Photo Class Assignment vs. Brain Cramp, Vapor Lock... Any Suggestions?

I'm taking a digital photography class at the local college and we've been given what is, for me, a tough assignment. I'm all good with the technical aspects of photography but weak on the creative, expressive side (the main reason for taking the class). I'm hoping maybe someone here can give me some suggestions on subjects or that maybe just talking about this to other photographers will help get my creative juices flowing. Please feel free to chime in with anything you have. I'm doing well in the class but this is sending my brain into full "vapor lock".

Here's the text of the assignment, my comment in [brackets]:



Subject Matter:
Shoot the subject/s of your choice but choose ones that have strong textures and a real sense of its depth and space. Use natural light only; no man-made fill or lighting set-ups. Give this some thought, you’ll want to scope out the subjects in advance, determining the shot and what you want to convey in it as well as planning the proper time to shoot. Note the sun's track and how it will appear at various times.

Procedure:
Shoot a MINIMUM of 40 RAW images. [When he says this he means he’s going to want to see contact sheets with those 40 images, so it’s not a “suggestion”, and they had better be relatively acceptable shots at that. If he thinks you’re shooting “trash” just meet the minimum requirement, you'll be looking at a re-shoot.]

Select your best 2 shots, process them in RFC (Raw File Converter) and make an 8.5"x11" color or B&W print from each. Trim borders and mount on 11x14" cream or gray mount board.

Be prepared to discuss what you sought to portray in the shots, how you metered and exposed each, how it was printed, and how you used these techniques to best express your intent. Composition counts heavily.

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Thanks in advance!

Any time I want to break free from my lack of ideas I type something I want to shoot into the search blank at 500px.com

Here's what I just got for "Light and Texture"...

BackdoorHippie said:

Any time I want to break free from my lack of ideas I type something I want to shoot into the search blank at 500px.com

Here's what I just got for "Light and Texture"...

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Excellent Suggestion! I will keep that in mind for future needs!!

Pat in NH

Honestly I think a minimum 40 images is a rather ridiculously high number of image to have to present, especially if you are going to just have to pick two but things which can have great texture are old, weathered wood. Here is one of my favorite images with texture:

Wow... Yous guys rock!! Thank you for the suggestions! The examples are really, really helpful...

I also agree that forty shots seems high and that's a big part of why I'm not exactly in a full panic over this assignment, but... Yeah. Forty. My last assignment was twenty-six and that had me mildly freaked.

Did I mention Mother Nature is playing difficult? The assignment is due on Wednesday the 13th and I'm looking at cloudy, wet weather for the next few days. I'm going to have to figure out how to make that work to my advantage... I have a full time job so most of my shooting has to happen over the weekend.

Pretty much everything has texture. You would want highlights and strong shadows to show 'depth'; so walls, trees or other vertical surfaces around the middle of the day and horizontal ones morning and evening. You could even try with moon light.

What about everyday items such as the tyres, dirty windows or other parts of parked cars with a blurred busy street.

You've got me thinking about it now... Might have to set my camera to B/W and get outside...

Look for areas over the next 2 days where the shadows that come with sunrise and sunset, if you get them, will play nicely against natural texture that are there. Different textures within proximity to each other to shoot up as much of those 40 snaps in one place as you can.

Also, don't forget that a flashlight or flood lamp can make for some interesting light effects, so don't be afraid to bring it with you.

gosh, rocks, trees, buildings, rusted cars, macro bolts, trains, train track beds, old bridges, and on and on,,,

and 40 is not too many shots, the assignment is to make you think on the subject, go there, study, angle. turn, close, far, over expose, under, etc etc etc,

and no,, I am not your professor

May I offer one more suggestion. You have until the 13th... (6 days) If you see a candidate, shoot the heck out of it. Use every different angle you can come up with. Use both Landscape, Portrait modes. Don't stop at 40 shots (Digital Film is Free). Then repeat the process another day at a different location. If you had more time I'd suggest three or four photo-shoots. Then sit down in post processing to see which sets best meet your instructors criteria.

So Jake, you're going to sell some musical gear to help finance your choice? I thought about doing that but can't decide what to get rid of. Every guitar has a story behind it and some of the other stuff would go so cheaply it's not worth it.
Whenever I have sold gear I regretted it afterwards.
I still miss that '68 SG I got when I was a kid.

Cowboybillybob1 said:

So Jake, you're going to sell some musical gear to help finance your choice? I thought about doing that but can't decide what to get rid of. Every guitar has a story behind it and some of the other stuff would go so cheaply it's not worth it.
Whenever I have sold gear I regretted it afterwards.
I still miss that '68 SG I got when I was a kid.

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Talk about thread drift!! (I think you thought you were elsewhere)

I've learned in life it's often better to miss something than regret not doing something. Nothing ever gets sold that gets used. That's not true of things that get bought. So that's the circle of life.

Old stones covered in lichen are great for texture, tree bark works well as well could even go for something really off the wall lite pot holes in your local roads (don't know what yours are like ours are awful) fur is another odd one but full of contrast and great texture.

Hope it goes well,

Soooooo, where are our winner shots from this?

SkvLTD said:

Soooooo, where are our winner shots from this?

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It always helps to read the first post of a thread. Have you had done that, you would have read that the original poster was referring to a photography assignment he had from a high school photo class.

He was basically asking for suggestions on textures.

Marcel said:

It always helps to read the first post of a thread. Have you had done that, you would have read that the original poster was referring to a photography assignment he had from a high school photo class.

He was basically asking for suggestions on textures.

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I'm guessing my first post wasn't very clear... I'm an adult attending college and taking a Photography course; my HS days are decades behind me.

As for the assignment, I wasn't the only one in class more than a little unclear on what he was looking for so, I sort of took a shotgun approach and went for a little of this and a little of that and just hoped for the best. I haven't seen my grade yet, but here's a short sampling of some of what I submitted.

Comments, critique welcome!

Awesome. Digging the water droplets and the net.