Composition #2

Critiquing Art

• What is a Critique?
• A critique is an oral or written discussion strategy used to analyze, describe, and interpret works of art.
• Why Critique?
• Improves your work
• Constructive Criticism: advice that is useful and intended to help or improve something.
• Share feedback and thoughtful responses.
• Answer the question: "Hey Mrs. Raskin, why didn't I get an A on this assignment?").
• 4 Steps:
• Description
• Describe the work without using value words like "beautiful" or "ugly".
• Name what you see
• Tell the medium (materials used to make the art) <- photo paper.
• Analysis
• Describe how the work is organized as a complete composition.
• Use elements and principles of art.
• Objectives of the assignment.
• Elements:
• Line 
• Shape
• Value
• Space
• Color
• Form Texture (3-D)
• Principles:
• Emphasis
• Balance
• Rhythm
• Contrast
• Unity
• Proportion
• Interpretation
• Describe how the work makes you feel or think. (What is the mood created by the work).
• What is the meaning or purpose of the work?
• Judgement/Evaluation
• An educated evaluation of the work based on certain art criteria.
• Is the work successful or not? (lesson objectives)

Perspective

Literal:

• Where you stand in relation to your subject.
• How that influences the appearance of your subject.

Figurative:

• The feeling that is conveyed about your subject.

Bird's Eye:

• View of your subject from above.
• Diminishing

Worm's Eye:

• View of your subject from below.
• Dominance and power

* Both Bird's Eye and Worm's Eye will show a literal and figurative point of view.

Photo 1 (Climber):

• Shallow Depth of Field
• Shows more motion than Photo 2.
• Dramatic-- More contrast, proportion, facial expression
• Bird's eye

Photo 2 (Climber):

• Great Depth of Field
• Plain-- Low contrast, not much diversity in any of the aspects of the photo
• Evenly balanced
• Worm's eye

Photo 1 (Basketball):

• Frozen motion
• Great depth of field
• Worm's eye
• Leading line

Photo 2 (Basketball):

• Frozen motion
• Great depth of field
• Bird's Eye

Assignment:

• 12 photos of a PERSON.
• Use different perspectives.
• Simplicity
• All other aspects.

The Principles of Art

Balance:

• The appearance of equal visual weight within a composition.
• Symmetrical- Mirror-image composition, same on each side.
• Asymmetrical- Still looks balanced by objects that are not centered in the frame (Rule of Thirds).
• Radial- Circular style composition, all objets radiate rom a central point.

Rhythm:

• Repetition of elements helps to create a sense of movement in a photograph.
• How viewer's eye moves through the photo.
• Repeated steps, hands, etc.

Contrast:

• Creates a focal point by using differences in the elements.
• Contrasts colors, textures, or shapes to direct your viewing towards a particular part of the photo.

Proportion:

• The relationship between the sizes of objects or comparisons in an image.

Emphasis:

• Emphasis refers to the focal point of the work-what stands out.
• One of the most important decisions!
• Use contrast of all other principles and elements.

Unity:

• Occurs when all of the elements of a piece combine to make a balanced, harmonious, complete whole.
• The repetition of similar elements-- lines, shapes, pattern, and textures-- contributes a sense of unity or oneness.

The Elements of Art

Line:

• The most basic building element.
• A point moving in space.
• Can be real-a yellow line on a road -- or -- implied-geese flying in a "V".

Value:

• The quality of light and dark, both in terms of color and shades of gray in a composition.
• Light and dark values give you visual cues and forms of shapes and objects.

Shape and Form:

• A shape is created when a line meets itself. 2D or flat.
• A form is similar but it is 3D.
• Shapes and forms can be either geometric or organic.
• Positive Shape: physical subject.
• Negative Shape: shapes made by subject.

Color: 

• Hue: the name of a color.
• Saturation: Intensity/purity of a color.
• Value: light and dark of a color.

Space:

• Space is the two dimensional arrangement of objects in a photograph.
• Space also refers to 3D illusion of depth in the image.

Texture:

• Appealing to the sense of touch.
• In photography, a sense of texture can help to make a photo look more 3D or realistic in its dimensional feel.

