Portfolio Assignment

[Gena]

Sometimes I'm too stupid for my own good LOL! I made the mistake of telling my photo instructor that I didn't feel challenged enough by the class work we are currently doing. 90% of it is falling under digital workflow. Ok, that'd be fine except half the class has never even opened photoshop elements. Sigh.

So...he met with me and my sis tonight before class (she whined too LOL!). He gave us an "optional" assignment of creating a portfolio. It can be documentary style or image making style. Documentary is basically shooting a place/thing/event and culling down to 10-15 shots that describe it or your feelings about it. Image making is picking a theme (portraits of all family members, red flowers, tools etc) and shooting those images in a planned and controlled way. And yes, I'm pretty much in the non-optional group since I whined about wanting challenge LOL!

Now I'm all stuck on an idea. I've thought about using Mom's barn as a documentary portfolio. I could do it from several angles/zoom or closeness levels plus in various lighting since I could go whenever. I've thought about a portraits of the family dogs one or possibly doing one of just one of the dogs. I've even thought about gathering some random objects and taking staged shots of them. None are saying "DO IT!" though.

Any one have any ideas to run through my brain?

 

[AndrewF]

I'd go for the brand-spanking-new, instead of the familiar. I'd observe things for a while and find what makes it special, then shoot everything from the small details to the big picture which support your response to it.

Personally, I love going to new locations to shoot landscapes. I love taking in the details big and small and then trying to capture the essence as I see it. I find I'm at my least creative when I'm some place familiar because I've been there, done that and and as a result, I concentrate on finding 'new' things and not paying attention to the atmosphere.