Winter Break, Grades and Photo Competition

Monday morning, first real day of winter break. I have finished grading shutter speed and depth of field assignments for beginning students and the self portraits and free choice assignments for advanced students. The grades posted are a truer indication of where everyone is at compared to the recent progress reports. Email me if you want to discuss the grade.
I am sponsoring a winter break photo competition for interested beginning students. Each class will have a winner for each of the following three categories: Winter weather; Poignant moments; and Humor/Irony relating to the season. These can be film, digital, or alternative process. You will have a week to finish the work before putting up for jurors. I have posted the next studio assignment, Lights, Shadows and Reflections, for you to check out, also.
So, shoot lots of photographs if you want or not. Have a relaxing and fun break. See you next year!

A photo of Mr. Schmidt and I, taken by Jessica Smith, from our fun field trip with students to the Seattle Art Museum and Seattle Public Library.

December News

Well, there have been many complaints that I don't change the blog enough. It is true-I have been having too much fun making my own work, gardening, walking, and enjoying my house and family. I will try to be better.
In the beginning classes, everyone is finishing up the shutter speed assignment. This is always one of the most challenging, and so we have spent quite a bit of time on it. First roll of film was shot to just try to get the technical skills down. The second and sometimes third roll was spent using motion in creative ways that go beyond the technique into something more meaningful. There are some fabulous images coming out. With every roll and reshooting, images became stronger and much more interesting. Students are also working on working with aperture and depth of field. Using predominately a shallow depth of field and exploring abstraction through still life, many interesting images are happening. I want to leave for winter break with these assignments finished. Over the break, I am hoping that students spend time enjoying the outdoors and hanging out with friends and family. Everyone needs a break. Here are some of the beginning students photograms and some prints from their first roll of film.


In the advanced class, students are working on free choice assignments and self portraits. There was much complaining about the self portraits, but I am seeing some terrific work. It is always hard to look at ourselves. I am hoping that all of the advanced students register for the Scholastic Art Awards before the break. This is a great opportunity to have your work seen by a broader audience.

News from the Photography Classes

We have been very busy in both the beginning and advanced photo classes. The beginning students just finished their photograms and are now working on their first shooting assignment. The photograms are terrific. I will be putting them up in the gallery in the next couple of weeks. The first shooting assignment is is about using good composition techniques and learning to print with filters for varying contrast. Many students have made their first contact sheets and have begun the filter tests. There are some really good looking negatives. We will be working on printing this assignment up until the end of the quarter. Then we will be exploring the creative controls-shutter speed/motion and aperture/depth of field. Next week we will begin to study the history of photography. Here is an early (1847) daguerreotype by Gustave Oehme and a contemporary one (2008) of Kate Moss taken by Chuck Close. Students just got done researching some old photographic processes and finding contemporary artists who are working in them now. The Early History slideshow we saw in class is below.



In advanced photography, students are finishing up the multiple perspective assignment and their own personal work. They have also each been assigned a photoshop "task" that they will create and then teach to the rest of the class.
Posted on the blog are some images by photographers Robert and Shana Parkeharrison and the Starn Brothers. Both of these teams are so interesting, I think. Their work is beautiful and compelling. I am hoping the advanced students, in particular, get inspired by these artists as we move into self portraits.

News from the Photography Classes

School is off and running. The beginning classes are working on photograms. They are learning how to use the darkroom and print using objects, magazine images, transparencies and enlargements of tiny objects. We will be making and shooting with pinhole cameras in the next couple of weeks. Students will need their film cameras by October 7.


In Advanced Photography, students are working on a body of work around the idea of multiple perspectives and repetition. I read an interesting book this summer called Photography and The Art of Seeing by Freeman Patterson. It had some great exercises to stretch our creativity. I used his Thinking Sideways exercise for a beginning assignment. Students used both digital cameras and cell phones to take photos of the first things they see in the morning from a position of laying in their beds, sitting on the sides, and then walking to wherever they first go when they wake up. They also shot 15 photos in the span of 20 minutes from their bathroom. Some very interesting pieces came out of this. My hope was that everybody realizes they don't have to travel far to get interesting shots. It really is all about how you see what is in front of you. Here are some of the images that came out of that assignment.

