Monday, March 23, 2015

Movie Monday Half Past Autumn Part 3 and 4

Today we will finish Gordon Parks' - Half Past Autumn

Please begin the class by browsing the Gordon Parks Foundation site and read his biography.

For the last section, answer the following questions. Post the answers in a blog post after the segment. 

Part 3 and 4


  1. What is your definition of successful?
  2. What have you given up to become successful?
  3. What did Parks give up to become successful?
  4. Who was Genevieve Young's father?
  5. How much was Parks advanced to write his first book (and eventual best-selling autobiography)?
  6. How much money did Elijah Muhammad offer Parks to do a story on The Nation of Islam?
  7. Why did Parks refuse the money?
  8. What was significant about the movie The Learning Tree?
  9. What was significant about the character Shaft?
  10. What was Gordon Parks' choice of weapons?
  11. What reason did Genevieve Young give for the divorce?
  12. In 1984, Parks directed Solomon Northrup's Odyssey. What recent feature film told the same story?
  13. Who was Gordon Parks, jr?
  14. What is your favorite Gordon Parks photo?
  15. What will you remember about Gordon Parks in ten years?



Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Daily Participation Expections


Classroom Expectations
  1. On time, On task.
  2. Do your own work (Don't steal or "borrow" pictures)
  3. Be helpful
  4. Participate in class; participate with your group
  5. Problem Solve/ Identify Problems


Students meet my average expectations by doing the first three items on the list. Students meet my above average expectations by participating in class and with their group. Students exceed expectations by identifying and solving problems and doing the other four items.

Phone - You may use your phone only for photography assignments
Classwork from different classes - May you work on other assignments when you are finished with your photography assignments? Yes, but you are never finished with your photography assignments. (If you think you have finished, study the masters, research technique or your personal photography interests.)
Photography Assignments in your other classes - I expect that you will not disrupt your other classes by doing photography projects in other classes. This is not the time to study for your other classes.
Do you remember signing the appropriate computer use contract? We can provide a copy.
When contacting the teacher about a grade or important issue, please send the message to his school email. (I have two.)
Food and drink should be kept away from the computers.
When taking pictures outside with your group, students

  • leave with their group
  • stay with their group
  • return with their group


Thursday, March 12, 2015

Principles of Design - Structures

We have started shooting The Principles of Design.  (Here is one common list.  ) 

You will create a separate blog post for each Principle of Design. 
You will photograph a structure that illustrates your understanding of each principle. A structure can be a building, bench, or fence for example. The structure does not always need to be the entire part of the picture, but the structure needs to appear in the photo.

For your assignment to be complete, you will include the Camera Raw edits (for example, how much did you increase or decrease exposure), the edited photo and an explanation of how your photo meets the principle of design.

bf


Balance




Emphasis
Movement



Pattern
Repetition
Proportion
Rhythm
Variety
Unity




Friday, March 6, 2015

Elements of Art - Plant Life

We have been learning The Elements of Art by photographing plant life. Compared to rules of composition, the elements of art are consistent across artistic disciplines and languages. (There are some lists that also include Perspective)

  • For each assignment, photograph plant life and emphasize the element of art. 
  • Edit the photo in Camera Raw and include your edits.
  • Create a separate post for each Element of Art. You may include more than one photo for each element if you wish, but you many not use the same photo twice.
After the final day, I will begin posting some of my photos from our shoots. The photos appear below the description of the element.


bf

Line - a line can be straight or curved; it is probably the "simplest," but not necessarily the easiest element to reproduce.



Shape -



Form -


Space - The area around object (often called "negative space"). My attempts to describe space are similar to my attempts to define wind. We can often see the result of space.

Blossoms at Mission San Jose HS, with LGG3
Exposure -15
Contrast +27
Highlights +27
Shadows +32



Color - Our students used the Twister game wheel.
4th Period (Green bottom left corner)


Green, "right foot" (lower right quadrant)

Texture -

To see other examples, a former Instagram Community Evangelist work.



Monday, March 2, 2015

Half Past Autumn - Gordon Parks pt 1 and 2

Movie Monday - Half Past Autumn

Post the answers in a blog post after the segment. You can continue adding responses to the same post after future segments. 


  1. On the day Gordon Parks was born, how did the doctor save Gordon's life?
  2. Where was Gordon born? (what state?)
  3. What did Gordon's class adviser, Ms. McClintock, tell him about college?
  4. How old was Gordon when his mother died?
  5. Where did Gordon move after his mother died?
  6. Did Gordon graduate from college?
  7. How did Gordon begin his fashion photography career?
  8. What is a "double exposure?"
  9. Who was boxer Joe Louis?
  10. What instrument did Gordon play?
  11. What was the purpose of the Farm Security Administration?
  12. When Roy Stryker hired Gordon for the FSA, what was Stryker's first assignment for Gordon in Washington, D.C.?
  13. Who was Ella Watson?
  14. What was the inspiration for Grant Wood's American Gothic?
  15. What did Gordon learn from Stryker about photography?

to 21:44

16. When did the FSA shut down?
17. After Gordon moved to New York, what magazine did he shoot for?
18. Who was the picture editor of Life Magazine when Gordon walked into the Life Magazine office?
19. What was the first major story Parks covered for Life Magazine?
20. Who were some of the artists that Gordon Parks mentioned influenced his work after he moved to the Paris Life Magazine bureau?
21. How did Parks shoot fashion when he lived in France?
22.Where was Parks' concerto performed?
23. Who was Parks' second wife? (Who was her father? What did she do?)
24. How old was Flavio de Silva when Parks met him?
25. When did Parks meet Flavio?
26. Where did Flavio live when Parks first met Flavio and his family?
27. How is Gloria Vanderbilt? Who is her famous son? Who are her ancestors?
28. How did Vanderbilt describe their relationship?

to 48:00

Part 3

What is your definition of successful?
What have you given up to become successful?
What did Parks give up to become successful?
How much was Parks advanced to write his first book (and eventual best-selling autobiography)?
How much money did Elijah Muhammad offer Parks to do a story on The Nation of Islam?
Why did Parks refuse the money?