Monday, March 26, 2012

Photo Assignment comments....by (Angela) Jean

 A few people have sent messages saying that they would be interested in hearing what my photography professor had to say about my assignments.

I have updated the posts for my main assignments and included his feedback.

Click on the links to read his comments.

Assignment #7-The Alphabet

Assignment #4-Activity Assignment

The final class of the term is this Wednesday night. I have learned so much in this course I will be sad to have it end. Time to look at the course calendar and see which course is next!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Photography Assignment #8....by (Angela) Jean

Where has the time gone? It's been almost 3 weeks since I posted? Shame on me!

And here we are, the final assignment of this semester's photography course. I completed this one almost 2 weeks ago because we were going to be on vacation the week it was due (vacation post to come shortly). It was right up my alley since my portraits are my favourite things to shoot. Here is the exact assignment:

Available Light Portraits
Create 6 semi-formal portraits using only the light that exists in your location (indoors), no supplementary light sources or flash allowed. Process the files yourself with either Photoshop, Lightroom or your camera software.
 
And here are my shots.

Ian
Madeleine

Samantha
Samuel
Mimi
Mr. Finch
Oh, and are you interested in hearing my instructor's feedback from the previous assignments? I have received some for my previous 2 assignments, but I wasn't sure if anyone wanted to know what he said. He gives amazingly detailed feedback and I'd be happy to share it because I am a firm believer that we all learn when we share.

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Photography Assignment #7-The Alphabet....by (Angela) Jean (updated with instructor feedback)

Some of you have messaged me saying that you would be interested in seeing the feedback from my photography instructor. I found his comments and examples very interesting so I decided to share them.

The latest assignment for my photography class was a creative assignment.

"Produce 13 photographs from the alphabet. The subject must convey a letter from the alphabet. Some letters will be obvious while others will require careful observation. Cropping (limited) is allowed, but no rotating or flopping the image. The images may be man-made, but not created to be that. Do not photograph a letter A from a sign and use it as an A. The observer should easily  recognize the object. Pictures that show you are looking and observing. Colour or black and white."

This was a bit trickier than it initially sounds, but I found it challenging and fun. My preference is usually to photography people, but it was a refreshing change to shoot things that didn't move.

Here are my submissions. See if you can figure out the letters. I'll leave a comment at the end of this post with all of the letters in case you get stumped.

  • All of the technical requirements of the assignment have been met.
  • This is an interesting interpretation. It feels a bit funny, because I think it is a support for an air conditioner. If it were really on this kind of angle, I would call someone to come and fix it.

  • Good use of depth of field.
  • Interesting idea. Not so much set up as the most unusual way to keep a grater. (I think he is suggesting I don't store my grater this way, but I actually do. It is lying on top of the hanging pot rack above my kitchen island.)
His re-edited version

  • This is an interesting idea. I think you need to increase the contrast in order to really make it work. This is one of the few times when you have a neutral, shadow and highlight that are all easily identifiable.
  • This works well
His re-edited version

  • This may be a realistic interpretation of this portion of the chandelier, but realistic doesn't always result in the best image. I think that if you lighten the image and change the black point you can make a far more dramatic image that makes the letter pop.

  • I think the image is good but not as effective as it could be because it is so dark.
  • This is a pretty good idea. I think that the composition could be tightened up. Withe the key part of the image is part of a circle I think you could make this stronger by cropping fairly tight around the clock. Essentially putting a circle in a square.
his re-edited version
  • I think due to the overexposed feeling of this image that it lacks impact. If you recover some sky detail and darken the shadows, the image is easier to read and more interesting.
  • This is a good shot, but the blown out sky is a distraction. I think you need to use some recovery for the highlights and then a little fill light for the shadows.
  • This works, until the weather cooperates with the real thing.
There are some very interesting interpretations in your assignment. If you go for the suggestions I
have made I think you can raise the overall quality of the assignment. Learning the numbers and
experience will make a huge difference to what you can get out of each file. Once you start to see the
possibilities of working in Camera Raw to get the most information and impact from each of your files I think you will find that you can make more compelling images than the standard camera jpeg.
I would be interested on seeing what you could find to finish off the alphabet. With more time on your
hands in the future I think that would be a fun assignment to finish off.