphotomerge.pdf
Post your new Hockney-style image by Saturday 5PM to Flickr. We will look at them on Monday. It does not need to do be a portrait. You may choose whatever subject you wish. Think about making your images all with the same camera settings so you can make an adjustment and apply it to all images in Lightroom before exporting to Photoshop.
This is a completion assignment. You will not receive a letter grade.

Assignment: Load your Symbol images to the server by the end of Wednesday
http://everest.art.washington.edu:8000/Login
Did you get the name and password from class? Normally I will not ask you to make both prints and upload images, but in this case I would still like to see you RAW+sidecar images to evaluate your image-manipulation skills.

Optional: Make an HDR image to share with the class. We will work on this in-class on Monday. If you would like to get started, look at the directions listed here.
http://photocritic.org/hdr-photography-how-to/
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=hdr

Extra credit: Make a panorama image by to share with us. This panorama will make up for a late assignment you may have had. You may do this any time but send me an e-mail to let me know that it is on your Flickr page for credit.
http://digital-photography-school.com/creating-a-panorama-with-photoshop-and-photomerge

I apologize for my over-reaching of activities with today's class! We will talk more about Photoshop and HDR on Monday as I didn't give you quite enough to work from.

Homework 5/4

Submit contact sheet(s) and 6-8 prints for Wednesday’s class. Your prints may be no smaller than 5x7. For this assignment I am not overly concerned with print quality, but will be in the future. Consider this a test-run for future print projects. Try inkjets, laserprints, thermals, and c-prints to see what works best for you, but for whatever you do make all the prints you turn in of the same output method and size.

Assignment-Symbol

“Photographers are forever faced with the problem of portraying something they can see in their minds but can’t readily photograph.”
-John Szarkowski

Make 40 photographs that could be used to describe or represent something that is not in the frame. You will only turn-in/print/submit 6-8 of these images but I will ask you to create a proof print of all of the pictures so that I can have some idea of your vision for the project.

What are the common symbols in our society or in your lives? Clocks represent time, the American flag may represent freedom, a wrinkled hand may symbolize aging. What does the dawning of a sunny day usually mean in a story?

Before going out to photograph, you might choose some subjects to describe as a starting point.

Hints:
Get closer, have a detail of something represent the whole
Think of objects or talismans in people’s lives that may symbolize their personal beliefs

Bring your images on Monday. You will have some work time in class but you might think about beginning the editing process before then.

Writing
Choose a photograph on exhibit at the Henry or Jacob Lawrence Gallery. Fill a single sheet of paper with as much as you can think about regarding that photograph. You may approach this writing in any way you see fit. You may describe, evaluate, judge, rant, and ramble. Your writing, however confused, should always return to the work of art as reference point. Consider today's reading as a starting point for your own beginnings of art criticism. You will turn this hand-written paper in on Monday.

Homework from 4/26 due 4/27

For Wednesday:
Fix and post 5 different images from the Color/Neighborhood assignment to Flickr by 8PM Tuesday. You’ll have time in-class today to work on this

Post both the straight and manipulated image for a total of 10 uploads. You MUST re-size your image so as not to use up all your online space. I showed you how to do this in class using the export for e-mail or export as JPEG by changing the longest side. In my case I used 1200 pixels.

Include a sentence or two with each image explaining why you chose it. What do you think is successful and not successful about the pictures? Did the assignment give you a chance to look at your neighborhood differently? Record whatever your thoughts on the image might be.

Redo images that I mentioned earlier and return them your folder in the Artshare by 8PM Tuesday. Please put it in the same folder you did as before. Delete the other images if you like. E-mail me when you’ve put it there so I don’t have to dig around everyone’s folders.

Read Terry Barrett extract.

The pinhole camera is in the monitor's closet in the lab. Please make ONE good image to bring to class next Monday.

Homework from 4/22

The homework from 4/22 was to manipulate the 4 images placed in the ArtStudentShare under
Spg Qtr2009---Schaffer---Demo RAWWWWW---Homework 4/22---

Manipulate these images in Lightroom to the best of your ability and EXPORT them as ORGINAL to the file in Homework 4/22---Your Finished Homework.

Check your Lightroom export settings carefully, otherwise you'll end up exporting as JPEGS!

This should be done by 3PM on Sunday.

You can only get to the ArtStudentShare from the School of Art. I am working on a better solution so we can use FTP from anywhere. Thanks for your patience.

Selections from Class on 4/15

Write about:
Five favorite things, a haiku, an art experience you have had, and something you like/dislike about the class so far.

Favorite thing:
dogs and other non-human animals
the earth
interfermaetric imaging below diffraction limits
God
Whales
Mountains
The Internet (had to have one geeky thing in here)
Elephant ears (the carnival treat)
An album I like on vinyl
Balance
Grass
coffee
Cats (Lions, tigers, leopards. cloudy)

Haiku:
rhododendron quilt
collapse into the flowers
grow your hippy hair

one year and three months
I will marry my true love
(sorry-I'm corny)

sleepy morn
spontaneity
no ideas

Washington
Eating many apples now
Stop raining

Yoyo falls
To the string's limit
Up again.

