Tallis Howe Photography

Thomas Tallis & Howe High Schools

Mr Nicholls disrupts Ms Parks’ lesson

I have just enjoyed a lovely video conference with Ms Parks’ class at Howe High School. I enjoyed hearing about the Camera Obscura experiment and the International Dot Day celebrations. The trip to Oklahoma City sounds very exciting and I hope the conference presentations go well. Please post your creative products on this blog so I can see what you made.

Thanks for speaking with me and I look forward to disrupting your learning again in the near future.

Mr Nicholls

tallisphoto:

Some of our new Year 12 photographers were set the challenge of creating some innovative self-portraits using iPod Touches in response to photographs by Cindy Sherman and Ilse Bing. Here are the results. Part of their home learning assignment was to add a comment to this post about the images they made.

There are some really creative solutions represented in this small sample. I like the various ways in which people have disguised, obscured or distorted their appearance. The Hipstamatic app proved popular for adding unusual filter effects. Reflections and shadows have also been exploited to great effect.

We discussed whether a picture taken by someone else could count as a self-portrait. We decided, based on Cindy Sherman’s example, that it could as long as the subject was in control of the image, directing the composition and placing the person actually clicking the shutter in the role of assistant or technician.

I look forward to reading the students’ comments about their experiences of making the images.

Mr Nicholls

Reblogged from Tallis Photography

I recently noticed the publication of this city guide featuring photographs shot with Lomography cameras and I wondered what a Guide to Howe might look like? I’ve been to Oklahoma City (and I lived in Austin TX for a year a while back) but I’ve never been to rural Oklahoma. Would any of you be interested in helping me out by describing your home town and the surrounding countryside in the form of a Guide Book? You could start by asking Ms Parks about photo safaris. Then make a list of all the cool places in your town (these don’t have to be important, although a few important places would be useful, and could just be your favourite places to hang out). When you start making your images, think carefully about the following: the position of your camera (and you) - up high, down low, at an angle to the subject or head on? the distance of your camera from the subject - long distance, middle distance, close-up, macro? the balance of colours and tones in your image - colour or black and white, vibrant or subdued, strong contrasts or subtle mid tones? the composition of your shot - look carefully at the edges of the image in your viewfinder. Is the subject in the centre or to one side? If possible, turn on the grid function in your viewfinder - have you used the rule of thirds? Most of all, try to look at your subjects as if you were a tourist, with fresh eyes. If you can do this, your images will be exciting and engaging. The final task, assuming you are working in a team, is to create a book. You can do this fairly inexpensively either by printing and binding the book yourselves or using a service like Blurb (I recommend the small square softcover book.) You can keep me informed of your progress by posting some images on this blog. I’d be happy to offer some constructive feedback. Good luck! lomographicsociety: We’re delighted to bring you the biggest Lomography City Guide ever written! With texts in both English and German, the brand new Berlin City Guide will teach you all the secrets about Germany’s wildest city. Bursting with over 300 pages of juicy information, you can read about every hidden corner, café and club in this hip metropolis. Berlin is now! So, grab your Lomography Berlin City Guide today!

I recently noticed the publication of this city guide featuring photographs shot with Lomography cameras and I wondered what a Guide to Howe might look like? I’ve been to Oklahoma City (and I lived in Austin TX for a year a while back) but I’ve never been to rural Oklahoma. Would any of you be interested in helping me out by describing your home town and the surrounding countryside in the form of a Guide Book?

You could start by asking Ms Parks about photo safaris. Then make a list of all the cool places in your town (these don’t have to be important, although a few important places would be useful, and could just be your favourite places to hang out). When you start making your images, think carefully about the following:

  • the position of your camera (and you) - up high, down low, at an angle to the subject or head on?
  • the distance of your camera from the subject - long distance, middle distance, close-up, macro?
  • the balance of colours and tones in your image - colour or black and white, vibrant or subdued, strong contrasts or subtle mid tones?
  • the composition of your shot - look carefully at the edges of the image in your viewfinder. Is the subject in the centre or to one side? If possible, turn on the grid function in your viewfinder - have you used the rule of thirds?

Most of all, try to look at your subjects as if you were a tourist, with fresh eyes. If you can do this, your images will be exciting and engaging.

The final task, assuming you are working in a team, is to create a book. You can do this fairly inexpensively either by printing and binding the book yourselves or using a service like Blurb (I recommend the small square softcover book.)

You can keep me informed of your progress by posting some images on this blog. I’d be happy to offer some constructive feedback.

Good luck!

lomographicsociety:

We’re delighted to bring you the biggest Lomography City Guide ever written! With texts in both English and German, the brand new Berlin City Guide will teach you all the secrets about Germany’s wildest city. Bursting with over 300 pages of juicy information, you can read about every hidden corner, café and club in this hip metropolis. Berlin is now! So, grab your Lomography Berlin City Guide today!

Reblogged from Lomography

Just seen this amazing image. I wouldn’t recommend storm chasing as a hobby but it does often result in awesome photographs. We don’t get many storms like this in London! photojojo: A tornado crossing I-40 near Shawnee, Oklahoma. Chris Allington’s hobby other than photography is storm chasing, so he combines both of his passions and this is the insanely cool product! Amazing Storm Photography by Chris Allington via Shawnee Tornado - Close Range

Just seen this amazing image. I wouldn’t recommend storm chasing as a hobby but it does often result in awesome photographs. We don’t get many storms like this in London!

photojojo:

A tornado crossing I-40 near Shawnee, Oklahoma. Chris Allington’s hobby other than photography is storm chasing, so he combines both of his passions and this is the insanely cool product!

Amazing Storm Photography by Chris Allington

via Shawnee Tornado - Close Range

Reblogged from Photojojo!

One of the activities I’d like us to try over the coming weeks is making a camera obscura. I’ve just done this with a group of my students and it really helps to explain how cameras work. Essentially, you turn a room into a camera by making it completely dark (light safe) and then creating a small hole in one wall. This channels all the available light from outside into the room, creating an upside down version of the world on the opposite wall. Magic!

Check out this film of the photographer Abelardo Morell creating a camera obscura in a Venetian Palazzo. Here’s what we saw through our camera obscura: