LEARNING THROUGH

This prompt is meant to help you review all of your previous work for our class, and do some reflection on the artwork that you completed. It’s not nearly the level of final portfolio that students have completed in previous semesters—you can see some of those on the page included in the links. We had less than a quarter in the same room, using our DSLR cameras, and it was a big change for all of us.

But I still want you to have a chance to reflect and see your growth!

—-

Create an Adobe Spark portfolio that documents ten of your favorite photographs or videos you took during our course.

Title your portfolio: VISUAL COMMUNICATION PORTFOLIO, and include your name. 

A sample portfolio is attached.

To complete this assignment, you will need to review previous assignments you’ve submitted to Google Classroom. Watch the attached video clip for a system to re-save previously submitted work.

Adobe Spark does not currently have a good system for embedding videos that are saved in Google Drive. Videos either need to be presented as YouTube or Vimeo files (and I haven’t been asking you to publish this way)—or shared as links. Watch the attached video clip for an easy system to share video clips on a Spark page.

Use all the guidelines we previously reviewed for the theme page. The video demo of how to create a theme page in Adobe Spark is also included with this prompt. You can explore different styles for your layout if you like. 

IMPORTANT Present each one of your photographs/videos with a 2+ sentence caption that describes why you chose the image. Be specific. Discuss your work in terms of composition, lighting, theme, etc. Proofread your content. The insight that you provide on your work is worth 5 points of this week’s 15-point assignment.

Share the link to your portfolio for this assignment!

Sample Portfolio

Re-saving previous work in Classroom

Sharing a video submission on Adobe Spark

How to create a Spark Portfolio using your computer

How to create a Spark Portfolio using your phone

Sample portfolios from previous years

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to the questions below:

• In what ways do you feel differently about school, family, or yourself at the end of this school year than you did at the start?
• How did the pandemic shutdown relate to your feelings of difference? (Or did it?)
• What else contributed to your feelings of difference?

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. It’s important that your photos relate to your voice memo! You may have to consider some visual symbolism…

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. What sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

Review the linked presentation—much of which will be familiar to you. 

Then capture (5) photographs that illustrate how your life has changed since the pandemic started.

Practice composition in your photographs. A unique angle or an unexpected leading line can really capture your viewer’s interest. This is about STORYTELLING.  How can you tell the viewer your unique story through your images?  

Edit your photos to black and white. This should help emphasize our emotion and storytelling.  You can use any editing applications you’d like through your phone. (I just used photo edits.) Lightroom (free) is awesome for iPhones.  

Upload your photos separately.

ALSO add your photos to a Google slides presentation. On each slide, describe the changes that the photograph illustrates in at least two sentences. (More is fine.) See my samples at the end of the linked slideshow.

So… you’ll upload a total of 5 files this week.

You can choose to replace this week’s required option with this prompt if you like. 

PBS News Reporting Labs is sponsoring a contest, with a potential $250 gift certificate prize. 

“As part of SRL’s mission to lift up student voice and local community storytelling, we’ve partnered together on a social media challenge to amplify the voices of high school seniors in this historic moment.”

Follow the instructions in the linked prompt to produce a 60-second or less video on the topic: How has your senior year been affected by the coronavirus? 

• Make sure to include some B-roll. 
• I’d encourage you to look at the linked samples.
• I’d also encourage you to shoot landscape—even though the prompt states you can shoot vertically.
• Upload your finished video to this prompt on Classroom.

Instructions are provided in the link on how to submit your video for the contest. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SHARE YOUR VIDEO WITH SRL labs—but you’re welcome to do so; a $250 gift card + bragging rights are at stake! 

However, if you submit a response for this prompt, you’re giving me permission to share your video story on the MediaLab223 Instagram account.

Take a look at the prompt and reach out with any questions.

Please listen to the short linked voice memo. It’s important!

Then complete the linked course evaluation.

This is worth a significant ten points. Please take the time to complete it with some thoughtful feedback.

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Review the basics of color theory as presented in the linked slideshow.

Color theory is an important part of any art area—and photography is no exception. If you moved on to college for art or design, chances are that you would take more than one semester of classes focused strictly on the techniques, applications, and psychology of color!

Take:

• (3) photos that use a COMPLIMENTARY color scheme
• (3) photos that use an ANALOGOUS color scheme
• (3) photos that use a TRIADIC color scheme
• (3) photos that use a MONOCHROMATIC color scheme

You can use any of the techniques we’ve practiced so far. Try:

• Portraits
• Flat Lay Photos
• Going on a Walk / Nature
• Scenes around your home…

Present your photos as:

• File uploads
• A simple Google Slides document in which you label the color schemes

So… you’ll upload a total of 13 files this week. 

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE SLIDESHOW THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH FOR SOME IMPORTANT TIPS!

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Let’s face it: You’re all going to use it. Consider this prompt an excuse to do some research on how to use it better.

Review the linked slideshow. Then create your own instructional guide on how to create better visual impressions using video conferencing tools.

For each slide topic, include 2-3 sentences of information that you’ve researched on the topic. Do not plagiarize. Re-state what you’ve learned in your own words.

For each slide topic, include an IMAGE.

*For basic full credit on the assignment, this image can be from any online source.

*For EXTRA credit on the assignment—up to 5 points—your images should be original—a screenshot or photo that YOU CREATE to demonstrate the concept.

Include both text and AND an image on each of your five slides.

Your finished RESOURCE should include a title slide + five instructional slides.

Everyone has developed some routines during this time to help us make it through. Tell the story of one of those routines for you— or for one or more members of your family— using orignal footage and WeVideo. (You are also welcome to use another video editing app if you have access to these tools at home.)

Your video should contain:

• A narrative in your words
• At least two sequences (wide-medium-tight)
• Use of natural sound

Your video should be:

• 1-4 minutes long
• Free from gaps
• Shot fully in landscape 
• Free from any non-original footage. All footage must be your own.

Do not use music to edit this one. Instead, try to use some natural sound from the settings where you captured the video. Pay attention to transitions, beginnings, and endings. Try to make it smooth and professional.

Sample attached. I’ll demonstrate how I put this together during our office hours on Wednesday. 

Focus on telling your view a meaningful story.

Do not delete your footage or your files in WeVideo—we may explore a round of revisions with this project for next week.

SAMPLE

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

‘CRAP’ — Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, Proximity — is one interesting way to consider visual design. For this prompt, you’ll create a photograph in the style of photographer Emily Blincoe. Her work is an extension of the ‘flat lay’ concept we covered last week.

Review the slides. You’ll submit two photographs and a brief statement.