Dinosaurs
are really awesome
but they're dead

I ate Mexican,
spicy enchilada sauce,
careens through me now

An experience with art:
The difficulty here is in choosing between something too intimate or something too superficial. The First, more so since it has been illustrated that there is no expectation of confidentiality. I also have difficulty with personal expression on demand... contemplation takes, well, time for contemplation. My experience of "art" is largely the formed Framework of "art education" while by another interpretation art is the experiencing of things more so than the creation of formal works. So for it to be "art" in a truer sense, it is implicitly intimate and therefor beyond what I would feel comfortable sharing with a room-full of assorted strangers. I guess that's my art experience.

In kindergarten we had periods during the day where we would go to different parts of the room & play different activities. I remember one time distinctly when I was at an easel painting at one of those stations. I remember thinking how paint dripped down the pages & trying to decide whether I liked the effect or if I should try dripping my brush in less paint. It's a brief memory but I think the reason I remember is because very soon after I got sent to time out. I started crying because I didn't understand why. Apparently I had rolled my eyes at my teacher when she asked me a question or was talking to me.

On our first three weeks of class:
I don't like the Orozco project-too forced. I like posting to Flickr instead of spending $ on prints.

I wouldn't mind a bit more technical depth. I don't like early morning schedule. But huzzah for coffee.

I like the group projects in this class, because collaborating with one another and then producing something beautiful and creative is a lot of fun and rewarding. It would be nice to get the links to some of the informational web-sites...

...enjoyed looking at other photographers and discussing our thoughts. One thing I've disliked is that knowing what the homework assignments are has been a bit confusing. The blog has been more helpful

I've met a lot of interesting people in this class doing group work...I wish on the individual projects they were more "photojournalism" type assignments.

Something I dislike about this class: We spend a lot of time doing activities like this. However!...

So early! Group creative work can be frustrating

...I also like the organization of the class, starting with something random, then talking about art, and then doing something.

I dislike working in the same group for many of the in-class assignments.

I like that this class is inspiring me to do silly things without making me feel embarrassed about doing them.

Monday

Image by Christian Widmer
Don't forget to bring a way to upload your COLOR assignment images to the computer on Monday! We may have a card reader or two but you'll be better off bringing your own gear. Otherwise you will not need your camera for shooting.

If your camera can do RAW, we will upload that file type. If you have JPEG, that's okay, too.

For Monday we will be having some discussions and demos but you will work on your own images a bit as well. More of Wednesday will be spent on your own pictures.

I'm headed to the UW now so it's your last chance to upload the Orozco redo. So far they are looking great. If you have any problems with Flickr, please e-mail the shot(s) to me instead.

Let me know if you want more comments on your Flickr. I will provide them as I have free time.

Looks like we'll be in ROOM 329 tomorrow barring disaster! Unfortunately there is no support in the ART building for rooms before 9AM.

Homework from 4/14, Orozco, Color

If you didn't get a good pinhole image, don't worry. You'll have a chance to try again later. Thanks so much for everyone's participation. I know it can be frustrating when things don't work out perfectly.



I will work on posting comments for everyone who submitted the Orozco assignment. Thanks for your input in class. They will be up by tomorrow. Most of them are already done. Please make sure you have the option to let people post comments turned on!

Redo Orozco assignment and post it before Sunday

Your sculpture might:
Make use of materials found outside
Describe both the state of the world as it is as well as disrupt the apparent order of things
Create juxtapositions that display a thoughtful, playful intelligence
Seem simple yet avoid simplistic meaning

Color in your world
What colors are around you? How can you use the photographic frame to represent them? What time of day will the color be brightest? What feelings does the color represent?

Pictures 1-5, FAVORITE COLORS
First, take 5 pictures of your favorite color outdoors. Look for this color in places you would not expect to find it. Be sure you have enough light to take the picture. You can use close-ups to describe a place, using details only you would recognize.

Pictures 6-15, time and place in YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
In 10 outdoor pictures, show color in your neighborhood related to:
* the time of day;
* the time of year;
* creating a sense of place or of your neighborhood;
* the mood, atmosphere, or emotional impact you want to show.

Pictures 16-30, unexpected DETAILS
Find unexpected color in the details of nature. Spend time looking around your world and observing it close up.

You must bring a way to plug your camera or memory card into the computer to upload this assignment on Monday!

World Pinhole Photography Day

http://www.pinholeday.org/ By Dick Chua: http://www.flickr.com/photos/d1production/

Homework from 4/13 due 4/14

Picture by Bill Jenkins, a former teacher of mine
Homework:

Each person in your group should post your two “best” images to from today’s group assignment to the web. There should be two good examples of images you shot, preferably one with lots and one with little depth of field, but if you don’t do it that way, it’s okay.

