Be cute Tuesday for holiday pics in class

Wear that cheesy holiday sweater your grandma gave you and bring your Santa hat cause, baby, it's gonna be cold inside on Tuesday. A snowy backdrop, an array of holiday props, and some paper snow to toss around will make us all feel like we're in a winter wonderland.
Digital pics-your camera or mine-in class Tuesday for our Christmas cards.

Third Six Weeks

Ya'll are doing great with your choice shoot. We need to finish it by next week because then we will be taking holiday pictures and making Christmas cards in class. Bring your Santa hat and red sweater on Tuesday to take digital pictures in class.
See what the backdrop looks like and what your snow cutting helped create at Mrs. H's blog.
http://charlottehensleyphotography.blogspot.com/

Extra Credit Pics

Photos by Erica Alcala, Pedro Vidal, Eriana Ruiz, and Melissa Mirales

The Light Shoot

We are supposed to have sunshine throughout the week. Take advantage of it to get your light pictures done. Film is due Nov. 9.
Light Shoot
Take 4 examples each. Use sunshine in the morning or late afternoon where you can see strong shadows for the first 4. Pay attention to where the shadows fall and when to use a flash.

1. Front light-light hits subject from the front, shadow falls back/ has good detail and very few problems/ watch for your shadow (which falls forward towards subject) and squinty eyes/ flash will not affect

2. Side light-light comes in one side of viewfinder or picture and shadow falls out the other side/ look of photo is 1 side bright & 1 side shadowed/ cover or turn off flash to avoid flash overpowering the shadows/ good for texture, can be dramatic lighting effect

3. Back with a rim-light comes from behind the subject making shadows fall forward/ try to get subject centered in front of sunshine to see the glow around it/ background will be bright, but want the subject to be correctly exposed
auto-use a flash to fill in shadows (fill flash if you have that option)
manual-face the camera down to get a meter reading & set the controls, then frame the shot and ignore the meter since it is reading for the background light

4. Back as a silhouette-subject will look dark and shadowy (not a literal shadow) and background will be bright/ sun will come directly behind subject/ if squint can see the silhouette/ choose an interesting shaped subject and frame up against the sky
auto-back up to 10-20 feet and use a larger subject, turn off flash or cover
manual-meter off the sky which will give a reading like 1000 at f 16 or something similar to purposely underexpose the subject

5. Soft light-should not have any distinct shadows/ have subject in shade or shoot on a cloudy day/ manual cameras only may shoot indoors/ do not use a flash

6. Night-bright subject and dark backgrounds
auto-use a flash in the dark no farther from subject than 10 feet away
manual-can use flash like the auto (be sure to set correct sync speed on shutter speed dial) or use a time exposure with the B setting to take a photo of light such as a neon sign or a candle/ can also use off camera flash with B settings

Congratulations to vote winners!

The following students were voted to have the best photos by you, their peers, for the first shoot. I apologize for not getting the pictures scanned before you took them home.
Jahaida Perez
Esther Padgett
Lynda Lee and Adrian Esquival tied
Tied for honorable mention:
Adrian Esquival
Michelle Garza
Justice Shoemaker
Julia Castillo

Digital Editing

We braved the cold and occassional mist to shoot composition on digital cameras outside Thursday. 8th block got a break with sunshine and warmer temps on Friday. This week we will begin learning Photoshop layers, cropping, burning and dodging to add to what we already learned about levels and auto color.
After the votes come in, I will post some of the best of our first darkroom pics.

Photo Club

Photo Club now has a blog too. Check out the potential sites for our first outing Sunday Oct. 18. It's not too late to join.

http://dhsphotoclub.blogspot.com/

End of first Six Weeks

The six weeks ends this week. You should have finished 6 pictures to turn in with your contact sheet and sleeved negatives. Label everything to assignment and put your name on everything.
Make up time after school Tues. & Wed.
Extra credit whether digital or color pics-24 that you have taken this six weeks-topic doesn't matter-due by Thursday.
Be sure you have taken the following tests: History of Photography and Camera Parts and Functions.
Look in the Photo Class Work folder on the website for a complete list.

