Light Painting Assignment

[David]

We recently finished our 'light painting assignment' in our advanced photography class, and I am just thrilled with the results. We'll include these in our Shanghai Expat Expo show (we're doing a joint show at the HWAS Gallery in Shanghai with 8 schools in the area)- I chose one photo from each student, an incredibly difficult task given the quality of their work. You can see the rest of their photographs here.




These were the project parameters:

You will need to find two locations for this assignment, 1 indoor and 1 outdoor.

You will end with a total of five final photographs. At least two in each location (3 in one, 2 in the other)

For your outdoor assignments: Find an interesting location away from your own backyard. It should be somewhere that is dark, although it may have some light (remember that your shutter will be open for a long time so it can't be that bright).

For all assignments: Make sure that you think about positioning your models/objects along the Z axis.

Assignment 1:
Create a composition by highlighting details within the frame of the camera with the flashlight.

Include 2 people, or a person and an object. One (or both) of these things should be 'altered with light'. You can use light to make them transparent, drawn on or around them with light, or have them draw in the air with light.

Assignment 2:

1. Create a 3D drawing in air using a laser pointer, LED, or LED flashlight. Try and re-create a space in your house (or other dark indoor location) with objects and 'things' created out of light. Remember that things closer to the camera should appear drawn bigger than things away from the camera.

Assignment 3:

One person in your photograph is painted in a number of different locations in the same photograph. This should include some suggestions of difference - emotions, positions, etc.

Assignment 4:
Abstraction. Using lights, create an abstract composition. YES- this may have realistic elements in it (people, objects, etc).

Assignment 5:
Free choice.

[barbara gail block]

sorry, think I lput this in the wrong place...I loved the photographs!

[barbara gail block]

KIS IB art in Kodaikanal South India, is in desperate need of an IB art examiner this April (18 th through 26th are possible dates...) Last year we had a teacher come up from Bangalore after his exam completed, but he's moved on, our back up now is saying she can only come in March...and the kids aren't keen on moving back that far. If you can help, or know someone who can, please contact me : [e-mail] ! Thank you.

[David]

Hey Kendra, that's the part of the lesson plan the kids got- I'll type up the full lesson plan at some point and post it. The "z axis" is added in mathematics along with the x and y to plot points in three dimensional space. X describes horizontal, Y vertical, and Z you can imagine pointing out from that intersection coming toward/going away from you. I use the term in the art room to help the students conceptualize arranging things in the foreground and background.

We use the Canon Rebel XTi. The students have some experience with these cameras and so I didn't give them specific instructions as to the settings. That being said, it needs a high shutter speed (most students probably used 10-30 seconds). The cameras allow you to set a Shutter Speed priority, meaning that when you tell it how long you want the shutter open for, it will compensate with what it thinks will be the best aperture. The ISO should have been about 800, perhaps 1600 in some of them.

[kendra Farrell]

thanks for the plan. Several questions "what is the Z axis" ,what type of cameras did you use and what were the settings aperture and Iso???
the flickr gallery is amazing. kendra

[kendra Farrell]

wow so impressive and what a coup to get the kids work in HWAS Gallery. Can you put the "lesson plan" in the lesson folder? I would love to try this.... kendra