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08/13/2008 07:13:14 PM · #26 |
| This is totally off topic of photography, but I'm sitting here without my glasses on and for a quick second I thought the subject was: "If you taught high school pornography." *shaking head* I need to put my glasses back on. |
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08/13/2008 07:17:47 PM · #27 |
im currently in high school, and took photography this year. it pretty much is taught the way you teach it, 1-2 years easier things, then more advanced upper juniors and seniors.
we had a variety of assigntments, from learning macro (shooting flowers,bugs,closeups, ect)
to shutter speed varieties (panning,blur,fast shutter,ect.)
to composition (natural framing, rule of thirds, leading lines, ect)
we also leanred alot in photoshop, extra credit was given for the more precise and neat the photoshopping. |
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08/13/2008 07:20:03 PM · #28 |
Just my thought. I really wanted to take photography classes...but couldn't because of the cost of film. What would be wrong with allowing Digital...and opening up a 'digital darkroom' with Photoshop..etc?
it would expand your classes. |
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08/14/2008 12:49:16 AM · #29 |
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by ssocrates:
Just a thought! Why don't you give them some projects like the challenges here. |
Well, that has crossed my mind. It is how I see the challenges for myself--little assignments that help me shoot something new. Some of them are quite a bit of a stretch for some high schoolers--its harder for them to make a creative jump from challenge theme to what to actually shoot. I may make this site available for extra credit or my final projects--like, enter three challenges and make 30 comments for an A or something like that... |
Not sure of your district, but you could get in hot water directing them to a site that has nudity. You know your students, parents, and community, so only you can say if it would be an issue. |
a good point... some of my students know of this site as I've shown it to them, but I haven't made any assignments from it yet. |
That's the fine line. If you make it an assignment, then you made them go here and while this site is pretty tame on the whole, I know I would not want my son browsing the "Nudes" gallery and if a teacher told him to, there'd be a can of whoop-ass opened. :) |
What a looney country...
Message edited by author 2008-08-14 00:50:05. |
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08/14/2008 02:18:10 AM · #30 |
Originally posted by tpbremer:
So--if you put your self in my shoes, how would you teach my class? I'm just looking to improve the quality of what I do, and open discussion and varying opinions will help me out a lot.
Thanks! |
I sent you a PM...
Teaching composition is difficult, but I think that breaking it up into pieces and spending a week or so on each of the fundamental concepts of composition would be a nice approach. I'm not sure that I understand exactly how your curriculum flows, but getting a firm grasp on operating the manual aperture, shutter, and reading that meter is the basis of everything else. I would probably spend my first two weeks solidifying the relationships between aperture, shutter speed, and film speed for the 'correct exposure'. Understanding those fundamentals should come before much of anything else. A poorly exposed great composition isn't worth as much as a properly exposed poor composition :)
I didn't notice you mention anything about the use of tripods either. When you start into the compositional elements of the learning process, A tripod is a great teaching tool. If I were teaching, I would require my students to use a tripod for the first portion (don't know how long that would be) of the curriculum. The tripod forces the photographer to consider composition more carefully, and it slows the process down. Digital photographers without tripods tend to use the 'brute force' method of just snapping tons of photos and hoping they get something good rather than spending the time to carefully consider the shot and get it right on the first try.
The manual film approach also reinforces the concepts of taking your time and carefully considering each image as it's shot. Digital photography has its advantages, but I firmly believe (from experience) that the manual/film approach teaches fundamentals much better. In today's world of photography, lots of digital photographers tend to be lazy with technique and quite handy with digital post processing. I don't think many of them could be successful with a film rig because of this, so the approach you are using with film is an excellent choice. If you can shoot successful images with film and darkroom work, the transition to digital is an easy one.
I would probably break a curriculum into these stages and include whatever substages might be required in each:
1. Exposure: shutter/aperture/film speed relationships and metering
2. Technique: Depth of field / length of exposure
3. Composition Basics: filling the frame / dividing the frame / frame within frame / horizons
4. Design Elements: contrast / texture / rhythm / balance / patterns / perspective / color relationships
5. Design Elements II: lines / curves / triangles / motion
6. Types of photography: landscape / still life / documentary / product / portrait / street / photojournalism and storyboarding / action
7. Creativity: purposely obscuring or breaking the rules of exposure, composition, and design for alternative impact
8. Portfolio: create a print portfolio of the student's 20-25 top images for a public showing.
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08/14/2008 02:45:26 AM · #31 |
Many good suggestions, but I'd say that recognising light as the most important part of photography, you'd need to spend some time teaching about it and training the students to appreciate different qualities (and quantities) of light in different settings, say morning and midday, flashes and lamps. I guess you'd need to wake them up in the morning and make them look at the Sun rising.
I believe that more than composition, rules of thirds, shutter speeds and apertures, isos and these kind of technicalities, one need to be able to appreciate light. Light is one of the components that can't be really well controlled, so a lot of teaching should go into judging it. If you teach these to your students, I'd say you've done a good job.
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08/14/2008 07:22:23 AM · #32 |
| One thing I would emphasize about light is how the camera sees differently than the eyes/brain. I'm talking exposure and white balance. Have them go into a room with color lights and take some pictures and compare them to what we see in real life. |
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08/14/2008 10:09:02 AM · #33 |
Originally posted by raish:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by ssocrates:
Just a thought! Why don't you give them some projects like the challenges here. |
Well, that has crossed my mind. It is how I see the challenges for myself--little assignments that help me shoot something new. Some of them are quite a bit of a stretch for some high schoolers--its harder for them to make a creative jump from challenge theme to what to actually shoot. I may make this site available for extra credit or my final projects--like, enter three challenges and make 30 comments for an A or something like that... |
Not sure of your district, but you could get in hot water directing them to a site that has nudity. You know your students, parents, and community, so only you can say if it would be an issue. |
a good point... some of my students know of this site as I've shown it to them, but I haven't made any assignments from it yet. |
That's the fine line. If you make it an assignment, then you made them go here and while this site is pretty tame on the whole, I know I would not want my son browsing the "Nudes" gallery and if a teacher told him to, there'd be a can of whoop-ass opened. :) |
What a looney country... |
Agreed |
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08/14/2008 10:35:20 AM · #34 |
Why is it Looney? The reply said that he would not want his son browsing the nude gallery. What is looney about a country or COUNTY that would leave decisions like this up to the parents?
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by raish:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by ssocrates:
Just a thought! Why don't you give them some projects like the challenges here. |
Well, that has crossed my mind. It is how I see the challenges for myself--little assignments that help me shoot something new. Some of them are quite a bit of a stretch for some high schoolers--its harder for them to make a creative jump from challenge theme to what to actually shoot. I may make this site available for extra credit or my final projects--like, enter three challenges and make 30 comments for an A or something like that... |
Not sure of your district, but you could get in hot water directing them to a site that has nudity. You know your students, parents, and community, so only you can say if it would be an issue. |
a good point... some of my students know of this site as I've shown it to them, but I haven't made any assignments from it yet. |
That's the fine line. If you make it an assignment, then you made them go here and while this site is pretty tame on the whole, I know I would not want my son browsing the "Nudes" gallery and if a teacher told him to, there'd be a can of whoop-ass opened. :) |
What a looney country... |
Agreed |
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08/14/2008 07:53:04 PM · #35 |
Originally posted by Foolish Ice:
What equipment do you have access to? Are the students using school supplied cameras? SLRs or point and shoots? I think we would be able to give you better ideas if we knew what you have to work with. |
I have a variety of film SLR cameras (I solicit donations via craigslist) and students work with them in class and can check them out. We have 15 enlargers and a functional darkroom, as well as film processing chemicals.
I have 12 point and shoot digital cameras, but no digital SLR yet. When we do get a digital SLR, I don't think we'll let it leave the school (too much of an investment to trust in a teenagers hands)
This class historically has only been film. I'm integrating as much digital as I can, but its tough because of lack of computers...
I will try out paint.net... thanks!
jm--thanks for the pm, I may use that document you sent
everyone else, thanks for the replies, I'm glad this thread has garnered discussion. There is some good stuff in here. |
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08/14/2008 07:58:33 PM · #36 |
BTW!