New grandbaby

1st Film Shoot

Our first roll of black and white film is due Sept. 22. The website has the assignment and example photos in the photo classwork folder.
1st film shoot
Also in the folder is a copy of the history slideshow we looked at and a copy of the questions.

The photogram above is 8th block's Michelle Garza's.

The photogram was established as an art form by Mann Ray although it is really the same concept as a shadowgram or sunprint which was the original attempt at creating a photograph. We will do sunprints next week.
Thursday was a very brief intro into digital editing. We will do more later. If you did not bring your digital images Thursday, there is really no reason to next week since we are moving on to more history.
The ideas that I hope you remember are that cropping can improve a picture, but that does not mean you have to crop to only the subject. You control exposure when you take a picture and when you print by the size of the aperture(hole) in the lens and the amount of time the light is left on (the shutter stays open). In printing, just as in digital editing, you can correct to some degree the original image. However, sometimes the exposure is so off that it can not be corrected.
Hope you are getting those film cameras as we get our first roll next week!
Have a good 3 day weekend.
Mrs. H

Pinhole Cameras

Tuesday we went outside and tried our pinhole cameras with varying degrees of success. Several went black immediately upon going into the developer. I had to wonder if these had sealed all the light leaks completely. Yeah for 3rd and 8th blocks where almost everyone had their box camera today!
Justice Shoemaker made one of the best examples today. The top is the paper negative, the bottom the inverted print made from it. He could have printed a couple of seconds longer.

Tomorrow I will add examples from the photograms.

1st Week Homework

We wrapped up the week discussing where to find cameras. Online ordering seems to be the best option if you can't readily find one used. Suggestions of ebay and Amazon as well as a link to Freestyle Photo are on the webpage.
www.duncanville.tx.k12.us/chensley/

For homework finish the "I am..." self expression poster. (An instruction page is also on the chensley webpage.)
Make a pinhole camera using a box and bring it to class on Tuesday. We will make pictures with it then.
http://www.kodak.com/global/en/consumer/education/lessonPlans/pinholeCamera
Due on Thursday is your first photo assignment. Take at least 24 (but not 200) pictures with a digital camera. The topic is basically a free shoot, meaning anything that is suitable for school but is not all self-portraits.
For this assignment only, if you have no other camera than in your phone, then use your phone. You may bring the pictures on cd, flash drive or on your card or camera if you have a sync cord. I have some cords, but possibly not to fit yours.

Day 2

I'm not posting the day 2 questions because they require the use of a book. If you missed class, we learned a little about the progression from the beginning of photography to current usage. We will be continuing this line of study for a couple of weeks. The "I am" page is due Friday for 8th, Tuesday for everyone else.

Welcome to Photo Class

The first day we:

filled out a questionaire

got the information paper about needing a camera and a supply fee

got a business card with contact info

did an "I am..." cut and paste (the instruction page is in the photo class work link on the website

looked at Mrs. Hensley's example page (above)

Don't let the computer eat all your pictures

We begin this year discussing the history of photography. We look at photos taken more than 100 years ago. I encourage students to visit the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth with one of the best historical photographic exhibits in the country. The museum is even free to visit.

Students however always want to jump into digital. It's new and exciting and yes, it is cool I shoot completely digital myself. However I am trying not to fall into the digital pit where I have no hard copy pictures, just pictures online. I have known so many people to have lost pictures on their computers forever. Unlike a printed photo which you will eventually stumble upon again or that you have hanging on a wall or in an album to look at years later.

I've attached a link about just that. A friend just had an out of town wedding shot and got a dvd. She showed me the pictures, and I recommended places to get prints made. Months after the wedding, they still have no prints.

Digital has replaced film even though film is not dead (another site-another discussion). But I encourage people to print their digital pictures as well.

http://virtualphotographystudio.com/photographyblog/2009/08/11/photographers-the-history-killers/

Why you should bookmark the photo class blog

1. This is the place you will come for assignments if you have been absent.
2. There will be notes and examples if you forget an assignment.
3. Some of the best examples from assignments will be posted here, so you might be famous for 15 minutes.
4. Interesting photo links will be added that enhance our studies.
5. Bonus points will be available at random times thoughout the year.