Start of a New Year

Welcome back! The beginning of school is always mixed emotionally for me. I am excited to meet new students and to reconnect with the ones I know. I do miss the easy pace of summer, however. Once school begins, it seems that life just moves at a rapid pace. Mr. Schmidt and I are teaching a new class this year, Intro to Digital Design and Photography that is being offered 0 period-a tough time for all concerned. There are 40 intrepid students signed up for this new adventure. I have made a separate blog for that class that can be found on this page. All information for that class will be on that page. As for my beginning and advanced classes, you will still find all the information you need here. We will spend the first week getting all the forms filled out, setting up the rooms, nuts and bolts kind of things. Then in beginning photo, we will head to the darkroom for making photograms. If it stays sunny, we will be doing cyanotypes and lumen prints. In advanced photo, we will start out getting back in the darkroom by printing what you shot over the summer and working on an assignment about breaking all the rules. That one should be interesting.
On a personal note-My book, Considering Nature and a Little Radiohead, has been entered in the Photography Books Now competition on blurb.com. You can check it out below. I also just found out that I am one of 15 excellence award winners in the COLOR magazine portfolio contest. My work will be published in their special issue coming out in September.

Considering Nature and a Little Radiohead by Nancy Abens | Make Your Own Book

Welcome Back

Summer is coming to an end, alas. I decided that I have been being way too lazy and better start getting ready for school. Syllabi for beginning and advanced photography are posted. Mr. Schmidt and I are still working on the logistics for the new Intro to Digital Design and Photography class. Hopefully the syllabus for that class will be posted by next week. I have also posted supply lists for beginning and advanced photography. For the intro to digital class, you will need a digital camera (at least 5mp) preferably with a manual setting and a flash drive (2GB or larger). Please do not get a totally automatic camera.

On a personal note-My book, Considering Nature and a Little Radiohead, has been entered in the Photography Books Now competition on blurb.com. You can check it out below. I also just found out that I am one of 15 excellence award winners in the COLOR magazine portfolio contest. My work will be published in their special issue coming out in September.

More to come next week.

Considering Nature and a Little Radiohead by Nancy Abens | Make Your Own Book

End of the Year

Please join us for the opening of the Senior Show. Seniors from all of the advanced visual arts classes will be showing their work. The final concert of our fabulous music department is also this evening. The opening is from 5-7, the concert begins at 7:30. So, come early and peruse the artwork, have some food, talk with the amazing artists, and then sit and enjoy the concert.

Start of the Last Quarter-Beginning Photography

We are starting to work on photo essays in beginning photography. Students choose a theme and then make a body of work. It is kind of like a mini portfolio. This year I am offering a digital component to this and the following assignment. Students can choose to either stick with film or go digital or do two photo essays, one of each. Last week we watched the film, War Photographer, an award winning documentary on the life and work of photographer James Nachtwey. Students had to answer the following ethical questions and then expand on one of the questions in a short essay.
1. Do you think as a culture we have been saturated with violent imagery and so have become desensitized to seeing it?
2. Do you think that a photograph can make a person change their behavior or how they think about something?
3. Do you feel that Nachtwey was using exploitation to further his causes?
4. Does a photojournalist have more of a responsibility to capture the "big idea", than losing their own humanity in not helping someone in a dire situation?
5. Can you comment on a photograph of human distress that has spurred you to action?
6. Do you agree with the KIA ban put on embedded photographers during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars during the Bush administration or do you feel that photographers should be completely uncensored as in the Vietnam War?
7. Many recent photographs coming out of Haiti are extremely graphic in their portrayal of human distress. Some say the images are being made and published to build support for rebuilding the nation. Others feel they are too insensitive and dehumanizing. What do you think?
8. Is it right for a government to censor photographers in order to foster support for their agenda?

This film is so moving. I highly recommend checking it out.

We are starting to scan in some of the beginning students work. Here is a sampling of some of the excellent photographs being made.

3rd Quarter Test

You may either write your answers on a piece of paper and turn them in or email me your answers. This is a take home test-use your journal notes, books in the room, and other sources.

March in Beginning Photography

Beginning students just finished up their light, shadow and reflection projects. Some really good explorations of light resulted in imaginative imagery. Some of the best pieces are up on the board in the photo room. We are now starting our portrait unit. This is a big assignment. Students will be taking 3 different types of portraits. We are watching a film on Annie Leibovitz to get inspired. Hard to believe we are almost at spring break. After the portrait assignment, we will be doing landscapes and photo essay. Then it is time to get final portfolios together. Whew! Very busy times ahead. Below are a couple Annie Leibovitz portraits and a slideshow of student work from last year.

A New Semester

The beginning photo students just finished submitting their first semester portfolios. I was so impressed with many of them. I saw many beautiful, thoughtful, extremely well printed images. I am really looking forward to second semester and even better work. Our first assignment is light, shadow and reflections. This assignment usually is a turning point for many students who are still struggling with some of the technical aspects. They start to really "get it" and the image quality just leaps. I will try to get some of the beginning students work scanned in for a slideshow. Last week, we watched the terrific documentary, Eloquent Nude, The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston and Charis Wilson. She was an inspiring woman and he a brilliant photographer- A very poignant love story. Here is the light, shadow and reflection slideshow for those students who missed that day.