Make a photograph on your own in the style of Gabriel Orozco. Walk around, think about where you are, and make a spontaneous sculpture out of found materials. Photograph it. Post it to Flickr. Don’t make art, make the experiences you already have into something new.

Post 4 of your previous zoom images, two zooms w/stationary photographer, two w/moving photographer moved in space to compensate for the zoom. Some of you already did this so there’s nothing else to worry about!

Bring your pinhole container for Weds. I will bring the materials.

You don’t need your cameras on Wednesday

We will take our photograms down on Wednesday

Please post your images by Tues. 9PM.

Examples of Pinhole Photographs

Slawek Brdek
http://pinhole.org/

Examples for next assignment

http://www.flickr.com/photos/44246029@N00/sets/72157616553525217/

Bring a photograph to class, write about it

Adam Mina
I choose this photo because of its somewhat forshadowing effect it has on my life in high school. In grade school through early high school my dad would always try to get me into running, but I always chose other sports like soccer and basketball. I finally tried out running in my junior year of high school, and it bas become my favorite sport. More importantly running has been a significant point of bonding for me and my dad.

Michael
Why this picture? There is nothing significant in the picture itself – what matters is to the left of the frame and closer than the underside of the building. 3 days after I take this picture, sitting in the same spot, looking at the same hillside while dressing in apron, hairnet, gloves & protective armwear (after a meal) I am exhausted. It is darker than this, cold. We are about to enter the “freezer” to slice salmon fillets for the next 3-4 hours. I look up, to my left and there is a girl looking at me. I know she is Ukranian, would find out later that her name is Anastasia, 3rd year university student in Molecular Physics traveling around the US for the summer. At that moment I do not know her name, only that I have been trying to work on the same line as her for the past two shifts. She approaches me.
She asks me to tie her apron for her, quickly turns around. We work together during that shift, and the next day again, and again the next day…

Callie Arnonld

Change- This girl is no longer obsessed with traffic cones. She no longer lives with her mom, or any member of her immediate family, nor does she live in the Pacific Northwest. Where she lives she probably does not have a yard. Her mom does not have as many opportunities to take photos of her.

Is photography important or not, why?

Kelly Graham
I think photographs are important in our lives-they provide a way to record a moment in time that can never be fully recreated. Photos let us look back on an objective (well, the photographer is subjective) view of events captured on film. Photographs keep a record of what might otherwise be forgotten or distorted in memory, as well as being art in their own right.

Joel Azose
I think photographs are important in our lives because memories are fleeting. Photographs allow us to relive moments in a way that would not be possible without some aid…


Michael
Without photography we would still survive as a species, still lead (probably) similar lives…

Tiffany Lim
…the joy of meeting an old friend would be more clearly and strongly felt in our expressions in a photograph than in a description of our expressions and actions.

Renee Takara
Photogarphs are important in our lives because they capture a precise moment in time that can never truly be revisted…Memory is faulty whereas pictures will hopefully last forever.

Isabelle Woodward
…[T]hey let us se things we might not have otherwise gotten to see.

James Gray
I think that p.g.s are important historically but only important “in our lives” via assigned meaning rather than implicitly.

Tiffany Vu
A photo of someone is almost a part of that person

Jason Hirata
Unimportant because it is a representation of reality- a dumbed down version that can be altered faked and used to lie.
Important- story telling device. Fantasy is the truest form of creation.

Kathleen
Quite plainly our society tends to be very stimulated by visual elements. People will pay a great deal to see this movie, or that picture of a celebrity…It is a way for me to reflect on my life, share my experiences at a given point in time.

Dylan Antonovich
Photographs are important (to many) because they have the ability to document a personal memory, a historic moment, a thing of beauty or an idea, then preserve, intensify or alter it completely to fulfill the photographer’s vision as an artist to…

Erik Turnquist
Important: They capture an event in history for others to see. Photos allow people to experience how another person sees the world.

Homework from 4/8

Homework:
Please bring prints from today’s group assignment for Monday

Post best examples of today’s pair assignment to your Flickr page. Do this by Saturday night as I will look at them on Sunday!

Put a real image of you on your Flickr page as the icon

Someone from your group should collect objects for multiple objects in the landscape assignment on Monday. I will try to make an example before Monday and post it to my stream. Perhaps two people could bring objects.

Photograph a large object or person outdoors using a variety of focal lengths. Try to keep the size of the subject in the frame the same but vary the distance from it by changing the degree of zoom. Make at least 4 pictures doing this.

Similarly make a series of 4 photographs utilizing zoom to show the same place, thing, whatever but by zooming in and out and not changing your physical location. Keep the center of the frame in the same place, but zoom in and out to create 4 very different “looks.” They don’t need to be good pictures, just good examples of focal lengths.

Optional: post your previous group assignment to Flickr
Reminder: you will need a container that can be made light tight for next Wednesday