Category:

DE is done!

5/8/2015

This has been an awesome semester with my High School students as we explored manual settings on a camera to create an array of images. From exploring shutter to aperture, DOF and painting with light, students really pushed their cameras to the limit to create images that explored a variety of ideas and concepts.

For our last class, students shared a presentation that compared their work to the work of artists we studied in class and also presented their final series that explored a larger concept or theme of their choice using techniques explored in the previous assignments. We also finalized our Spring display in the Van Singel Fine Arts Center that showcases the BCPS k-12 program.

Tara: The Littlest Zoo

In her series, Tara explored the transformative quality of these small plastic figurines when placed in various scenarios. Here are two examples from her series that capture the essence of the project.

Jason: deflated hapiness

In Jason's series, he had a model pose with a yellow balloon acting as the face put on regardless of true feelings. Here are two from his collection.

Holly: "Youth" by Daughter

Holly used a song to inspire her final work of images. Each picture represented a part of the song, illustrating the lyrics through the use of light, shadow, and motion. Here are two examples.

Denise: Night Lights

In her series, Denise went downtown and captured the city by night. Here are two of her pieces in the series of eight.

Sarah: Identity Lost

Sarah worked with the theme of identity and addiction in her series of clouded visions of her model in various stages of being overwhelmed. Here are two from her series.

Kenton: Mood Music

In Kenton's work, he used friends and church members to highlight his love of music. Using an array of warm and cool tones in the work, Kenton also used color to express feelings he found in his subjects. Here are two from the series.

I am so proud of their accomplishments and know they are going to lead creative lives that take them on all kinds of interesting adventures.

Light and Shadow

4/17/2015

Dual Enrollment students worked with the concept of light and shadow with this assignment. It was fun to see them experiment with different ways to capture the light in their camera and how it impacted their final images. We are now moving onto their final thematic series to finish out the course.

Here is a sample of the pieces submitted for the assignment:

Kenton

Kenton

Jason

Jason

Tara

Tara

Holly

Holly

Sarah

Sarah

Denise

Denise

Photo Update

4/10/2015

I have not had a chance to post the works from my Dual Enrollment students earlier last month until now; students worked with a variety of images as they explored the concept of Depth of Field. Through the manipulation of aperture and shutter, students were able to control how much of their image was in focus. It was fun to see students explore with their settings and the diverse images that resulted. See for yourself below:

Jason

Jason

Sarah

Sarah

Kenton

Kenton

Holly

Holly

Tara

Tara

Denise

Denise

Capturing Motion

2/20/2015

Dual Enrollment students worked with the concept of motion for their last assignment. Here are some examples of the types of images they made:

Sarah used a slower shutter speed to capture this view from the second floor of the GRAM during the MAEA Region 9 show.

Kenton used a faster shutter to capture this moment of the stream of water frozen in space.

Tara uses panning to show movement of her brother.

Denise used a slower shutter speed to paint with light in the background of this figurine of Lady Liberty.

Holly used a slower shutter speed, a timer, and a tripod to capture this self portrait in motion.

Jason used a slower shutter speed to create this image.

Assignment 1 and Photo Challenges

2/6/2015

I am very excited that I have the opportunity to teach Dual Enrollment classes through Kendall College of Art and Design. This semester I am teaching students an Introduction to Photography course where they will learn a variety of ways to capture images. Our first assignment was all about perspective and point of view. The results offered a variety of solutions that showed new aspects of the everyday.

Sara Y.

Kenton R.

Denise M.

Holly M.

Tara M.

Jason K.

In addition to formal assignments, I have been giving students challenges that help them better apply the concepts being discussed during class lecture and in the reading.

Snow Challenge

We had two snow days in the last week, so I challenged students to take pictures that characterized the snow. Here are two examples of the types of images students made when they were stuck home from school due to the snow days.

Tara M.

Sara Y.

Panning Challenge

We are moving onto our next assignment, which deals with the concept of motion. Last class we went over a variety of photographers who use this concept in their work and then discussed the basics around the use of shutter speed to capture motion. Although they do not have to specifically incorporate any panning motion images in their next assignment, I wanted to challenge students to do one with people and the other with an object. Here are three results:

Kenton R.

Tara M.

Sara Y.

Name Game

1/20/2015

Jason

Tara

In addition to teaching 7th and 8th grade Art, I also have the unique privilege to teach Dual Enrollment courses for Kendall College of Art and Design. This semester I am teaching Intro to Photo for Non-Photo Majors. It is a digital photography course that will acquaint students with the fundamentals of using a digital SLR camera and composing a quality image.

We are currently working on a project dealing with the concept of perspective and point of view. Students can make any type of image they like, with the emphasis on breaking away from traditional habits of centering images or only using standing eye view.

After today's lecture on lenses and focal length, as well as a process critique of select images taken, students were asked to play a game - a seeing game. Having only 30 minutes, students went around the classroom and hallways of the school to take pictures of objects in ways that resembled letters to their names.

It was fun to see students search out letters and try unusual methods to solve this design problem. I am particularly proud that this mini-lesson was inspired by one of my students.

Sarah

Denise

Holly

In Color

4/16/2014

See the progress of Tara's painting for the Kendall Dual Enrollment class. We are using a stippling technique and personal palette in this project.

Students are using all kinds of materials this week to explore color. In my Dual Enrollment class, students are finishing up their personal pallet portraits by applying the color through a stippling technique. In 7th and 8th grade art classes, students are using the glazes from our funded DonorsChoose project to finish up their creatures and Anthropomorphic Vessels. I will be firing the work later this week and into next before students post the results on our Artsonia gallery.

Lots of Color

3/4/2014

7th graders' bowls are waiting to be fired. Thanks again to all who helped us reach our Donors Choose project goal and get these glazes for our classroom. Empty Bowls is on the 20th, and these bowls will be ready for it!

8th graders are working on PSAs for the Meijer Great Choices Film Festival. My students have either won or placed second in each category for the past two years… maybe this group's video on Diversity will help us see a three-peat!

Dual Enrollment students are working through their city scales this week as we wrap up a condensed version of this project. Snow days might have messed with our schedule, but these kids are on track and dedicated to getting all of the work accomplished!

for Valentine's day...

2/14/2013

For the past three years, I have had the privilege to teach Dual Enrollment classes for Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University to our High School Junior and Seniors. I taught 3D my first year, Color last year, and this year I am teaching Intro to Photo for Non-Majors. We started the term using Digital SLR cameras and will be moving onto traditional black and white processing in a couple of weeks.

For our first project, we focused on perspective and point of view. Our second project, which was handed in today, was all about movement. I decided to select an image from each student to showcase their efforts. It was a great critique today, with a lot of interesting and exciting experiments happening with the use Manual mode on the camera. One of the most satisfying moments during critique today was hearing a student express how much they have learned about their camera by turning off the Auto-mode. I am really excited to see what happens in our next project when we move into the darkroom.

Jackson, Assignment 1, by Olivia B.

Hidden Mystery, Assignment 1, Nicole H.

Water, Assignment 2, Emily M.

Bouncy Ball, Assignment 2, Tyler P.

Lens, Assignment 2, Jordan S.

Showdown, Assignment 1, Shelby L.

Path for the Lost, Assignment 1, Tyler C.

the memory project

8/30/2012

Last Spring, my Dual Enrollment class through Kendall College of Art and Design created portraits for orphans in Honduras as a part of the Memory Project. This summer, the portraits were delivered and I just received these images of the student work with the children along with the video of the portrait delivery.

This was a great chance for my students to use their talents to positively impact others globally. I am proud that we were able to participate in this and look forward to the next time I teach the class!