If anyone here has an old SLR film camera they don't use anymore, consider donating it to my program! Especially with the cost of new technology, I'm trying to find the film SLRs for free. Most of them have worked great, and they are built like tanks!
I can accept tripods and other equipment too! I'll send you a thank you note on our official stationary, and you can write off your donation at tax time. (you'll have to assess the value yourself though)
PM me if you are interested in helping. A few members of this site have sent me cameras in the past. |
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08/14/2008 11:15:20 PM · #37 |
| Or perhaps if anybody has any old digital cameras they can send them too. |
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08/15/2008 12:09:16 AM · #38 |
Originally posted by mad_brewer:
Or perhaps if anybody has any old digital cameras they can send them too. |
for sure! |
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08/15/2008 12:13:59 AM · #39 |
I was speaking of the threat of the "can of whoop-ass" and the parental over-reaction that implies. That's not to mention the puritanical freaking out over nudity in art as if it were Hustler magazine. Some people are afraid of the fact that people are naked under their clothes.
Originally posted by kenskid:
Why is it Looney? The reply said that he would not want his son browsing the nude gallery. What is looney about a country or COUNTY that would leave decisions like this up to the parents?
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by raish:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by ssocrates:
Just a thought! Why don't you give them some projects like the challenges here. |
Well, that has crossed my mind. It is how I see the challenges for myself--little assignments that help me shoot something new. Some of them are quite a bit of a stretch for some high schoolers--its harder for them to make a creative jump from challenge theme to what to actually shoot. I may make this site available for extra credit or my final projects--like, enter three challenges and make 30 comments for an A or something like that... |
Not sure of your district, but you could get in hot water directing them to a site that has nudity. You know your students, parents, and community, so only you can say if it would be an issue. |
a good point... some of my students know of this site as I've shown it to them, but I haven't made any assignments from it yet. |
That's the fine line. If you make it an assignment, then you made them go here and while this site is pretty tame on the whole, I know I would not want my son browsing the "Nudes" gallery and if a teacher told him to, there'd be a can of whoop-ass opened. :) |
What a looney country... |
Agreed |
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08/15/2008 12:42:53 AM · #40 |
You may want to take a look at some older non-SLR digital prosumer cameras - like the Fuji S5000, Canon, Olympus, etc. These, while not DSLR, have all the manual controls, and generally function as a D-SLR without the additional complexity of having to change lenses. Price on a new Fuji S700 (like I use) is in the sub-$200 range street. Used S5000, S5200, etc. run between $75 and $125. The Fuji comes with a 10x optical zoom, which translates to something like 37mm - 370mm - not too bad for a beginning (or someone on a tight budget).
My world is computers, and I strongly agree about teaching concepts, not step by step actions. To move from one piece of equipment (software) to another, you simply need to find out how they provide for the concept's functionality.
Also, I quite agree with the comment about light, and how a camera "sees" differently than we do. Lighting makes a huge difference in a picture, and pp can only do so much to compensate for poor lighting in the original shot.
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08/15/2008 12:52:19 AM · #41 |
It is a matter of culture and belief system. The "modern" thinking of any nudity any time at any age is as old as civilization, and for some reason it has never obliterated the "traditional" or "looney" beliefs that open nudity should be reserved for the very young (pre-2 ish) and adults. It is quite reasonable that parents who do not subscribe to the "modern" thinking might object to sites like this one where sexual innuendo is common (and not hidden), and partial or full nudity is visible during voting, and available on the site. I know I have not recommended it to some of my friends because they would find it offensive and inappropriate. And we're all focused on being tolerant of those different from us, yes?
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
I was speaking of the threat of the "can of whoop-ass" and the parental over-reaction that implies. That's not to mention the puritanical freaking out over nudity in art as if it were Hustler magazine. Some people are afraid of the fact that people are naked under their clothes.
Originally posted by kenskid:
Why is it Looney? The reply said that he would not want his son browsing the nude gallery. What is looney about a country or COUNTY that would leave decisions like this up to the parents?
