Introduction to Photography Learning Objective - Develop understanding of photographic composition, focusing on portraits and people

“Science and Art” Photography is both a science and art We will now look at a selection of iconic photographs: –What effect do they have on you? –Why?

Feedback

Composition “Where to stand and which way to point the camera – how to “frame” the picture”

Rule of thirds “Where to position key parts of the shot”

Rule of Thirds Look at the example on your printed worksheets

Diagonals Circles Frames within frames Viewpoint Foreground Background “Capturing moment” (less relevant for portraits!) Linear perspective

Task Try to spot any common features of the photographic images in the following music magazine front covers. Can you spot the odd one(s) out?

NOTE: have all these photographs printed out onto A4 sheet of paper to give to pupils after having shown them on slideshow

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Group feedback All people in the photographs are looking “front- on” at the camera except: –(1) Lily Allen looking over her shoulder at camera –(7) Kanye West side-on and looking away from camera –(9) Morrissey looking at camera but side-on All feature either a single artist or members of the band/group Very simple backgrounds – usually one colour only is used Full body shots less common with single person photographs but still sometimes used

Portraits and people Choosing setting –Controlled lighting of studio or natural lighting of outdoors –Studio is much more common Using lighting –Use of shadows, sunshine at different times of day, thinking about cloud cover, using a projector as spotlight Expressions – huge variety through use of mouth and eyes and posture and position Some tips: –For face shots get model to sit on a stool so he/she does not wander out of position –Focus on the eyes (“windows of the soul”!) –Use simple lighting for most natural results –Keep make-up basic

Task I have printed a selection of your “treasure hunt” photographs In your groups discuss what you might have done differently, time permitting, given what you have learnt today –Try to give at least 2 points per photograph Considering our discussion of magazine front covers, which shots might you use for a front cover?

What’s your vision? What do you picture for your music magazine? What is your music genre and target audience and how does photography fit into that? How will you go about creating good and appropriate photos?

The Next Steps Start planning your images by researching types of shots, what other magazines have done, how to take the type of picture you want etc… Develop pencil sketches for each page, be as creative as you like and try to really imagine the composition of your shots and ideal mise en scene. You sketches should show stages of image development – it might help to start with a basic grid type outline – where will the headline, main image, masthead etc go? Consider who you are going to use for your models, remember the main image is one you take yourself so be realistic – you are unlikely to have a photograph of Jay Z and Beyonce on your cover so how could you do something similar? You will probably need to have friends as pretend artists, maybe as “the next big thing”

A Final Summary 1.Decide what you need to photograph 2.Organise models / props 3.Plan your shot composition and mise en scene 4.Enhance your photo using digital software and add effects Digital Cameras are available for you to borrow from the media department. You can book them out for 1 day.

Photography Deadline = Friday 5 th March