The Less Seen Side of Mahopac

Holga Project

The Holga is a cheap, plastic camera that is produced in China.  It is the stepsister of the Diana Camera which was used extensively by photographers in the 1970’s . Poor quality control, a plastic lens and light leaks are the hallmarks of these cameras.

After the Crash, Manny Boccini 

Given their shortcomings, “toy cameras” can take some evocative imagery. The image is usually sharper in the center and quickly goes out of focus in the corners of the square image. Sometimes the corners are darker as well, creating a vignette effect. 

Saugerties Lighthouse

The gritty, semi-focused look is perfect for our next assignment, The "Less Seen" side of Mahopac. Look for the junk, old cars, run-down buildings etc. This isn't about the lake front homes and tidy shops, it's about the dark underbelly of Mahopac. Look for dumpsters, old pallets, loading docks. There is alot out there if you start to look!

Process:

Shooting a Holga is extremely easy, but you must follow these basic steps. I'll load it and tape it for light leaks. You will take 3 exposures and pass the camera on to the next person in your group. (4 people)

1.  Try to shoot in Bright Sunshine or Cloudy Bright situations.
2. Guess the focus distance and turn the focus ring to the appropriate icon.
3. 3. Set the aperture to the Sun (F11) or Partial Sun(F8) setting.
4.  Frame your image.
5. Hold the camera steady and press the shutter release. Do not shake, the shutter speed is only 1/60 of a second.
6. Your group will develop it's film. (I’ll load the 120mm film for you.)
7. Make an 8x8" enlargement. 
8. Dry mount your image.

Focus Ring estimated distances.

• Head and Shoulders: about 4-5 feet.
• 3 People holding hands: about 9 feet.
• 7 People: about 18 feet.
• Mountain: 30 feet to infinity.

Photobooth Cutouts

You probably have a memory of being photographed in a wooden cutout at a fair or maybe a historic site. Recently my little sister celebrated her 50th Birthday. She was born in 1967, so my older sister made this cutout of a VW bus for us to take celebration photos. Hey, this would be a cool project for my Photography class!

Some ideas

Cowboys
Mahopac Indian
Dancers
Astronauts
Horror Movie Creatures
Cartoon Character
Animals
With someone famous.

Procedure

1. Work in groups of two or three. You choose your partners. Choose wisely!
2. Outline image in pencil on a 30x40 inch piece of foam-core.
3. Cut out opening for face and exterior shape using an x-acto knife. Always cut away form your hands. Make sure you use a sharp blade!
4. Paint with acrylics.
5. You may decide to outline the edges with a super thick sharpie.
6. Photograph at least 5 different people using your "Cutout".  Post to your blog. Ask for permission before posting a subjects image. 

School Lunch

School Lunch, you love it or hate it. Bag lunch or cafeteria food? Are your friends in your lunch period? Is it crowded? Show me how you see "school lunch". (minimum 3 photographs.)

Recently a lot of people are talking about school lunch. Mrs. Obama's Hunger-Free Kids Act has limited high school lunches to 850 calories.

• Do you feel that school lunch is adequate? Are you hungry? Do you supplement your lunch by buying another lunch? Buying chips from the machine?
• What kinds of foods would you like the food service to add to their menu? (Sushi?)
• Is lunch too long? Would 20 minutes be long enough? 
• Do you study or work on homework during lunch?
• Would you skip lunch if you could leave school 42 minutes early?
• Do you use the school Wifi during lunch?
• Would you like to seek large screen TV's in the lunchroom. What kinds of programs whould you like to watch?

Write a paragraph describing your views on school lunch.

I took a few minutes out of my "lunch duty" to take a closer look at school lunch. I push the garbage can around and encourage the kids to recycle. Occasionally I come upon something like this.....YUK!

Ketchup Art?

Look at the lunch room in a different way. Try different points of views! There is a lot going on there!



The "regular" UNO game.

Reflections

Before starting this assignment, take a look on the world wide web for examples of photographs using reflections. This should jumpstart your imagination and give you inspiration for your own images.