- Elements and Principles of Art -

• Lines: 
• A point moving in space. They can be real or implied
• Shape and Form: 
• Shapes are formed when a line meets itself.
• Shapes can be either geometric or organic.
• Squares are geometric
• Flowing curves are an example of organic shapes
• Form (unlike shape) is 3-D and has volume
• Color: 
• When you are talking about color in photography you are referring to light.
• Three Qualities of Color:
• Hue: Colors such as green, blue, etc.
• Saturation: Intensity/purity of a color.
• Value: Brightness of a color.
• Primary and Secondary Colors:
• Primary: Red, green, and blue
• Secondary: A mixture of two of the primary colors
• All of the colors on the color wheel put together make white light.
• Using colors from opposite sides of the color wheel can create contrast making your photo more interesting, and can evoke excitement.
• Value:
• The quality of light and dark in color and in light/dark.
• This is very important in photography because photography is "the medium of light".
• Value is responsible for bringing out emotion and mood in a photo.
• Space:
• Two-dimensional arrangement of objects and three-dimensional depth.
• This also refers to the depth of field of the photo.
• Texture:
• Texture is the sense of touch that can be shown in photos. If the photo is clear our brains can imagine how the objects in the photo may feel in real life. 
• Unity:
• Occurs when all of the individual parts of your photograph work together to support each other and make one strong photo.
• Unity can also make a photo boring if overdone.
• Variety:
• All of the diverse elements and principles found in the photo.
• Light/Dark, Big/Small, etc.
• Movement and Rhythm:
• Movement can be either real or implied.
• Rhythm is a different type of movement in photography and is created by the repetition of different aspects such as color, value, shape, and line.
• Emphasis:
• This is what your photo is about. It is important to make sure the viewer can understand what the main idea of the photo is when looking at it.
• To create emphasis, the photographer should give a specific object greater importance than the rest of the objects in the photo.
• Proportion:
• The relationship between the sizes of objects in an image. 
• This can help determine distance and location.

First Assignment Notes ~ 9/23/2015

Exposure Controls: 

Exposure

• Duration of time that the shutter is open (film is exposed to light/light enters the camera).
• The actual taking of the photo 1.
• Shutter Speed + Aperture + film ISO/ASA + Lighting = (determines)
• Unbalanced light meter (incorrect exposure)
• Overexposed vs. Underexposed

ISO/ASA

• The measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light.
• Higher numbers (1600) are for darker places, whereas lower numbers (100) are for photos taken in brighter sunlight.

Shutter Speed

• How fast or slow the shutter opens.
• The slower the shutter speed, the more light enters the camera.
• Shutter speed controls how your camera "sees" motion.
• The shutter speed numbers are actually fractions of a second. (represented by whole numbers)
• Ex: 1000 = 1/1000 sec.
• 100 is faster than 2
• 60 (1/60 sec.) is the slowest shutter speed useable while holding the camera.
• The time the shutter is open is either double or half.

Shutter Speed and Motion

• Fast shutter speed (1/1500 or 1/1000) will freeze movement.
• Camera shake DOES NOT = motion

Aperture

• The opening in the lens of the camera.
• Size determines the amount of light let in through the lens.
• Aperture controls depth of field (What's in focus and what's not).
• Depth of Field
• Great:
• Small aperture openings = a great depth of field (everything is in focus).
• A large # (f/16, f/22) = small opening.
• Shallow:
• Large aperture opening = a SHALLOW depth of field (only the main subject is in focus)
• A small # (f/2, f/1.8) = a large opening.
• Law of Reciprocity
• One exposure control can compensate for another.
• You are balancing time (shutter speed) vs. quantity of light (aperture).
• Aperture and Shutter Speed
• When you change your aperture, you must check and change your shutter speed.
• Your light meter will tell you if you are correct.

First Assignment: Frozen Motion

• 6 photos using fast shutter speeds (to freeze motion).
• Shutter speed to use: 250 or faster.

First Assignment: Blurred Motion

• 6 photos using slow shutter speeds (to blur motion)
• Shutter Speed to use: 60 or slower. (60, 30, 15, 8, 4, 2)