Middletown High School North - Photography Class - Composition Unit Mrs. Vega

Middletown High School North - Photography Class - Composition Unit ………Mrs. Vega

For this project students may use any kind of digital camera, including the digital camera in a cell phone.

This unit will be broken down into several separate lessons based on specific categories of composition guidelines. When the unit is complete, you will have photographed several different types of subject matter in such a way that you create a set of photos through which you CLEARLY demonstrate each of the photo composition design principles listed on the next page*. (Use your creativity & imagination to produce aesthetically pleasing and original compositions.)

Part 1(homework) - Take the assigned pictures. (This unit will be broken up into separate lessons. Each week you will be given a different set of pictures until you have completed all 18 of the composition guidelines outlined on the next page.)
Part 2 (class work) – Open Adobe Bridge and transfer your image files from your camera to the assigned folder on your computer.
Part 3 (class work) - Create and print a Contact Sheet that shows all the assigned photos.
Part 4 (class work) – Double click on an image in Adobe Bridge to open it in Adobe PhotoShop. Make a small file size copy of the image as follows:
Go to the Image column and scroll down to “image size”
In the document section of the window, make sure the resolution is 72 and then change either the height or width (whichever is larger) to 10 inches.
Click Ok.
Go to the File column and scroll down to “SAVE AS.” (Make sure you choose “Save As”; do not choose “Save.”). When you see the file name appear, click your mouse button after the existing file name and add the word “small” to the existing file name. (For example, if the original name was IMG027, change the name to IMG027-small.) Now click save.
You should see two copies of the image in Adobe Bridge – the original one and the new small file size copy you just created.
Do this for each of the images in this assignment. You will need the small file size copies for your Google Presentation.
Part 5 (class work) – Use Google Classroom to create a Google Presentation with a title slide followed by one slide for each picture in the assignment. When you have completed all 18 composition guidelines, use Google Classroom to “turn in” your presentation.

COMPOSITION UNIT

(Use your creativity & imagination to produce aesthetically pleasing and original compositions.)

S-CURVE: Take a photo with an S-curve that is a strong leading line that draws the eye of the viewer along an s-shaped path through the foreground, middle ground and background picture areas to bring attention to various key points of interest within your composition.
VANISHING POINT: A set of parallel lines (for example, the sides of a road, railroad tracks, sides of a stream, etc.) appears to converge at the horizon line, forming an upside-down V-shape. The point of the ‘V’ is called the ‘vanishing point.’ Take a photo with a vanishing point.
REPETITION / PATTERN: Look carefully at the world around you to find interesting patterns created when composition elements such as lines, shapes, etc. are repeated. Now, think of a drumbeat – a drumbeat can be either very steady or very rhythmic. A steady beat creates a regular pattern, but it is a little monotonous because there is no change to interest us. When there are slight variations in the pattern that repeat at set intervals we can perceive a rhythm in the pattern.

A photo of a picket fence would be one example of a very regular ‘beat’ or pattern because there is no change from one picket to the next. The marks that waves make in the sand on a beach would be one example of a pattern with a rhythm because, although the lines marked in the sand are similar to each other, there are slight differences in the length & depth of each line and the spaces between the lines.

CLOSE-UP VIEW: Take a photo that concentrates on one particular feature of your subject (such as the face and shoulder area of a favorite pet). To do this, move as close to your subject as you possibly can while still keeping the subject in very sharp focus – usually about 3 ½ -4 ft. from the subject.
BIRD’S EYE VIEW: A bird in flight sees things from an overhead point of view. Take a photo that shows an object or scene from above - the way a bird in flight might see it.
WORM’S EYE VIEW: A worm looks up at the world from a ground level point of view. Take a photo that shows an object / scene from ground level looking upward - the way a worm might see it.
OPEN FORM SHAPE: An open form photo is one that does not include the whole outline of an object. For example, you might like the design of a fender or tail fin of an old-fashioned car. If you take a picture of just that part of the car you have an open form shape, since what the rest of the car looks like is left open to the viewer’s imagination.
TYPES OF SHAPE: Take a photo in which the shapes are …

EITHER...... ALL GEOMETRIC SHAPES

Geometric shapes are shapes like squares, triangles, rectangles, circles, etc.

OR ALL ORGANIC SHAPES

Organic shapes are irregular, ‘amoeba-like’ shapes such as the petals of a flower.

CONTRAST TWO DIFFERENT TEXTURES: Texture is the way something feels. Visual texture is the way something looks like it would feel. Take a picture in which objects that have very different textures are placed either side-by-side or overlapping, so that the textures are clearly shown and contrasted. Note: texture shows more clearly when light is coming from the side of the objects.
FOREGROUND FRAME: Use things in the foreground area of a picture (the area closest to you), like the branches of a tree or an interesting railing or fence, to create a kind of ‘frame’ around a more distant object or scene in the background area of a picture. (Be sure that you have enough light so that you can use a high f/stop (aperture) number like f/11 or f/16, so that you will have a large enough Depth of Field to be sure that your foreground & background are all in sharp focus!)
RULE OF THIRDS BALANCE

Imagine lines dividing your composition into thirds vertically & horizontally. Place your center of interest on one of the lines or on or near the point where two lines intersect.

12. RADIAL - BALANCE

Radial balance is created when there is a center area or focal point in your photo and all of the objects / elements ‘radiate’ outward from that point like the petals on a flower or the spokes on a wheel.

For this photo you could arrange a set of objects such as toy cars, etc. so that they clearly show radial balance.

PICTORIAL SPACE: Take a photo of a scene that has one or more objects in the foreground (the area closest to you- about 5-7 ft. away), plus one or more objects in the middle distance (about 10-15 ft. away), plus one or more objects in the background (about 20 or more ft. away).
PROPORTION / SCALE: In order to show the scale (proportional size) of one object in your photo, you need to place another object of known size near that first object. For example, you might place a person next to a dog to show how large that dog is. Since we know the size of a person we can clearly perceive how large the dog must be. Similarly, you might place a tiny object next to a mug or teacup to show just how tiny that object is by comparison.
MASS: In photographic composition terms ‘mass’ means making something look more 3-dimensional. You can do this by photographing your subject in such a way that you can clearly see two sides of the subject (or a top plus one side, etc.)in the photo. When you can see two sides of an object instead of just one side, the object appears much more 3-dimensional.
UNITY VARIETY SET: For this photo, gather a set of objects of the same category (for example, a set of shells, or a baseball card collection, or even a set of interesting looking boxes or tins). The unity comes from the fact that all the objects are of the same category. The variety comes from the fact that each individual object is different in some way form all the others.
VERY HIGH CONTRAST: Select 2 or more objects that are only black and white (or navy blue & white – since we are using black & white film it is only the contrast that matters). To make your photo more visually interesting, each object should have a different pattern from the others. For instance, you might use a black &white striped sheet as a background and put polka-dot socks on top of the sheet. Use your imagination in selecting objects to create the strongest optical effects.
LIGHT & DARK VALUES: Take a photo in which the subject is so dark that you see only a dark shape set against a lighter background. Do this by taking a photo of …
EITHER...... A SILHOUETTE

A silhouette is created when the light behind your subject is much, much stronger than any light falling on the front of your subject (In fact, the best silhouettes are pictures that have all the light behind the subject and no light in front of the subject.)

One way to create a silhouette is to place a subject in front of a sunny window and have all the room lights turned off and shades or blinds closed to make the rest of the room as dark as possible. Point your camera toward the window so that the camera’s meter sets the exposure for the bright light outside and then focus on your subject and take the photo.

OR AN INTERESTING SHADOW

Photograph ONLY the shadow – not the object that is creating the shadow.

Photo Project Image Quality Grading Rubric -.

10 points = Outstanding (A+)
Images meet the criteria for this project; that is, the instructions for completing the project have been followed correctly.
Images demonstrate an especially imaginative and resourceful use of the techniques taught in this project unit.
Elements and principles of composition have been used effectively to create images with strong impact.
The student has not only put in a "best effort" but has clearly put in sustained time and effort, experimenting with different ways to solve the project challenge.
8.5 points = Very Good (B+)
Images meet the criteria for this project; that is, the instructions for completing the project have been followed correctly.
The student has successfully applied most of the techniques taught in this project unit.
Elements and principles of composition have been used effectively to create images with impact. (Some have more impact than others.)
The final project clearly shows that the student has put in his or her "best effort."
7.5 points = Average (C+)
Images mostly meet the criteria for this project; that is, the instructions for completing the project have been followed with very few errors.
The student has made a discernible effort to apply the techniques taught in this project unit.
The student has made a discernible effort to use the elements and principles of composition to create images impact.
The final project clearly shows that the student has put in his or her "best effort;" however, there are some problems with the overall image quality (lack of sharpness/ lack of tonal clarity, etc.) that demonstrate that the student still needs to improve technical skills.
6.5 points = Needs Improvement / Poor (D) A student may earn a D for any or all of the following reasons:
The work was not submitted on time.
The image somewhat meets the criteria for this project; that is, the instructions for completing the project have been followed to a degree, but there are errors that demonstrate that the student lacks a clear understanding of the techniques taught in this project unit.
The student has not demonstrated an understanding of the difference between images that have impact and those that do not.
The student did, at least, turn in a project; however the overall quality of the project submitted does not show that the student has put in his or her "best effort."
There are significant problems with the overall image quality (lack of sharpness/ lack of tonal clarity, etc.) that demonstrate that the student needs to improve technical skills.
5.5 points (Failure) - No project was submitted - Failures will be assigned a point value of 5.5 - 6.4 depending upon the student's use of classroom time during the assigned project period.