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by raish:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by ssocrates:
Just a thought! Why don't you give them some projects like the challenges here. |
Well, that has crossed my mind. It is how I see the challenges for myself--little assignments that help me shoot something new. Some of them are quite a bit of a stretch for some high schoolers--its harder for them to make a creative jump from challenge theme to what to actually shoot. I may make this site available for extra credit or my final projects--like, enter three challenges and make 30 comments for an A or something like that... |
Not sure of your district, but you could get in hot water directing them to a site that has nudity. You know your students, parents, and community, so only you can say if it would be an issue. |
a good point... some of my students know of this site as I've shown it to them, but I haven't made any assignments from it yet. |
That's the fine line. If you make it an assignment, then you made them go here and while this site is pretty tame on the whole, I know I would not want my son browsing the "Nudes" gallery and if a teacher told him to, there'd be a can of whoop-ass opened. :) |
What a looney country... |
Agreed |
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08/15/2008 01:25:39 AM · #42 |
None of that excuses the threat to "Whoop Ass" on a teacher.
Originally posted by dtremain:
It is a matter of culture and belief system. The "modern" thinking of any nudity any time at any age is as old as civilization, and for some reason it has never obliterated the "traditional" or "looney" beliefs that open nudity should be reserved for the very young (pre-2 ish) and adults. It is quite reasonable that parents who do not subscribe to the "modern" thinking might object to sites like this one where sexual innuendo is common (and not hidden), and partial or full nudity is visible during voting, and available on the site. I know I have not recommended it to some of my friends because they would find it offensive and inappropriate. And we're all focused on being tolerant of those different from us, yes?
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
I was speaking of the threat of the "can of whoop-ass" and the parental over-reaction that implies. That's not to mention the puritanical freaking out over nudity in art as if it were Hustler magazine. Some people are afraid of the fact that people are naked under their clothes.
Originally posted by kenskid:
Why is it Looney? The reply said that he would not want his son browsing the nude gallery. What is looney about a country or COUNTY that would leave decisions like this up to the parents?
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by raish:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by HawkeyeLonewolf:
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by ssocrates:
Just a thought! Why don't you give them some projects like the challenges here. |
Well, that has crossed my mind. It is how I see the challenges for myself--little assignments that help me shoot something new. Some of them are quite a bit of a stretch for some high schoolers--its harder for them to make a creative jump from challenge theme to what to actually shoot. I may make this site available for extra credit or my final projects--like, enter three challenges and make 30 comments for an A or something like that... |
Not sure of your district, but you could get in hot water directing them to a site that has nudity. You know your students, parents, and community, so only you can say if it would be an issue. |
a good point... some of my students know of this site as I've shown it to them, but I haven't made any assignments from it yet. |
That's the fine line. If you make it an assignment, then you made them go here and while this site is pretty tame on the whole, I know I would not want my son browsing the "Nudes" gallery and if a teacher told him to, there'd be a can of whoop-ass opened. :) |
What a looney country... |
Agreed |
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08/15/2008 01:27:44 AM · #43 |
Sorry, I have not read the other posts.
Just got home from a 15 hour day.
Color is my response.
Show a movie that is in color. Yes, a movie, and with the sound OFF.
Show that same movie desaturated into black and white.
Talk about what color does to the emotional value of an image, and what a desaturated image does to that same value.
How do certain color make your emotions react?
How does a black and white image make your emotions react?
Is it the lighting? The POV? The blocking of the talent? The type of angle and d.o.f.?
All this is important to an image, and when color is introduced, or not introduced, how does that emotional value click?
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08/15/2008 01:50:59 AM · #44 |
| You may want to consider photograms |
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08/15/2008 09:53:51 AM · #45 |
Originally posted by undieyatch:
You may want to consider photograms |
Actually, one of the first things I do, just to teach how photo paper works, first test strips, etc.
And.... to end the nudity conversation--while it may be silly to think that people would get offended from coming to a site like this, it is certainly possible. As a public school teacher, I certainly have to watch myself very carefully. One wrong move that some over the top parent finds "offensive" and I end up in a situation I don't want to be in. |
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08/15/2008 11:30:08 AM · #46 |
Originally posted by tpbremer:
Originally posted by undieyatch:
You may want to consider photograms |
Actually, one of the first things I do....... |
As it should be.
I had not seen it mentioned. |
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