We’ll be coming back to video work next week… but after seeing the results of this prompt for Digital Photography, I realized that the flat lay is effectively a memory and keepsake piece right now. I want all of my students involved in photography-based classes to have a chance to create these photographs as a memory point for this time.

A flat lay is simply a photo of objects arranged on a flat surface, captured from directly above. Some people refer to this angle as a bird’s eye view. If you spend any time on social media, you’ve seen lots of these—companies often use flat lay photographs to create appealing photos to sell products.

Watch the linked video for some tips on how to create a flat lay. (You’re not expected to use this app, but you’re welcome to try it. The video is included in our Classroom prompt.)

Using flat lay photography, create a personal COVID-19 survival kit. Consider:

• What’s getting you through the pandemic?
• What’s helping you stay sane, healthy, and balanced?
• What objects might you use to symbolize your survival kit?

1. Your flat lay should contain at least seven objects—but you can use as many as you like.
2. Shoot your flat lay from directly above, using a LANDSCAPE format.
3. Use natural lighting and be thoughtful about your choice of background.
4. Submit THREE photographs that represent different compositional arrangements of your objects.
5. Submit a paragraph that discusses the meaning behind your choices of objects and the compositional choices you made for your design.

This means that your submission this week will have four attachments—three flat lay photos (same objects, different compositions) and a paragraph discussing your work.

Check out the student samples recently shared by high school photography students at Mid Pacific Institute in Honolulu, HI. Good luck and enjoy the experience!

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

PHOTO ESSAY: THE THINGS THAT BIND

The New York Times published an extraordinary photo piece recently. In “Still Lives,” 15 photographers each share a selection of images and a short essay about the things—or the experiences—that have become emblematic of this unprecedented time.

1. Scroll through the essays and find the photographs that are most compelling to you.
2. Read at least one or two of the short essays. (Most are only a couple of paragraphs, at most.)
3. Produce your own short photo essay that includes 3-5 photos and a written piece that puts these photos into context. 

Make this work personal and expressive. You are living through an experience that is complex, and your own experiences are unique. Share those experiences with your images and words.

Watch the video clips about shooting sequences that include wide, medium, and tight shots. (See Classroom for access to these videos.)

Create two original sequences, following the guidelines in the demo video.

• Hold your camera in landscape format and as steady as possible.
• Capture 10 seconds or more of each shot, but make each shot in WeVideo no more than 5 seconds.
• Create a title for ‘SEQUENCE 1’ and ‘SEQUENCE 2.’
• Fade to black with a transition at the end of your video.
• No added music.

In the comments on this prompt OR in a Google Doc, explain—in your own words, based on what you learned in the video—why video journalism typically uses this sort of sequence.

Sample linked. I will demo the process of creating this video during our office hours on Wednesday.

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What have you been learning about yourself during the quarantine?
• What personal strengths have you noticed?
• What have you been learning about ways that you’d like to challenge yourself or grow?
• How do you know these things? 

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points.

It’s important that your photos relate to your voice memo!

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. What sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

For this week—I simply want you to continue to practice the app, in order to create an original video. 

Use the app to create an original  1-3 minute video that tells a story. Have some fun if you like. Go outside if you like. Enjoy the process.

All video footage should be your own. (You can use music and/or sound effects from the WeVideo libraries if you want.)

All video should be captured landscape, so it fills the frame.

Included with this assignment:

• Instructions on how to add videos you’ve taken with your smartphone to Google Drive
• Instructions on how to bring your Google Drive clips into WeVideo
• Tutorial Instructions from last week, to help you remember parts of the process.
• Video Demo after Wednesday. (I will demo the construction of a WeVideo using original clips during our office hours on Wednesday, and I will post that video to this assignment after our office meeting.)

That’s as specific as I’m going to get. I simply want to see evidence that you’ve continued to use the app. This is a chance for you to keep playing and practicing.

If you did not submit the tutorial video from Week 3, you must do that first. Trust me; the process will help—in addition to helping you reclaim some points from week 3.

Here’s what will bring your score down for this assignment:

1. GAPS. Those awful little black screens between clips. Make sure to select all of your clips, right-click, and CLOSE GAPS
2. DURATION. Your video is less than one minute, or longer than five.
3. PORTRAIT VIDEO CAPTURES. Hold your camera on its side so you fill the media frame.
4. USE OF VIDEO FOOTAGE THAT IS NOT ORIGINAL. All videos must be your own.
5. FAILURE TO PROPERLY EXPORT + ATTACH YOUR FINISHED VIDEO. These instructions are on the last page of the tutorial instructions, under ‘Preview + Finalize.’ I can’t assess your work if I can’t watch it!

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What steps have you taken to help someone else during this unusual chapter? Share specific stories.
• How have others helped you? Share specific stories.
• What are you learning about what it means to support others?
• In what ways do you need help, as we continue to navigate our way through this?

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. 

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. You don’t have to desaturate this week, but what sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

WeVideo is a video creation tool that is designed for cloud-based devices—like Chromebooks. It’s like a lite version of Premiere or FinalCut—many of the same features, not quite as many bells and whistles. 

Each student received a username (your email) and password to WeVideo, via your wssdgmail account. Use this username and password to log in to WeVideo.

Follow the linked instructions, which are adapted just a bit from the standard introduction tutorial that WeVideo offers. You’re going to produce a 40-60 second video about two kids who find a treasure, and share that video to our Classroom prompt.

I will live-demo this prompt during our class’s office hours on Wednesday 4/15 at 12:40. Feel free to drop in and watch me fumble through it. I’ll post the video recording of the demo to this prompt in Classroom on Wednesday evening.

NOTE: I know that a few students in our class have access to FinalCut and/or Premiere at home. Do us all a solid and play along with the WeVideo introduction this week. You never know—you might encounter a future employer or situation where you don’t have access to the more expensive tools. I want to see that everyone can use the tools that everyone has access to. After our introduction, many of our future video prompts can be created with either WeVideo or other programs.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To meet the school’s new procedures about weekly check-in, and to help ensure that we’ve all logged in and begun work by Wednesday each week, there will be a caption quiz posted on our Classroom page on Tuesday morning. It will be basic, based on the caption prompt from last week, and you’ll have an opportunity for a re-take if you miss the mark. The quiz must be completed by the end of the school day on Wednesday (2:15 p.m.) If you don’t complete the quiz, expect me to be reaching out to you + parents to make sure that you’re on board with our learning for this week!

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

SHOW OFF. We’re going to continue with some additional tutorials and processes in WeVideo next week, but do you feel like you’ve got the hang of it? Use the app to create an original  1-3 minute video that tells a story. 

