Exercises: week of March 23, 2009

Ahhh - Wednesday... now THIS is more like me than that whole Monday thing, hey?

First things first: if anyone is interested in getting their hands on CS4 for a cool $300 (regularly $600) plus shipping please let me know. Only one is available so whoever contacts me first and/or puts money in my hand gets it. Now on to the good stuff - the exercies.

Task 1 is part 3 of the same exercise. Now that you have (ideally, if you've done the last 2 exercises) a few self-portraits and an 'I am' list, the next thing you need to do is play a kind of 'word-association' game with yourself. Grab a piece of paper and a pen - this will work best if you write and not type it. For each 'I am' you need to scribble down the FIRST song that pops into your head. Doesn't matter what it is or if it makes any sense at all - just write it down - then email your "I am" and song lists to me h dot walls at shaw dot ca; I will post the final part of this exercise next week!

Task 2 is the first part of a series of exercises that will help you build up what will become your portfolio. This task will help you start seeing your pictures as ways of putting a 'story' together in what the hip cats call photojournalism. You have 2 weeks for this task; there won't be a new exercise next week, only part 4 of the "I am" exercise.

You have been hired by an advertising agency to provide images for a company that specializes in at-your-house catering. Use your imagination to come up with a set of 5 to 10 images that would go on the company's website. You may use images you have already taken but at least 2 should be new and specific to this exercise. Here is some text that might be on our imaginary homepage, which you can modify if you'd prefer to narrow the scope and specialize in, say, romantic dinners or card parties or whatever:

Ambience Catering

At Ambience we are dedicated to providing not only first-class delectables prepared with only the finest ingredients but creating the perfect setting for any occasion in the comfort of your own home for groups of 20 or less. From intimate dinner parties and romantic proposals to children's birthdays and casual games nights, we'll help you plan the perfect menu and arrange for decorations and entertainment. On the day of your event we will arrive in time to do the decorating and set the mood, serve you and your guest(s), then quietly leave after all the cleaning is done so you can simply enjoy your time with family and friends. Whether it's candlelit coq au vin for your elopement, cake and hot dogs for your child's pinata party, or tea and petit-fours (or beer and BBQ wings) over card games, we'll help set the mood (and the table) for a worry-free event.

Examples of inclusions might be: pictures of food, either before or after preparation; things that would help set the 'ambience' like flowers, candles, streamers, table setting, etc.; location - back deck, kitchen table, yard; pictures of people eating or enjoying each other's company in a worry-free catered environment... You get the idea. Humour is welcome. When you have your images shot/selected, post the images on your blog along with the catering description. I will be giving both technical and personal feedback on the individual images (is the focus where it needs to be, is the composition strong, what elements are strong or weak, etc.) as well as how effectively they go together as a set to send a message or set a visual mood. If you aren't blogging please feel free to email it to me if you want feedback.

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