Lesson: Multiple Me Photography

Overview:

Students work in pairs and use a digital camera and tripod to photography themselves in a scene with multiple poses. By never moving the camera, the background remains the exact same allowing the student to use basic Photoshop techniques to combine the poses into one photograph.

 

 

Objectives: The students will...

-Identify the various composition techniques that make s great photograph.

-Analyze photographs and determine compositional elements.

-Apply knowledge of composition techniques to his/her photography.

-Choose a theme/situation and location to photograph that makes the subject more interesting.

-Know the rules and practice them during instruction and independent practice.

-Assemble multiple photographs into one collage image that produces a Multiple Me.

 

ODE State Standards:

Standard 1; Benchmark C; Indicator 1PR, 2PR, 3PR, 5PR, 6PR,

Standard 2; Benchmark B, D; Indicator 4PE, 5PE, 2RE

Equipment:

-Digital camera

-Tripod

-Camera card/flash drive

-Photoshop

-Props

-Studio Light

-Reflector

Instruction:

Day 1: Composition

Day 2: Digital Camera Manual Mode overview and Set Up using a Tripod

Day 3-9: Photographing, 5 poses (in pairs, 1 group a day going to a location in the school while the rest of the class continues to work on previous project)

Day 10: Photoshop

-Open Test Files in Photoshop

-Drag all photos into one document using Move Tool

-Save As Photoshop File (.psd)

-Explain Layers, Name Layers

-Order Layers (Closest/Top to Furthest/Bottom

-Explain Lasso Tool to select person

-Explain Layer Mask to “Hide” information

-Explain Black/White Paint Brush to adjust the Layer Mask 

To simplify:

-2-3 photographs of the individual

-Use Eraser Tool instead of Layer Masking 

To challenge:  

-6-10 photographs of the individual  

-Multiple outfits, lots of overlap in figures  

-Include more than one composition technique

Glamour Shots, Zombies, and Aging Portraits

This is a project I taught during my student teaching. It utilized a lot of the tools in Photoshop that are adaptable to any project or photograph. This project went over very well, and they especially enjoyed turning themselves into zombies. The students started by taking their own portraits making sure to have no major facial expression and that they were straight forward. This would make the transformations go much more smooth.

Glamour Shots

The first version the students worked on was the Glamour Shots. The tools and techniques used in this version included:

• Layer masking
• Making Selections
• Layers and Adjustment Layers
• Blending Modes
• Filter>Noise>Median to apply a soft skin layer typically used in portrait editing

 

Zombie-fying

The second version the students worked on was the Zombie transformation. The tools and techniques used in this version included:

• Layer masking
• Making Selections
• Layers and Adjustment Layers
• Blending Modes
• Color Balance to match peeled paint textures to apply to grunge skin textures

Aging Portraits

The final version the students worked on was aging themselves. The tools and techniques used in this version included:

• Layer masking
• Making Selections
• Layer and Adjustment Layers
• Blending Modes
• Patch Tool and Opacity to apply wrinkles
• Liquify to accentuate facial features

Lesson: Grids and Guides

Overview:

This project introduces students to the grids and guides in Photoshop. They selected one subject matter to photograph from multiple angles ending up with between 10-15 photos to use for the grid project. The students composed a blank document in Photoshop and applied their own grid composition to it using the Guides and Rulers. They used the Rectangular Marquee Tool and the Layer Mask to put their photographs into their grids that they designed.

Photoshop Skills:

• Guides and Rulers
• Multiple Layers
• Rectangular Marquee Tool
• Adding Layer Masks
• Transforming and Scaling

Design Concepts:

• Cropping and Composition
• Variation in size
• Balance, Color, & Unity
• Hierarchy
• Margins and Columns
• Intro to Layout Design 

Lesson: Typography as a Composition

Overview:

This project introduced students to typography and thinking of typography as a design element rather than as a literary element. The students used Photoshop and placed each letter of their name on a separate layer to enable transforming and rotating each character separately.

Content Focus:

• Use the characters of your name to develop a unified composition.

Photoshop Skills:

• Type Tool
• Layers
• Blending Modes
• Character Panel for Type
• Rotating and Scaling
• Font exploration and experimentation

Design Concepts:

• Cropping and Composition
• Unity
• Balance
• Positive/Negative Space
• Line and Movement
• Size/Scale

Photoshop vintage screen print poster tutorial

Use Photoshop to create a vintage looking screen print technique to your designs. Spoongraphics lays it out step by step: http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-create-a-retro-style-typographic-poster-design

Spot Color Separation Demo

A great tutorial for spot color separation for screen printing from filmdirectonline.