All video footage should be your own. (You can use music and/or sound effects from the WeVideo libraries if you want.)

That’s as specific as I’m going to get. I want to see evidence that you’ve used the app. This is a chance for you to keep playing and practicing if you’re so inclined.

“Am working on the captions. This is not a simple clerical matter, but a process, for they should carry not only factual information, but also added clues to attitudes, relationships, and meanings. They are connective tissue, and in explaining the function of the captions, as I am doing now, I believe we are extending our medium.”

-Dorothea Lange, letter, 1965

________________

Captions are essential for photos that communicate or tell stories. If you ever take photographs for publication— newspapers, magazines, yearbook, web-based publications, marketing materials— you will need to know how to write captions. It’s just about as practical a skill as you’ll learn in a high school-level class!

The linked presentation and exercise takes you through some ‘industry standards’ for caption writing. 

Your job:

1. Write five captions for the photographs on the linked assignment.
2. Attach one new original photograph to the assignment.
3. Write a factual three-sentence caption for your new photograph

This assignment should have two uploads:

• Google Doc with 6 captions—five for the included photos in the exercise; one for your new original photograph
• Your new original photograph

________________

Watch the Dorothea Lange exhibit teaser from MOMA if you need some inspiration. Her photos of depression-era America are iconic— yet minus thoughtful captions, these photos would not have told the same historic stories.

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully. 

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

HOSH has an important role to play right now in sharing our unique stories and helping us to maintain a sense of connection and community. 

• Take a look at how Brandon Stanton is framing the ‘quarantine edition’ of Humans of New York.
• Take a look at how Conestoga H.S. is framing this in their ‘Humans of Stoga’ series
• Take a look at this inspirational news clip about the Front Steps project

HOSH will top 1000 followers this week. This teacher owes her students a fancy cake. More reason to hope + dream that we can return to school soon!

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What parts of flexible learning are working for you
• What parts of flexible learning are NOT working for you
• What the hardest parts of learning in this system have been for you
• Anything you like about learning in this system
• Any suggestions you have for ways that the school could provide more support for you
• Anything else related to your experiences with learning since the school closed for COVID-19

Please do not name any specific teachers or classes; try to keep your reflections broad and actionable— meaning, anyone could listen to what you said and learn from your experiences.

• Upload this voice memo.

• Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. 

Think about a WALDO sequence: wide, angle, low, depth, opposite. These photos could be of your workspace; detail shots of some of your assignments; photos that you stage using the timer on your phone; etc.

Please desaturate your photos to black + white and adjust for brightness and contrast.

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

Samples below.

Voice Memo

CONTACT: Send me an email to let me know how you are doing.

1. Please include a minimum of 200-250 words—so you may want to draft it in Google Docs for a word count.
2. Attach a smartphone photo that describes something about your life right now.
3. Questions you might think about answering:

• What sort of schedule have you been on? What are your “hours”?
• What activities have you been engaged in?
• Recommend a book I should read, or a movie/show I should watch?
• How is your family doing?
• How are you feeling? What are you worried about? 

Send this to my school Gmail account via your school Gmail account. I’ll reply back to all emails received. 

Alternately, you can also create a 2-minute video clip in which you discuss the same topic and upload it to this Classroom. If you opt to create the video, please record with your phone LANDSCAPE, not portrait! (Portrait videos are my pet peeve…)

Our account editors have HOSH on autopilot for another week or two, but the stories about sports seasons and our favorite classes feel a little nostalgic now. Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

HOSH has an important role to play right now in sharing our unique stories and helping us to maintain a sense of connection and community. Take a look at how Brandon Stanton is framing the ‘quarantine edition’ of Humans of New York.

You must take at least one of the two photos you submit—so this means that at least one of the two photos should be a person who is part of your current “socially distanced” circle. Family members and siblings are definitely part of the story of Strath Haven right now—they count!

The other photo can be one that a peer, teacher, or community member shares with you. 

Here are a few strategies you can use:

• HOSH stories should focus on the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown. Linked is a starter list of questions, but feel free to come up with your own.

• Photos should be current—meaning, taken the same day or week of your HOSH submission. If you ask a peer to share a story, ask them to share a CURRENT photo—not a favorite selfie from a month ago. Bonus points (not really) if you can coach them through taking a photo with good composition!

• Ask a question—and get your subject to answer you by VOICE. This can be in person, using your voice recorder app, if your subject is in your home. This can be over the phone, with you taking careful notes. This can be by speakerphone, with you making a recording. (Important note: By Pennsylvania law, you must obtain consent to record someone on a phone call.) This can mean having them send you a voice memo. This should not mean having your subject type out an answer for you. We lose a lot of expression in interviews when our subject types and edits their response.

Here’s one change to our normal HOSH procedure: You do NOT need to name your photo file. Embed your photos in your Google Doc so we can correctly attribute the quotes. Upload the photos separately, too, for best image quality.

And one more reminder: Please collect a minimum of 2-3 sentences. And consider going past the minimum. People definitely have some stories to share right now.

No matter what, remember to keep the recommended social distance from anyone who is not part of your immediate family/group that is sheltering in place together. Be safe!

PHOTOGRAPHY REFLECTION: THE GREAT EMPTY

“These images are haunted and haunting, like stills from movies about plagues and the apocalypse, but in some ways they are hopeful.

They also remind us that beauty requires human interaction.”

Read the NYTimes essay “The Great Empty” and view the photos. If you’re curious, here’s more about how this evolved. Dozens of photographers from around the world documented their cities for this project.

In a 300+ word reflection, discuss your takeaways from this photo essay. Include the following two points in your discussion:

1. Do you agree with Michael Kimmelman’s perspective that ‘beauty requires human interaction’? Why or why not?
2. Select at least two specific photos from the essay and analyze the composition, lighting, and story that these photos tell. (Copy + paste these photos in your reflection.)

Our goal in this prompt is to ensure that you’ve developed enough proficiency in PIXLR that you would be able to apply the tool to other areas of learning.

__

Use PIXLR-E to create an original cover for one of your favorite books. 

Size this design at 1080×1920 (portrait—vertical).

The design should include:

• Book title
• Book author
• Original photography (a photographed element that you’ve used in your design)
• Other graphics or stylized effects, based on the techniques you’ve previously used in PIXLR-E. 
• An intentional color scheme (complementary, analogous, triadic, or monochromatic—your choice; describe in your reflection)

The design should:

• Communicate something meaningful about the content of the book
• Be visually appealing and professionally designed
• Be clearly readable
• Demonstrate your capability in the application

For this assignment, submit:

• Your finished graphic
• A paragraph explanation (at least four sentences) explaining your choice of imagery, techniques, and color scheme, as well as how your design coordinates to the theme of your selected book.