Consider the many reflective surfaces availible to you:

• Store windows
• Sunglasses
• Lakes, ponds and even puddles.
• Mirrors

Don't limit yourself. Remenber reflection is something that we all do. How can you photograph someone being "reflective".

Make one 5x7 enlargement and dry mount it on matte board.

Paramount Theater, Peekskill, NY

World of Wings, Teaneck, NJ

Letter Project

This is an observation project. We "Look" at the world around us but don't often "See" the interesting detail. This assignment will force you to see the everyday and mundane in a different light.

1. You may choose a word that represents a strong emotion like "love". You may use your own name, but the letters should be representative of who you are.
2. It is possible to construct letters out of objects if you desire. (Notice that the letters in the word create are made up of art materials). 
3. Using a digital camera, take photographs of the "letters" that make up your word. Each photo should be recognizable as a particular letter.
4. A cell phone camera is satisfactory if the resolution is high enough.
5. The images will need to be scaled in Photoshop. Determine size based on the number of letters in the word. (3x3 inches is typical) Make sure the "constrain proportion" button is selected when scaling.
6. Dry mount the letters on matte board. Place in the press for 20 seconds. (Longer will melt the image)

Due Date: 5/4/15

Copier Arts Scannergram

Copier Arts are a new media that was created with the advent of Xerox machines and printers. Originally an artist would use copy machines to degrade and manipulate original artwork to create different effects. With the advent of scanners and photo manipulation software, copier art can be taken to a high level.

A scanner can take photographs of small three dimensional objects.



Even ugly art teachers.

We will create a Scannergram Self Portrait that incorporates a photo of ourselves, and 4 scanned ojects that reflect our persona. Additional photos and your name may be added. Here is my example. I was having a "bad" day.

Don't run with the scissors!

Post your "Scannergram" to your blog and write a brief description of your concept. Why did you choose particular objects? How do they represent you?

My example:

My self portrait is my attempt at self depreciating humor. You can't imagine the number of times I've warned kids to be careful with a scissor or x-acto knife. My family (my two kids) are the "glue" that keeps me together when I'm having a bad day. The "scissor" glasses represent how I see the world through the creation of art.

Point of View Assignment

Auto Parts (Digital Assignment)

Car Parts?

The automobile is ubiquitous part of the American society. Cars are everywhere and we rely on them for our livelihood. There is a real attachment to cars in our culture. High School students take the day off to take their "road test", and earning a license is a rite of passage to adulthood.

We love them, but do we really take a close look at them. We know when we see a car we like, but our perception is of the whole, not the many individual parts that make a "car". Look at your car (or family car) closely. Photograph it from different perspectives. Look for unusual detail. What about the engine compartment? The wheel covers? Even the undercarriage! Don't forget to get close with your "macro" capability.

The assignment

Make a series of 5 images that explore your car from many points of view. Write a short paragraph explaining why you picked this car. Tell me how cars and driving are important to your life.

Example

My father was in the automobile leasing industry for years. He always came home with different cars. I grew up thinking of cars as appliances, we called them vehicles. Function was more important than Form. My Scion XB is a reflection of that attitude. It's dumb ugly, but functional. It's an appliance, like a refrigerator.  I select cars for what they can do, not how they look. This car can seat 4 comfortably, get 30 plus miles to the gallon and was inexpensive. PERFECT but UGLY!

Scion XB Engine Compartment

Scion XB Battery

Scion XB Speedo

Scion XB Shocks

3D Photography Assignment

3D Photography

Most of us have had the opportunity to watch a movie in 3D. Perhaps you had the opportunity to take a 3D thrill ride at Bush Gardens. Some people play 3D video games. Long before 3D movies, photographers made stereo pairs with special cameras with two lens. These "pairs" were viewed with a special Stereoscope. 

We will be making basic 3D images called "Anaglyphs". 

Anaglyph of Art Room

In order to view our images we must make 3D glasses. Here is an unusual example:

Mr. Boccini 3D Glasses.

Assignment


Using "chip board" and acrylic paint make a "custom" pair of Stereo Glasses.

• Be creative, anything from super hero's to cartoon characters make good glasses.
• Make sure to use the template so the spacing between the eyes is correct.
• Think about adding three dimensional elements. (ie. hair made of yarn)
• If you need something special, ask! You never know what kind of junk I have collected.
• The glasses may be attached to a dowel or be worn in the traditional manner. (stems over the ears)
• Consider working with other people to create a theme. (ie the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs.
• Shoot a stereo pair with the tripod and sliding mechanism.
• Use Photoshop to create your anaglyph.
• Blog a picture of you wearing your glasses.
• Blog your anaglyph.

Smartphone Close-up Photography

There are several ways to add macro capacity to your smartphone. Often, the native application is limited in it's ability to adjust exposure or get in close to an object. For the photo of the knife blades, I used an app called Camera+. It's macro feature allows you to get quite close to the image.  I used a headlamp as my light source. The image was edited using the "Ansel" filter.

The image below was created using the lens of a disposable camera. The lens fit comfortably between my OtterBox and Iphone 5c. (the lens can be taped on as well.) I placed the camera on a tripod and used the timer feature in Camera+ to limit camera shake. The composition is made up of some key rings, paperclips and a metal pencil sharpener.

This image was taken hand held. I rested the bottom of the camera on the table and used the headlamp (Any light source will work) to illuminate the dollar. I used the zoom to get even closer.

Your assignment is to create 5 different closeup images with your Smartphone.

Here is a photo of the rig I've built (3) to help you take your smartphone close-ups. Your phone sits on the top piece of Plexiglas and you position your camera lens over the disposable camera lens. The object you want to photograph sits on the bottom layer of Plexiglas.

The thickness of the plexiglass will cause some vignetting.

Use the zoom on your smartphone camera app to crop out the rough edges. Here is the same image "zoomed in". I used a backpacking headlamp to light the objects from below.

I switched to a red light for this image....

Make sure you bring items in to photograph!! I know you won't forget your phone. :)

There are a whole world of small objects just waiting for you to explore.

I used an app (free) called Snapseed to give this image it's rough look.

This is of the circuit board that was inside the disposable camera I "borrowed" the lens from.

In this image I placed the lens between my Otterbox and my camera. I used Snapseed to saturate the colors in the image.

I found that I eliminated the vignetting when I took my Otterbox off my Iphone. I placed a cheap ($1.00) LED light under the paper clips. I placed two sheets of blue tissue paper over the light to get the color in the background. (and diffuse the light). 

Experiment!! Have fun. 

I shot hundreds of images using these techniques.

Close-up Photography

George, Mike Simone 2013

Today's digital cameras almost all have macro lens features. Capturing close-up images in film requires a special "Macro Lens" or the addition of "Extension Tubes" to a primary lens. The extention tubes on our camera link the lens to the light meter. We will use f16 as our aperture in order to increase depth of field. This will result in our using a slow shutter speed. To reduce camera movement it will be attached to a copy stand.

Assignment: Using the copy stand and lights, take five close-up photos of a small object.  (4 people to a roll of film)

Develop the roll with your group.
Make a perfect enlargement and Dry Mount it!

Photoshop Filter Project

Assignment

1. Duplicate your colorized pinhole image 25-30 times on a 8.5x11" Photoshop document.
2. Manipulate each small image with a different "Filter" effect. 
3. Center on the page.
4. Save as a jpeg file and post to your blog.
5. Add the caption: Photoshop Filter Project.

Photoshop Filter Project

Colorize your Pinhole Photo

Assignment

Scan either your Pinhole Self Portrait or Pinhole Close-up. Using the same technique we used on our digital restoration, add color to your image. Post it to your blog. 

Here is one of my pinhole images. Another art teacher had a bag of old toy baby parts which I used as my subject. Creepy!

Colorized Pinhole Photo

Recreating a Famous Painting

Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earing

I'm always looking for new ideas for a photograph. Last year when searching the web for ideas, I came upon Two Bored Coworkers Recreate Famous Paintings Using Their Office Supplies. Wow, I'll have to try this in my Photography class! Like usual, I test the project first. I solicited the help of my favorite model to try my hand at recreating Vermeer's famous image.

Like the Bored Coworkers, I limited myself to my Iphone 5C and stuff that was around the house. T is wearing my revolutionary war farmer's smock. The blue scarf is a pillow case and the scarf came from her closet. The earring was a donation for her "Earrings for Encouragement" project. She hopes to give earrings to the many woman who finish their breast cancer treatments at Vassar Hospital.

I used a large china cabinet for for the background. The original was a green color, but has mellowed to look like a dark black. Lighting was a table lamp and a flexible desk lamp.

Some Art History

The Girl with the Pearl Earring is often classified as a Tronie. (Tronie is dutch for face.) A "Tronie" is a common portrait that shows an unusual facial expression. Typically, the head or bust if featured and the subject is wearing unusual or exotic clothing.

Process

• For this project we will work in teams of 2. You pick your partner.
• Your team will pick a painting out of a hat. If you want, you may trade images with another team.
• Using common everyday objects and clothing, try and recreate the famous painting.
• Think about the background...you could draw it.
• Lighting - notice the shadows in my image. I tried to closely match the original.
• Use the Focus and Exposure Lock on your camera.
• Take a lot of photos!

• Choose the best one and post it next to the original on your blog. There are a ton of Apps that will create a collage of images. I used Pic Stich to put my images together, but you can just post them to your blog.
• Your post should include information about the artist and painting. (not just names and dates) Include information about your models, location and props.

Good Luck,

Mr. B

Some Student Examples

Young Sick Bacchus, Caravaggio

Crouching Woman, Picasso

The Green Dancer, Dega

Digital Photo Restoration

How it's done!

The early photographs taken during the American  Civil War were often made on glass plates. This image of General Sheridan was borrowed from the American Memory Collection for my students to practice with. Photoshop has a host of tools that allow the photographer to rejuvenate old or damaged images.

The Healing Brush Tool is extremely useful for correcting small imperfections like wrinkles or acne.

The Clone Stamp Tool allows for the creation of "patches" where whole sections of the photograph are missing.

Un-restored Image of General Sheridan

Restored Image

Sepia

Sepia

You may remember the horrible smell that chemical sepia toning created in our room. Photoshop allows you to accomplish the same task in a few seconds.

How to do it:

1. Duplicate your restored image and name it Sepia.
2. Image/Adjustments/Hue/Saturation
3. Click on the "Colorize" button and use the following settings. That's it!

Sheridan in Color

Colorizing

Before the invention of color photography, the only way to get a color photograph was by hand tinting. This artistic process had the photographer paint with transparent oil color paint over the photograph. The resulting images had a soft but pleasing look. (Nothing like today's vibrant color.)

Colorizing with Photoshop is easy in concept. You use the paintbrush tool (with a low opacity) to cover areas in color. The application of color in  a realistic manner requires some skill and patience. Large areas can be selected and filled globally using Edit/Fill.

Vignette

Vignetting is the reduction of an images brightness or saturation at it's edge.  Sometimes vignetting is the result of poor optics (toy cameras). Often it is used to draw attention to the main subject. (As in a portrait).

How to do it: 

Selection Tools

1. Make an elliptical selection with the Elliptical Marquee Tool. 
2. Inverse the selection.
3. Select/Modify/Feather. 15 (or more) pixels.
4. Fill the selection with white.

Vignette

Developing Your First Roll of Film

Preparing Chemicals - The Chemistry should be at about 68 degrees.

I pour the chemistry into pitchers and place them in front of each labeled bottle. This ensures you don't accidentally use the wrong solution.

Film Developer - Mix  ILFOSOL 3concentrate at 1 to 9.  You will need at least 30 oz. of developer, or 3 oz. of concentrate to 27oz. of water.  Mix with paddle.  This is a one shot developer and is disposed of after use.

Stop Bath – Premixed by teacher.  Check the color.  Yellow is Ok.  A violet color means the stop bath is exhausted.

Film Fixer – Premixed by teacher.  Place one drop of Fix-a-sure into the fixer.  If a white cloud develops and remains the fixer is exhausted.

Photo-flo – Mix 40 oz. of water with one cap full of Photo-flo.


Go over the Processing Steps before beginning!

1. Developer
2. Stop Bath/Wash
3. Fixer
4. Wash
5. Photo-flo
6. Drying

Developing

Fill the tank with developer, then start the timer. Bang the tank against the edge of the sink a few times to dislodge any air bubbles (this is especially important if you're using a large tank). Agitate the tank for 10 seconds every minute by rocking the tank back and forth, or if you're using a plastic tank, by spinning the "stir stick".

Develop for 8:00 minutes.

When the development time is finished, pour the developer into the large tank for separate disposal.

Stop Bath

Pour stop bath into the tank. Agitate constantly for about 10 seconds.Let sit for 25 more seconds.  Return the stop bath to the bottle.

Fixer

Pour Fixer into the tank, and set the timer for 5 minutes. Agitate the tank 10 seconds every minute. Whe the fix time is finished, return the fixer to the bottle.

Wash

Remove the lid of the tank, and place the reel into the film washer. Wash for 5 minutes. Make sure the water is reaching the top and then empting. (Sometimes it sticks and you must knock the side of the washer.

Photo-flo

Place reel in the photo-flo. Agitate for 20 seconds.

Drying Film

Hang the film to dry.  Clips are under the sink.  Use a weighted clip at the bottom of the roll.  Normally, a roll of film will take about three hours to air dry completely. 

Important: always handle wet film by its edges only! Fingerprints and dust on the film during drying are very difficult if not impossible to remove later.

Remember, Dust is the Enemy!

Loading your 35mm Manual Camera

View the you tube video

Learn Photography: How to Load 35mm Film

View the Youtube Video:

How to load 35mm Film into Development Tank

Compositional Balance

Photography is no different than other fine art in that it uses the same elements and principles of design. Only the medium changes, you still need to work within the "rules" of art. 

When you created your "Found Object" Photogram, you  considered how your image is balanced. Is your design symmetrical, asymmetrical or radially balanced?

Show me you understand each type of balance by shooting an image that shows each type. Post to your blog.  Add information about the location or subject. These are examples I photographed during the last summer.

Symmetrical Balance, Mr. Ricci's 47 Chrysler Town Car
Mahopac High School, Summer 2016

Asymmetrical Balance - Sunflowers being raised to make oil,
Lagrange, New York

Radial Balance - Window at World of Wings Museum,

Teaneck, New Jersey

Sepia Toning

Sepia toning is a process that gives a photograph a warm brown tone and increases it's archival properties. (How long it will last) The image is first bleached to turn the metallic silver into a silver halide. The print is washed to remove the bleach then it is immersed in toner which converts the silver halide into silver sulfide.

You must Sepia Tone your "Close-up" or "Selfie" pinhole image and Mount it!!

Process:

1. Immerse the print in the Bleach Bath and agitate it for a out 6-8 minutes until most of the image has disappeared or turned yellow. I like to leave some areas black for contrast. (Wear Goggles and take care while using bleach! It can damage your eyes!!)
2. Rinse to remove bleach. (2 minutes)
3. Place the print in the Toner Bath and agitate until the image completely fills in with warm browns.(60 seconds)
4. Rinse thouroughly for 2 minutes.
5. Fix for two minutes.
6. Wash for 4 minutes.

Fall Color

If you haven't noticed the riot of fall colors this year, you're not paying attention to the world around you. Your assignment is to get outside and search for some of the wonderful yellow, orange and reds that dot the landscape. Don't just think about landscapes, get close to your subject. Think about the fall harvest as well.

Take a lot of photos. Taking more images improves your odds of getting that one great shot. Post your best 3 (minimum) and describe where you photographed them.

Here are some of my "Fall Colors".

Pumpkins at Rulf's

Maple Leaves

Vibrant Color

Beaver Pond


Fulton History