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)

Matting Notes

Goals:
1. Fram is 1.5 inches on all 4 sides
2. Appropriate window size
3. Frame is cut neatly
4. Frame is "square" with 90 degree angles

Steps for Making the Mat:
1. Measure INSIDE your print, so that your ruler starts measuring the INSIDE of your photo about 1/8" on each side.

                                    OR Measure your print and subtract 1/4"

2. Figure out how bit the frame is by adding 3 inches to the size of the window.

           EX: 5 3/4" + 3" = 8 3/4"

3. Start at the edge of black railroad board and measure the frame size. Use pencil to make at least 3 marks as guide lines. Connect the marks to make a line.

4. On each of the 4 edges, measure in 1.5" and draw a guideline.

5. Use the paper cutter to cut the outside of your frame.

The Pinhole Camera 9/9/2015

1. The Iris, Lens and Retina of the eye work similarly to the Film, Iris and Lens of a camera. They both are responsible for taking in light and turning it into the images we see.

2. The image is formed by light entering the darkroom and being exposed to the film (or retina) which forms an image that is flipped. The sharpness of the camera obscura is dependent on how still the things being photographed stay, and the exposure time.

3. A Camera Obscura has a lens, while a pinhole camera does not.

4. The chamber must be completely dark, and the hold has to be very small. Also, make sure that you have a shutter that covers the pinhole.

5. Light enters the pinhole and projects an inverse image on the opposite side of the box or chamber.

Vermeer and the Camera Obscura 9/9/2015

1. Camera Obscura is known as a 'dark chamber' because to see the projected image there must be no light coming in other than the light from the lens. It works by the image coming in through the lens and being projected onto the back of the box.

2. It is speculated that he used one because of the ease that it gave painters, and how detailed the paintings could be.

3. He would choose to use it because it makes painting a lot easier since you can already see the image and then simply copy it onto the canvas. I don't think it reduces his value as an artist, but as a painter because he still had a very skilled artistic eye, but his paintings were more photographs that he copied than if he just looked at his subjects and painted them.

Nature of Photography

1.    What is a photogram?  

A photogram is a simple record of light and shadow.

2.    There are two methods of making a photogram.  In detail compare and contrast each method.  Find the similarities and differences.  

For printed-out photograms, a darkroom is not necessary, but the process takes a few hours of being in the light. The process is very similar to how tan lines form on our skin, but the lines are formed in the emulsion of the photo paper. The other method for creating photograms is the developed-out method, which is much more effective because the image will never fade since a fix chemical is used to keep the image constant. Another major difference is that for the developed-out method, the light is flashed for a short time and then the photo paper is developed in a darkroom.

3.    Describe “exposure” and give an example.

Exposure refers to the amount of exposure to light the photogram receives affecting how light or dark the image comes out to be.

4.    What are the steps to developing an image?  List the purpose of each step.

The first step is to put the photo paper in the developer chemical which changes the ghost image by bringing out the silver particles in the emulsion. Secondly, you put the photo paper in the stop bath which ends the development of the photo. Then the photo goes into the fix solution which takes out the unused material in the undeveloped area and makes the photogram safe to have in normal lighting. Finally the photo should be rinsed so the chemicals are all washed off of the photo.

5.    Look at the images on page 5.  What do you notice happening in the negative and positive photogram?  Describe what a negative image is.  

The difference between the negative and positive photogram is that in the positive, everything that is black in the negative becomes white. Negative images are the original photo that can later be turned into a positive image.

6.    In detail, compare and contrast the wet & dry process for making a positive image.

The wet process does not require the negative image to be dried after development which shortens the time needed for the process. This process requires you to hold the negative and a new sheet of photo paper together while washing them, then you flash the light for one second and develop. For the dry process you take the dried negative, and place a new sheet of photo paper on top of it, then put a piece of glass on top to hold them in place. After that you flash a light and develop the positive.

7.    Photograms offer a unique form of expression.  What do you think makes them  interesting and unique?  

The abstract nature of how the objects used show up on the photo paper after development.

First Photogram (9/2/15)

1. The dollar bill that I had in the corner turned out really well because the words on the back are visible. Also, the CD looks really neat since it came out as being opaque.

2. I was surprised that the words from the dollar bill came through onto the photo paper.

3. I would flip the bill over so that the face could have shown up on the photogram. Also, I would adjust how I positioned the earbuds.