Sample attached. Feel free to use any creative techniques you like in the application.

Good luck, have fun, be creative!

REFLECTIVE STATEMENT

It’s a really challenging time for our country in many ways right now.

Create a two-page spread in your sketchbook that responds to the following questions/prompts:

• How are you feeling about the crises facing our country right now?
• How are you responding, helping, or supporting others?

SUGGESTION: Use blackout poetry and/or newspaper/magazine clippings or printouts to help express your perspective.

IMAGE QUALITY MATTERS. To take a photo of this prompt in your sketchbook, please make sure you follow the attached guidelines to take a high-quality photograph of your artwork.

.

Use the PIXLR app to create two more original graphics that show evidence of your ability to use any or all of the really cool tools we’ve explored in this program since the shutdown.

IMPORTANT: Use at least one of your original photos in each graphic.

That’s as specific as I’m going to get. This is a chance for you to keep playing and practicing if you’re so inclined. This is also a chance for you to express how you’re feeling.

Need some ideas? Check out Pixlr’s Instagram. It’s regularly updated with some pretty cool demo videos. If it’s blocked from your Chromebook, you may need to watch videos from your phone or another device.

Please keep in mind that I’m still learning PIXLR-E, too—so I get really excited when I find tutorials that teach me new ways of working with the program!

Watch the linked demo video, then create your own expressive personal header image. The sizing is right for the cover of a YouTube channel, but it could be used in a lot of other ways, too.

Considerations:

• Must be sized at 1920×1080.
• Must contain either your portrait or an original photograph of someone in your family. Taking this against a solid white background will give you the best results.
• Portrait must be stylized—desaturated with an outline and a drop shadow.
• Must contain at least one line-art image of something that is meaning and personal to you.  In the demo video, this is the equivalent of the floral design—but you should make this count! In my sample, this is the stack of books and the horse.
•  If you Google search, you’re looking for transparent PNGs at large size. Here’s a folder with a large selection that you can use. 
• You can also use your own drawings! Watch Tuesday’s demo video for some info on how to do this.
• Must contain a border + background. (You can use the border from the PIXLR-E library if you like!)
• Must contain some text.

The tutorial is straightforward. Take an experimental approach and have fun! During Tuesday’s office hours, I’ll be creating and posting a video with a few other steps specific to using the images in the provided collection and using your own drawings/doodles.

Present this image along with a brief statement in which you share:

• How you made the image personal + meaningful to you
• What you like about your work; what you wish you could change or improve.

Please listen to the short linked voice memo. It’s important!

Then complete the linked course evaluation.

This is worth a significant ten points. Please take the time to complete it with some thoughtful feedback.

Those of you who completed the doodle assignment last week really seemed to enjoy it—so let’s do it again! Attached are two more pages from the book “The Doodle Revolution” by Sunni Brown.

Respond to the reading with a two-page spread of doodles. Try to fill the full two-page spread. 

And this time… USE COLOR. Use a dominant color scheme in your doodles—complimentary, analogous, or triadic.

IMAGE QUALITY MATTERS. To take a photo of this prompt in your sketchbook, please make sure you follow the attached guidelines to take a high-quality photograph of your artwork.

Check out the linked slides.

Using shapes in PIXLR-E in a SQUARE FORMAT, create:

• One abstract COMPLIMENTARY COLOR design
• One abstract ANALOGOUS COLOR design
• One abstract TRIADIC COLOR design
• One abstract MONOCHROMATIC COLOR design

Use tints and shades as you see fit in each design.

Use at least eight shapes in each design.

KEEP YOUR DESIGNS ABSTRACT.

Present your photos as:

• File uploads
• A simple Google Slides document in which you label the color schemes (similar to what you’ll find in the attached slideshow.)

So… you’ll upload a total of 5 files this week.

Read the attached two pages from the book “The Doodle Revolution” by Sunni Brown.

Respond to the reading with a two-page spread of doodles. Try to fill the full two-page spread.

IMAGE QUALITY MATTERS. To take a photo of this prompt in your sketchbook, please make sure you follow the attached guidelines to take a high-quality photograph of your artwork.

After you complete the required assignment this week, you should be QUITE A BIT further along on the road to editing and working in layers in PIXLR.

Use the app to create two more original graphics that show evidence of your ability to use layers, blending modes, background manipulation, and/or shapes and color schemes.

IMPORTANT: Use at least one of your original photos in each graphic. 

That’s as specific as I’m going to get. I want to see evidence that you’ve used the app. This is a chance for you to keep playing and practicing if you’re so inclined. Have some fun. 

Need some ideas? Check out Pixlr’s Instagram. It’s regularly updated with some pretty cool demo videos. If it’s blocked from your Chromebook, you may need to watch videos from your phone or another device.

Use selections, masks, and blending modes to create a split portrait, where half of your face is covered by a portion of a meaningful quote.

Your image must include:

• Front-facing portrait
• Overlay cutout text
• A masked overlay
• Use of at least one blending mode

I will demonstrate this technique during Tuesday’s office hours and post both a step-by-step guide and a video after the office hours session.

To get a head start:

• Take a good face-front portrait of you or a family member against a simple white wall. The more simple the background, the less work you need to do with editing.
• Find a short, meaningful quote for your text. (Mine is a brief section of a U2 lyric.)

With your current level of experience in PIXLR, you can probably figure out how to do most of this now… but stay tuned for the demo.

Take a look at the blackout poetry work of Austin Kleon.

In your sketchbook, across a two-page spread, create + glue at least three separate blackout poems. Look for meaning and expression of our current situation. You can use any newspapers or magazines to create your poems.

Feel free to decorate or design the rest of your sketchbook pages, too. Make it count.

Please follow the attached guidelines for taking a quality photo of your work.

After you complete the required assignment this week, you should be even further along on the road to editing and working in layers in PIXLR.

Use the app to create two more original graphics that show evidence of your ability to use layers, blending modes, and/or background manipulation.

IMPORTANT: Use at least one of your original photos in each graphic. 

That’s as specific as I’m going to get. I want to see evidence that you’ve used the app. This is a chance for you to keep playing and practicing if you’re so inclined. Have some fun. 

Need some ideas? Check out this playlist. (If it’s blocked from your Chromebook, you may need to watch videos from your phone or another device.)

Review the slideshow for the definition and some ideas on how to create a surrealist self portrait.

Use PixlrE to create a surrealist self portrait at 1920×1080. In addition to your portrait, bring in at least 5 other elements. Use at least three of the surrealism techniques reviewed in the slideshow.

I will demonstrate some techniques for this project on Tuesday during our office hours, and post the video demonstration after that session.

You may want to review our previous techniques for blending modes, layering, and selective color—all of these will be useful in creating this design.

Because this project will take considerable time to do well, it’s weighted at 20 points. Only two other options are shared. Any of the other options submitted this week will be considered extra credit.

Let’s make this a regular.

FILL a two-page spread in your sketchbook with any combination of drawing, collaged images, text, etc. ON A THEME.

Your choice of theme.

Examples:

*Homework

*Stress

*Family

*Friends

*Persistence

Sketchbook should include some drawing—your own drawing.

Sketchbook should include some writing—your own thoughts.

Sketchbook should FILL a two-page spread.

Theme should be clear—or stated.

IMAGE QUALITY MATTERS. To take a photo of this prompt in your sketchbook, please make sure you follow the attached guidelines to take a high-quality photograph of your artwork.

CRAFTSMANSHIP MATTERS TOO! See some student samples below.

Create a selective color image in Pixlr. Your main subject should be in full color, while your background should be in black and white.

Use an original photo. Make it count. Use an image that has some personal significance to you, and try to create work that expresses an idea.

Use the lasso tools to make your selection, and follow the demo video to see the steps in duplicating your layers and changing your colors.

CRAFTSMANSHIP COUNTS. I’ll demonstrate this live during our office hours on Tuesday.

Create a visual pun by using an everyday object that you find at home, and creating a drawing that expands on it, or re-purposes it in an unusual way.

The object should be included in your drawing! You can do this by laying it down on your sketchbook page and drawing around it. You can also do this by combining your object and your drawing together using Pixlr. 

Check out the included student examples. 

Check out the work of illustrator Christopher Niemann on Illustrator on Instagram.

IMAGE QUALITY MATTERS. To take a photo of this prompt in your sketchbook, please make sure you follow the attached guidelines to take a high-quality photograph of your artwork.

FILL a two-page spread in your sketchbook with any combination of drawing, collaged images, text, etc. ON A THEME.

Your choice of theme.

Examples:

*Homework

*Stress

*Family

*Friends

*Persistence

Sketchbook should include some drawing—your own drawing.

Sketchbook should include some writing—your own thoughts.

Sketchbook should FILL a two-page spread.

Theme should be clear—or stated.

IMAGE QUALITY MATTERS. To take a photo of this prompt in your sketchbook, please make sure you follow the attached guidelines to take a high-quality photograph of your artwork.

CRAFTSMANSHIP MATTERS TOO! See some student samples below.

Using PIXLR-E, delete the background from an original image of yourself or someone in your family. Replace that background with a high-resolution image of a place you might like to go on vacation.

Watch the demo video to see how this is done. I will also be doing a live demonstration of this technique during our office hours on Tuesday—feel free to drop in.

Attached to this assignment, please find my sample image, as well as a few previous student samples for this project.

Choose a single capital or lowercase letter with which to work.

Draw the letter at least 2” tall in fonts that are:

• Bold
• Sans Serif
• Serif
• Script

(You can trace from a printout or your screen if you like.)

From this point, make at least ten additional variations of the letter across your two-page spread. 

Alter the letter in any way you like.

Perform a different manipulation on each copy of the letter. Each one should be different and distinct.

Use only black, white, and grayscale in order to focus on variations in line and shape styles.

Employ as many different manipulation strategies as possible—using physical, digital, and even photographic styles.

Alter size of your letterforms so that you fill the two-page spread.

LINK

(3) Follows directions

(4) Fills two-page spread

(3) Variety of manipulation

In magazines, newspapers, or other publications, find 6+ images that you believe have been created in or manipulated in Photoshop (PIXLR). Cut and paste into your sketchbook.

Next to each image, describe in a sentence or two: 1) How you can tell; 2) What techniques or effects you think were used.

FILL a two-page spread and consider neatness and visual appeal to your overall layout. Craftsmanship + overall design count.

Pixlr is an app that has many similarities to Photoshop. Like Vectr, it’s not perfect. To familiarize ourselves with the tool, we’re going to create a double exposure image in Pixlr

Step-by-step instructions

Previous student samples. These were created in Photoshop, but Pixlr definitely has the same functionality to create these images. 

Follow the instructions to create one double-exposure image of you or a family member, and upload the image to the Classroom assignment.

IMPORTANT NOTE: To meet the school’s new procedures about weekly check-in, and to help ensure that we’ve all logged in and begun work by Wednesday each week, there will be a quiz posted on our Classroom page on Tuesday morning. It will be basic, based on things we’ve already learned, and you’ll have an opportunity for a re-take if you miss the mark. The quiz must be completed by the end of the school day on Wednesday (2:15 p.m.) If you don’t complete the quiz, expect me to be reaching out to you + parents to make sure that you’re on board with our learning for this week!

READ: How Graphic Design can support vulnerable communities

“Any situation like this, designers are best placed to look at problem-solving.”

What’s one way that your skills in design could benefit someone else during this crisis?

Sketch it out. Write it out. Or actually do it (safely). And document your work.

Share either a photograph of a two-page spread in your sketchbook where you have sketched and reflected on this concept, or another form of documentation of your actions. Questions? Just ask.

Keep practicing in VECTR by drawing a scene. Add an image, and trace over that image like we did in Illustrator earlier this semester.

It doesn’t have to have quite as much complexity as these, but should be an interesting sample with some complex details.

I’ll be posting my finished product by Tuesday. Getting started in the samples.

VECTR tutorial linked if you need to refresh yourself.

THIS WEEK’S ASSIGNMENT HAS SEVERAL PARTS. Please make sure you read it through and complete all parts thoroughly.

ASSIGNMENT LINK: INTRODUCING VECTR

Your required assignment will have THREE uploads to this prompt in Classroom:

1. Screenshot indicating that you’ve completed the VECTR starter lessons
2. JPG exported image from VECTR
3. Paragraph explaining the difference between vector and raster images + describing what you’ve noticed as differences between Illustrator and VECTR

Our goal is to make sure you’re familiar with the basics of how to use the free app VECTR, which has many similarities to Adobe Illustrator.

Please know that due to these unexpected circumstances, I’m learning how to use VECTR right alongside you, and I’m rooting for you to pass me up.

SKETCHBOOK: ONOMATOPOEIA

Words can imitate the sounds associated with the actions or objects to which they refer, such as murmur or roar. Writers, poets, designers, art directors, and cartoonists utilize onomatopoeia for expressive purposes.

