Final Project

Our final class project will consist of... Drumroll please...

A COLORING Assignment!

Yup, that's right, it's gonna be sweet. The reason I asked you guys to download photoshop and take pictures of your classmates is because we're going to be creating coloring pages today in class based on those images. Here's what I want for you when coloring though.

1. Explore new methods for coloring. Are you going to melt colors together and brush it on? Cut chunks off a coloring stick and rub it in? There are TONS of different methods out there that go far beyond simply coloring in the outlines of an image. Explore and have fun!

2. You are going to choose two images to color. Both pages should be 8.5x11, black and white.

3. Before you start coloring your images and after exploring methods, write out what you're going to attempt and your process and post it to your blog.

3. Upon completion, take pictures of your images and post them onto your blog. With the images provide a 2-3 paragraph summary of how the process went. Was it harder and or more complicated than you thought? What methods would you have liked to try that you didn't?


Here's how we're going to turn your photographs into coloring pages:

1. Open Photograph
2. Duplicate the layer
3. Go to Image - Adjustments - Desaturate
4. Duplicate that layer
5. Go to Image - Adjustments - Invert
6. Go to Blending Options for that layer and choose linear dodge
7. For that layer go to: Filter - Blur - Guassian Blur (Find the best combination of black and white colors using the slider).

Fun Work | April 25

Hello my friends!
Here's what I'd like for you to do on Wednesday. Very very short and sweet.

1. If you haven't finished downloading Photoshop, PLEASE make sure that it is on your computer and opens properly before class begins on Wednesday.

2. Take 10 photographs of any of your classmates (need to be different people) and post to blog. Pictures need to have clean, non-distracting backgrounds. For example, solid colored walls, brick backgrounds, etc.

On Wednesday I'll tell you what we're going to be doing with those images for the next week, working in Photoshop. Let me know if you have any questions!

Download Photoshop CS6

Students: Click on this link and navigate towards the bottom of the post where it says you can download a trial copy of Photoshop CS6.

Now await further instruction :)

Fun Work | April 17

See UPDATED post from APRIL 11 for your assignment for this week.

Fun Work | April 11

Here's the mini-version of the self portrait assignment we did over break. I'd like you to spend the next week doing the assignment and have pictures ready for me at the beginning of class, next wednesday, April 11.

1. Shoot a total of 7 images, starting today and going through until next Tuesday, April 10.

2. Need to be self portraits that include some portion of you in the photograph.

3. The picture MUST be properly exposed and in focus.

4. The photographs need to be taken with an actual camera.

5. After editing the image at the end of each day, open it in Pixelmator and make sure the image size is a minimum of 4x6 with a resolution (dpi) of 240.

6. Put your images inside a folder with your full, ex. "Jonny Long".

7. Each of your images should be named as follows, "Jonny 01, Jonny 02, Jonny 03," etc.

8. Turn that folder into me at the beginning of class on Wednesday.

Fun Work | April 11 *UPDATE" Due APRIL 17

Hello all. Hope you had a terrific Spring Break and are ready to hit the ground running here today. Okay, so a couple of things to touch on.

First of all, I love you all. I'd be lying if I said I'm not a little disappointed, however, with how our last assignment has turned out. Two of you got me the images by the assigned due date of March 28 with the correct format for printing. Also, the number one requirement I had for capturing the photographs was to make sure that above everything else, you took photographs that were in FOCUS. There are some good images, but there are also quite a few that are entirely out of focus, as in not any one portion of the photograph is in focus. We've had the conversation in class before about the importance of following instructions/directions and I feel as though maybe I have been a little bit too willing to let things fly. Because of this we're going to have some changes for how we conduct completing assignments. This will be to help hold you as well as me accountable with following through with assignments. Stay tuned as I need to have a discussion with Kevin as to how to proceed exactly.

As far as today, we're not able to work on mounting our self portraits on poster board as I didn't get all of your images in time to print, which I spoke to some of you personally about last night and asked to get from you. With that said, we'll do this part of the assignment next week in class. Here's what I'd like for today:

1. Please open all of your images and make sure that they are saved with a resolution of 240dpi. We are printing 4x6 images so the picture dimensions need to be at least 4x6 inches. Make sure in Pixelmator that they are in fact at least 4x6 inches. NOTE: Not sure if any of you did this, I hope not, but you cannot use your computer to get a picture to print as the computer only captures a photograph for the web at 72dpi.

2. Rename all of your image so they read as follows: "Your name01" Ex. "Jonny01", "Jonny02", etc. and place them in a folder with your full name. Ex. "Jonny Long"

3. Copy the above folder onto the hard drive provided to you and give back to me.

4. For the rest of class and this next week, I'd like you to research and write a paper on the history of Photography. How did it begin? What was it like for those that first took photographs? Who invented it? What were some of the challenges? Talk about technological progression, the difference between editing in a dark room vs. a computer, etc. Lots of things to discuss. Here's the requirements:

- 2-3 Pages in length (Double Spaced). 12 pt font.

- 4-6 Sentences per paragraph (Count the sentences if you need to! There shouldn't be 3 or 10sentences for any one paragraph).

- Top left of the page needs to be a header with your name, the date, and class.

- Paper needs to have a Title

- Print paper, staple together, and hand in to me at the beginning of class next Wednesday. That doesn't mean print it after we meet in class next week. It needs to be printed before you get to school Wednesday and ready to hand in to me by the start of class!

Wednesday, March 7 - In class Assignment

Thanks to my brother, Joseph for writing this project up. It's a good one!

Some of you have seen the KONY 2012 documentary. Most of you have probably seen links or references to it on Facebook. Today, we will be watching it on our computers. If you have already seen it, then you may either watch it again or respond in depth to the questions below. If you are watching it for the first time in class today, you will probably not have time to finish your post. Your post will be due by Wednesday, March 14 at 2.30 pm (before class begins). Come to class tomorrow prepared to discuss.

Post: KONY 2012
Labels: documentary, Question of the Day, critical thinking, mass media

1. Summarize the documentary KONY 2012 in one paragraph. What is it about? (one paragraph)
2. Why did the filmmaker choose to make this film? What does he hope to achieve? What is his specific goal and what is his strategy for making it happen? (1-2 paragraphs)
3. What is your personal opinion on the strategy he is using to raise awareness? Is it effective? At some point, people get tired of seeing "the same old posts" about an issue. Some of you have already asked the question "what's the point of this video?" What is the point? Even if you're personally tired of seeing links and posts about it, do you think there is value in saturating the media like the film proposes? What would you do different? (1-2 paragraphs)
4. What do you think about about the idea of making a "bad person a celebrity?" Are there any negatives to this approach? (one paragraph)
5. What is the difference between raising awareness and between a call to action?
6. What is an issue you feel strongly about - strongly enough that you would want to not only raise awareness, but call people to action? Be specific - in other words, don't just choose a topic like 'eliminate world hunger.' It doesn't have to be a global issue, but it should be a specific, definable one where you are proposing a specific solution. What is a specific way to focus on that topic? Ask yourself the following questions:
   What is the issue?
   Where is it?
   Who are the people affected?
   Why should people care about this issue?
   What can people like you do to solve the problem; to help? What specifically can people do?
   How could you use the media to call attention to the issue? How can you get people's attention?