The Conceptual Projects revolve around finding unconventional ways for people express themselves. In this unit, students were assigned to use photography and the elements of art to portray a specific message to its audience. Using applications such as Adobe Photoshop and Premier, students created work that reflected their personal art aesthetic. This unit served to be an introduction to the various programs for their technical abilities.

 

HAIKU

This project entailed for people to write a short haiku, as well as produce a visual video as well as photo art to present it.

 

The haiku projects aided in my abilities to understand the basic of Adobe Premier and Photoshop. This was my first project in freestyle. By completing it, I was able to learn the expectations which will continue for the rest of the year. It help me acclimate to the new learning environment as well as learn much about what sets apart good versus poor aesthetics. While working on this project, we learned how to use the elements and principles of design, color, and font to our advantage in order to create a cohesive, successful piece of work. In English, We learned how to compose a haiku, as well as other forms of poems, and linguistic methods to convey a message

 

EKPHRASTIC AND FREE VERSE POEM

Our assignment was to write one free verse, and one ekphrastic poem, and create a visual to go along with them. The ekphrastic poem was to be based off of a piece of work we would find on our field trip to the SF MOMA.

 

 

My intention statement for my ekphrastic poem can be found here.

 

Exquisite Corpse Poem

The exquisite corpse poem was an in class English assignment in which the fellow students and I each wrote a single line of a poem. We then used Adobe After Effects to create an original video showcasing the poem, using student’s photography and voice recordings.

These various poetry projects taught us the basis of various application. Because the skills we learn build off of one another, it was useful in the beginning of the year to use this project to ease students into the more complex projects we would complete later in the year. Doing such diverse projects also helped us learn what our strengths and weaknesses were. It allowed for us to work harder and get better at the things that we may have struggled with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BLEND MODE PHOTOS

Blend modes are a aspect of Adobe Photoshop. We were assigned to learn about these various blend modes, and their different effects on photos. Using each blend mode, we created before and after comparisons to juxtapose what each blend mode filter can be used for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We learned that each blend mode has a unique effect upon the photographs. This may include lightening, darkening, saturation, or fading the images. We also learned the basics of how to use a DSLR camera, such as how changing the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed change the image quality. We also had to apply photo composition rules to create aesthetically pleasing work.

 

 

 

 

 

DESIGN CONCEPTUAL PHOTOGRAPHY

We used our concept statement from English that was used in our poem creations to take original photos, and edit them using our knowledge of Photoshop. My concept statement was “feeling moral confusion through the experience of sitting”. Based on this, we were assigned to create a conceptual, metaphorical art to depict this statement. Compiliting our knowlage of blendmotes, filters, effects, and the priciples of design,we had to compose and alter our photographs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY

This assignment entailed for us to use a to take macro photos. To do so, we used a macro photo lense on our DSLR cameras. This limmited our depth of field and focusing properties. It helped us get use to using the DLSR cameras, and how to take photos using the manual settings. We then edited these photos on photoshop. Our teacher had us emphasize elements such as the rule fo thirds via cropping, or careful coomposition/creation of a focal point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both the macro and conceptual photography deisgin projects broadend the depth of my understanding of how to fully take advantage and use my DLSR and photoshop. This unit also taught us not just material skills, but mental ones as well. We learned about what can be considerd art, and how to effectively portray a message visually.