In your sketchbook, create at least SIX ideas for onomatopoetic words— sound words that suggest sensations. For example— hiss, zap, cluck, or buzz. Design the word to visualize the sound. Use color if it would support your designs.

Here’s a great list of word ideas.

Please take a careful photo of your sketchbook page(s) using the guidelines below.

Samples from Visual Workout by Robin Landa + Rose Gonnella

If you didn’t bring your sketchbook home, you can use two pieces of white printer paper. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What parts of flexible learning are working for you
• What parts of flexible learning are NOT working for you
• What the hardest parts of learning in this system have been for you
• Anything you like about learning in this system
• Any suggestions you have for ways that the school could provide more support for you
• Anything else relate to your experiences with learning since the school closed for COVID-19

Please do not name any specific teachers or classes; try to keep your reflections broad and actionable— meaning, anyone could listen to what you said and learn from your experiences.

Upload this voice memo.

Then pull one notable quote from what you said, and design a graphic in Adobe Spark to illustrate your quote. Use the linked instructions if you haven’t created a graphic in Spark yet. Create a SQUARE graphic, suitable for sharing on Instagram!

Samples below.

Voice Memo

CONTACT: Send me an email to let me know how you are doing.

1. Please include a minimum of 200-250 words—so you may want to draft it in Google Docs for a word count.
2. Attach a smartphone photo that describes something about your life right now.
3. Questions you might think about answering:

• What sort of schedule have you been on? What are your “hours”?
• What activities have you been engaged in?
• Recommend a book I should read, or a movie/show I should watch?
• How is your family doing?
• How are you feeling? What are you worried about? 

Send this to my school Gmail account via your school Gmail account. I’ll reply back to all emails received. 

Alternately, you can also create a 2-minute video clip in which you discuss the same topic and upload it to this Classroom. If you opt to create the video, please record with your phone LANDSCAPE, not portrait! (Portrait videos are my pet peeve…)

SKETCHBOOK: FONT CLASSIFICATIONS

In class before we left, we were discussing the difference between serif, sans serif, and script fonts in preparation for our font poster. There are a lot of other ways to classify fonts, too—but these are three basics that will work for us, for now.

Remember our system:

• Serif letters have hooks (leftover from the chisels)
• Sans serif letters have corners
• Script fonts are decorative; anything else

Practice drawing different types of serif, sans serif, and script fonts in your sketchbook. Draw at least ten letters across a two-page spread, and fill the format by creating letters in different sizes and exploring overlap. You can work from examples of fonts on screen, or invent your own. Add some color using whatever tools you have access to at home. 

In my sample, I used my first and last initials, but you can use any characters you want. 

Take a photograph of your two-page spread for this submission. Take your photograph in natural light;  try to avoid shadows on the page; and try to crop to your sketchbook. My sample was an iPhone photo taken in my living room without direct overhead lighting. See the guidelines included on this prompt. Do your best!

If you didn’t bring your sketchbook home, you can use two pieces of white printer paper. 

WORD ART

Check out the attached link and create a word art piece that represents you in some way. 

You will need to brainstorm a list of at least 25 words or phrases that describe you. I am attaching an example that I made. Feel free to think outside of the box and create something that uniquely represents you.

Download the .png file from the website and then attach it here. In a paragraph in a Google Doc, discuss your process. How did you come up with the words you chose? How did you select the font and layout? How do you feel about the product?

This prompt is meant to help you review all of your previous work for our class, and do some reflection on the artwork that you completed. It’s not nearly the level of final portfolio that students have completed in previous semesters—you can see some of those on the page included in the links. We had less than a quarter in the same room, using our DSLR cameras, and it was a big change for all of us.

But I still want you to have a chance to reflect and see your growth!

—-

Create an Adobe Spark portfolio that documents ten of your favorite photographs or videos you took during our course.

Title your portfolio: DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO, and include your name. 

A sample portfolio is attached.

To complete this assignment, you will need to review previous assignments you’ve submitted to Google Classroom. Watch the attached video clip for a system to re-save previously submitted work.

Use all the guidelines we previously reviewed for the theme page. The video demo of how to create a theme page in Adobe Spark is also included with this prompt. You can explore different styles for your layout if you like. 

IMPORTANT Present each one of your photographs/videos with a 2+ sentence caption that describes why you chose the image. Be specific. Discuss your work in terms of composition, lighting, theme, etc. Proofread your content. The insight that you provide on your work is worth 5 points of this week’s 15-point assignment.

Share the link to your portfolio for this assignment!

Sample Portfolio

Re-saving previous work in Classroom

How to create a Spark Portfolio using your computer

How to create a Spark Portfolio using your phone

Sample portfolios from previous years

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to the questions below:

• In what ways do you feel differently about school, family, or yourself at the end of this school year than you did at the start?
• How did the pandemic shutdown relate to your feelings of difference? (Or did it?)
• What else contributed to your feelings of difference?

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. It’s important that your photos relate to your voice memo! You may have to consider some visual symbolism…

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. What sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

Review the instructions in the linked slideshow, and watch the short video interview with artist Sally Mann.

A close up is defined in many ways. More often than not, it means the face fills the frame. Close can also mean intimate, so if the composition, gesture, facial expression, or anything else convey intimacy this contributes to the feeling of “closeness.”

Consider how you can convey something specific and meaningful about a person’s personality through a close-up photo. 

Take a series of 10 close-up photos.

Edit these photos to produce a body or series.

Upload your photos, along with a short statement about your work.

An extra credit add-on is included in the prompt!

Please listen to the short linked voice memo. It’s important!

Then complete the linked course evaluation.

This is worth a significant ten points. Please take the time to complete it with some thoughtful feedback.

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH posts must be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Review the linked presentation—much of which will be familiar to you. 

Then capture (5) photographs that illustrate how your life has changed since the pandemic started.

Practice composition in your photographs. A unique angle or an unexpected leading line can really capture your viewer’s interest. This is about STORYTELLING.  How can you tell the viewer your unique story through your images?  

Edit your photos to black and white. This should help emphasize our emotion and storytelling.  You can use any editing applications you’d like through your phone. (I just used photo edits.) Lightroom (free) is awesome for iPhones.  

Upload your photos separately.

ALSO add your photos to a Google slides presentation. On each slide, describe the changes that the photograph illustrates in at least two sentences. (More is fine.) See my samples at the end of the linked slideshow.

So… you’ll upload a total of 5 files this week.

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH stories should be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What have you learned about your family during the quarantine?
• How have your own responsibilities changed? Are you tutoring siblings now? Are you helping to cook or prepare meals more frequently? Taking out the garbage or cleaning the house?
• Do you think that household responsibilities are being shared fairly in your home during the pandemic? What have you observed about this?
• What aspects of this experience with your family do you hope continue post-quarantine? What do you hope does NOT continue?

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. *It’s important that your photos relate to your voice memo!* In this case, you may have to consider some visual symbolism…

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. What sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

Review the basics of color theory as presented in the linked slideshow.

Color theory is an important part of any art area—and photography is no exception. If you moved on to college for art or design, chances are that you would take more than one semester of classes focused strictly on the techniques, applications, and psychology of color!

Take:

• (3) photos that use a COMPLIMENTARY color scheme
• (3) photos that use an ANALOGOUS color scheme
• (3) photos that use a TRIADIC color scheme
• (3) photos that use a MONOCHROMATIC color scheme

You can use any of the techniques we’ve practiced so far. Try:

• Portraits
• Flat Lay Photos
• Going on a Walk / Nature
• Scenes around your home…

Present your photos as:

• File uploads
• A simple Google Slides document in which you label the color schemes

So… you’ll upload a total of 13 files this week. 

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE SLIDESHOW THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH FOR SOME IMPORTANT TIPS!

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH stories should be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What are you looking forward to most once the stay-at-home order is lifted?
• What’s one way you plan to reunite and celebrate with friends or family?
• How do you think our friendships or relationships might be different post-pandemic?

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. *It’s important that your photos relate to your voice memo!* In this case, you may have to consider some visual symbolism…

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. What sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

Review:

• Assignment page
• Student samples (included on Classroom)
• Reading from Chris Orwig’s book

For this prompt, you’ll share a total of nine portraits in groups of three, each group practicing a different natural light technique.

You’ll also share a brief statement that describes which photo is your favorite of your batch and why.

The weather is supposed to be sunny for at least three days this week—take advantage of the light! (These portraits can also be shot indoors using natural lighting in your home.)

Please note that this week’s assignment is weighted at 20 points to represent the effort that should be utilized!
Each photograph is assessed at 2 points; an additional 2 points is for the statement.

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH stories should be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What are you thinking about in terms of returning to school next fall?
• What questions do you have? What are you worried about? Excited about?
• What might a safer, more socially distanced version of school look like?
• What parts of ‘flexible learning’ might carry over well to ‘regular school’? What parts do you hope to never encounter again?

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. *It’s important that your photos relate to your voice memo!* In this case, you may have to consider some visual symbolism…

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. What sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

“Before a shoot, I’m not thinking, ‘how can I get a good picture,’ but, ‘what can I learn from this person?’ Every time.”

Watch the documentary “The Art of Design / Platon.” It’s about 40 minutes long, and features the contemporary portrait photographer Platon. It’s on YouTube at the link, and I’ve also posted it to Google Drive. Use the link that works.

PART 1: In response, take three photos that respond to Platon’s work. These photos can be all of the same subject; or of different subjects; but your subject will need to be someone in your socially distanced circle or family.
(Or—you can use the timer feature on your camera to take a self portrait.)

You may wish to desaturate your photos in your photos app or in Lightroom mobile to get the dramatic black + white effect that Platon uses in many of his photos. You decide if black and white or color works best.

PART 2: Explain in a paragraph how your works connect to Platon’s photography. In your description, describe how Platon approaches making a connection with his subjects. How did you work to establish this connection in your own work?

NOTE: This response can be a Google Doc OR a voice memo.

“It’s the combination of graphic simplicity and the power of spirit and soul.”

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH stories should be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What have you been learning about yourself during the quarantine?
• What personal strengths have you noticed?
• What have you been learning about ways that you’d like to challenge yourself or grow?
• How do you know these things? 

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points.

It’s important that your photos relate to your voice memo!

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. What sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

A flat lay is simply a photo of objects arranged on a flat surface, captured from directly above. Some people refer to this angle as a bird’s eye view. If you spend any time on social media, you’ve seen lots of these—companies often use flat lay photographs to create appealing photos to sell products.

Watch the linked video for some tips on how to create a flat lay. (You’re not expected to use this app, but you’re welcome to try it. The video is included in our Classroom prompt.)

Using flat lay photography, create a personal COVID-19 survival kit. Consider:

• What’s getting you through the pandemic?
• What’s helping you stay sane, healthy, and balanced?
• What objects might you use to symbolize your survival kit?

1. Your flat lay should contain at least seven objects—but you can use as many as you like.
2. Shoot your flat lay from directly above, using a LANDSCAPE format.
3. Use natural lighting and be thoughtful about your choice of background.
4. Submit THREE photographs that represent different compositional arrangements of your objects.
5. Submit a paragraph that discusses the meaning behind your choices of objects and the compositional choices you made for your design.

This means that your submission this week will have four attachments—three flat lay photos (same objects, different compositions) and a paragraph discussing your work.

Check out the student samples recently shared by high school photography students at Mid Pacific Institute in Honolulu, HI. Good luck and enjoy the experience!

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention. Moving forward, HOSH stories should be at least three sentences.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What steps have you taken to help someone else during this unusual chapter? Share specific stories.
• How have others helped you? Share specific stories.
• What are you learning about what it means to support others?
• In what ways do you need help, as we continue to navigate our way through this?

Upload this voice memo.

Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. 

Please explore some basic editing with your photos using the photo app or Lightroom Mobile. You don’t have to desaturate this week, but what sorts of interesting edits can you create to make your photos work as a set or series?

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

Adobe Spark also has a simple and free web page builder. It’s an easy way to share albums of photos that you might create, as well as reflective responses. We have used Spark in the past to present our final portfolios, and I’m thinking ahead that we will do so again this year, too. Why not get started with some practice?

Take 10+ photos that relate to a theme of your choice, then present those photos as an Adobe Spark page.

See instructions.

Sample Page

On-screen demo: Tuesday 4/14, 12:45 via Zoom (Will be recorded and posted to the prompt on Tuesday evening.)

IMPORTANT NOTE: To meet the school’s new procedures about weekly check-in, and to help ensure that we’ve all logged in and begun work by Wednesday each week, there will be a caption quiz posted on our Classroom page on Tuesday morning. It will be basic, based on the caption prompt from last week, and you’ll have an opportunity for a re-take if you miss the mark. The quiz must be completed by the end of the school day on Wednesday (2:15 p.m.) If you don’t complete the quiz, expect me to be reaching out to you + parents to make sure that you’re on board with our learning for this week!

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully.

There are a few updates this week, so pay close attention.

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

Forced Perspective is a technique which employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is.

Create two forced perspective images. If your idea requires human subjects, Involve family or those in your social distanced circle ONLY. Be safe and be smart. Make sure that your image is crisp and clear. No digital manipulation—you must explore forced perspective using what you can capture in your camera lens only!

LINK: Samples (many of these are student work)

“Am working on the captions. This is not a simple clerical matter, but a process, for they should carry not only factual information, but also added clues to attitudes, relationships, and meanings. They are connective tissue, and in explaining the function of the captions, as I am doing now, I believe we are extending our medium.”

-Dorothea Lange, letter, 1965

________________

Captions are essential for photos that communicate or tell stories. If you ever take photographs for publication— newspapers, magazines, yearbook, web-based publications, marketing materials— you will need to know how to write captions. It’s just about as practical a skill as you’ll learn in a high school-level class!

The linked presentation and exercise takes you through some ‘industry standards’ for caption writing. 

Your job:

1. Write five captions for the photographs on the linked assignment.
2. Attach one new original photograph to the assignment.
3. Write a factual three-sentence caption for your new photograph

This assignment should have two uploads:

• Google Doc with 6 captions—five for the included photos in the exercise; one for your new original photograph
• Your new original photograph

________________

Watch the Dorothea Lange exhibit teaser from MOMA if you need some inspiration. Her photos of depression-era America are iconic— yet minus thoughtful captions, these photos would not have told the same historic stories.

Please read the updated HOSH instructions carefully. 

Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

HOSH has an important role to play right now in sharing our unique stories and helping us to maintain a sense of connection and community. 

• Take a look at how Brandon Stanton is framing the ‘quarantine edition’ of Humans of New York.
• Take a look at how Conestoga H.S. is framing this in their ‘Humans of Stoga’ series
• Take a look at this inspirational news clip about the Front Steps project

HOSH will top 1000 followers this week. This teacher owes her students a fancy cake. More reason to hope + dream that we can return to school soon!

Record a 2-3 minute voice memo using the voice recorder app on your phone. In this memo, respond to any (or all) of the questions below:

• What parts of flexible learning are working for you
• What parts of flexible learning are NOT working for you
• What the hardest parts of learning in this system have been for you
• Anything you like about learning in this system
• Any suggestions you have for ways that the school could provide more support for you
• Anything else related to your experiences with learning since the school closed for COVID-19

Please do not name any specific teachers or classes; try to keep your reflections broad and actionable— meaning, anyone could listen to what you said and learn from your experiences.

• Upload this voice memo.

• Upload FIVE NEW, ORIGINAL PHOTOS that illustrate some of your points. 

Consider compositional elements! These photos could be of your workspace; detail shots of some of your assignments; photos that you stage using the timer on your phone; etc.

Please desaturate your photos to black + white and adjust for brightness and contrast.

Sections of your voice memos may be shared in a summary recording, but all student feedback will be anonymous.

Samples below.

Voice Memo

CONTACT: Send me an email to let me know how you are doing.

1. Please include a minimum of 200-250 words—so you may want to draft it in Google Docs for a word count.
2. Attach a smartphone photo that describes something about your life right now.
3. Questions you might think about answering:

• What sort of schedule have you been on? What are your “hours”?
• What activities have you been engaged in?
• Recommend a book I should read, or a movie/show I should watch?
• How is your family doing?
• How are you feeling? What are you worried about? 

Send this to my school Gmail account via your school Gmail account. I’ll reply back to all emails received. 

Alternately, you can also create a 2-minute video clip in which you discuss the same topic and upload it to this Classroom. If you opt to create the video, please record with your phone LANDSCAPE, not portrait! (Portrait videos are my pet peeve…)

Our account editors have HOSH on autopilot for another week or two, but the stories about sports seasons and our favorite classes feel a little nostalgic now. Connect with your peers or family members to submit two HOSH stories. 

HOSH has an important role to play right now in sharing our unique stories and helping us to maintain a sense of connection and community. Take a look at how Brandon Stanton is framing the ‘quarantine edition’ of Humans of New York.

You must take at least one of the two photos you submit—so this means that at least one of the two photos should be a person who is part of your current “socially distanced” circle. Family members and siblings are definitely part of the story of Strath Haven right now—they count!

The other photo can be one that a peer, teacher, or community member shares with you. 

Here are a few strategies you can use:

• HOSH stories should focus on the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown. Linked is a starter list of questions, but feel free to come up with your own.

• Photos should be current—meaning, taken the same day or week of your HOSH submission. If you ask a peer to share a story, ask them to share a CURRENT photo—not a favorite selfie from a month ago. Bonus points (not really) if you can coach them through taking a photo with good composition!

• Ask a question—and get your subject to answer you by VOICE. This can be in person, using your voice recorder app, if your subject is in your home. This can be over the phone, with you taking careful notes. This can be by speakerphone, with you making a recording. (Important note: By Pennsylvania law, you must obtain consent to record someone on a phone call.) This can mean having them send you a voice memo. This should not mean having your subject type out an answer for you. We lose a lot of expression in interviews when our subject types and edits their response.

Here’s one change to our normal HOSH procedure: You do NOT need to name your photo file. Embed your photos in your Google Doc so we can correctly attribute the quotes. Upload the photos separately, too, for best image quality.

And one more reminder: Please collect a minimum of 2-3 sentences. And consider going past the minimum. People definitely have some stories to share right now.

No matter what, remember to keep the recommended social distance from anyone who is not part of your immediate family/group that is sheltering in place together. Be safe!

PHOTOGRAPHY REFLECTION: THE GREAT EMPTY

“These images are haunted and haunting, like stills from movies about plagues and the apocalypse, but in some ways they are hopeful.

They also remind us that beauty requires human interaction.”

Read the NYTimes essay “The Great Empty” and view the photos. If you’re curious, here’s more about how this evolved. Dozens of photographers from around the world documented their cities for this project.

In a 300+ word reflection, discuss your takeaways from this photo essay. Include the following two points in your discussion:

1. Do you agree with Michael Kimmelman’s perspective that ‘beauty requires human interaction’? Why or why not?
2. Select at least two specific photos from the essay and analyze the composition, lighting, and story that these photos tell. (Copy + paste these photos in your reflection.)

3/30

3/31

4/1

4/2

4/3

4/6

4/7

4/8

4/9

4/20

4/21

4/22

4/23

4/24

4/27

4/28 (mini-prompts)

4/29

4/30

5/1 (decision day/organize your inbox)

5/11

5/12

5/13

5/14

5/15

5/18

5/19

5/20

5/21

5/22

Closing out Classroom Prompts

6/1 / Notes

6/2

6/3

6/4

6/8

6/10

Closing out Classroom Prompts