• Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on your results!
    Let us know how you went here
    Got a question about your uni preferences? Ask us here

Photography in HSC BOW & more (1 Viewer)

rawdevil1992

New Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2008
Messages
11
Gender
Male
HSC
2009
Is it true that doing photography has less MERIT than say painting/sculpture etc.?

Coz im thinking of doing a series of photographs then photoshopping them..

sounds silly, i know...

but if anyone knows--

what kinda camera would u use if u want the photos to turn out good?

would it be expensive? (argh of course it would...)

what are your ideas for your BOWs?
 

-may-cat-

Tired Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
3,472
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
rawdevil1992 said:
Is it true that doing photography has less MERIT than say painting/sculpture etc.?

Coz im thinking of doing a series of photographs then photoshopping them..

sounds silly, i know...

but if anyone knows--

what kinda camera would u use if u want the photos to turn out good?

would it be expensive? (argh of course it would...)

what are your ideas for your BOWs?
Of course not! if they are awsome photos, then you get the marks to show for it , mind, if they are crap that uve just snapped in like a 10minute shoot, then you probably will not get good marks

I did photography as well, when you go to take your photos, TAKE A LOT OF THEM

do several shoots, learn about lighting, how to position things properly.

However, if you are planning on taking mediocre photos and making them look all pretty on photoshop, your marks probably will not be that high, aim to use photoshop as little as possible. :)
 

dizzyizzy

snubble
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
211
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
I don't think it has less 'merit'- just that it appears easy to take a good photo, so a lot of mediocre stuff without effort is entered.

The thing to remember is that for your photos to stand out, they have to be amazing. You don't have the scope of presentation formats and forms that people doing, say, sculpture do so you have to really grab the marker's eye. And I think it is marked harder as it's easy to pick at flaws in a photo.

I wouldn't try photography without at least an entry-level DLSR...and good printing is important for presentation.

But if you're only doing photography as one component of your BoW, you can submit it under another category if that category features predominantly- and then it's marked a lot easier.

Or so my art teacher tells me. I have no idea. If you're crazy about it, go for it.
 

danniface.

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
39
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
It's not silly! but it is a verryyy common idea. Almost half my art class did that.


It does cost a lot. Well, depending on how big and how many photos you want to print. But people that I know who did photography were always saying how expensive it can be. So you've got to practice with lighting, angles, cameras, etc to make sure you get it right so you don't print out something that is no good.



If you have a fantastic idea which you're willing to put a lot of effort into, do it.
Because the work could end up being amaaaazing and well worth the hard work.
 

insomniac90

7/9/08
Joined
Aug 21, 2007
Messages
38
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
LOL NO WAY!
the competition is getting stiffer each year. in my grade, photography was the main medium and out of the 6 kids who got 50/50 for their trials 4 of them chose did photography.

yes, you can do a series, just try not to be too repetitive. (i lost marks becasue of that)

HAHAH initially i thought, "Yes, i need the latest DSLR to get good marks".
becuase my budget wouldnt allow it, i was stuck with the family's 5mp digital camera from 3 years ago. for me, it was perfectly fine becuase i wasnt really working with depth of field - focus/foreground/background things. my end work was 3xA1 size, and the pictures came out crystal clear, no pixalation.

photography, overall can be quite expensive depending on how you choose to display it. mine cost me approx $250 on PVC, laminated. I got a good deal, from a good printer :D



Oh, and my concept was kind of like "Anti-Art". it focused on the emotions you go through whilst creating a "masterpiece"; - the frustration, anxiety, working under pressure, anger, aspiring to attain perfection. all the highs and lows about the process of artmaking. i absolutely HATE making art, but the end result and my satisfaction is my drive, and my reward.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
133
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
Definatley not, if your adding in photoshop its a great element because it is showing the use of emerging technology, just be innovative, none of this brightness contrast shit.

+ I used photography, i did black and white with coloured photoshop, turned out alright my teachers hadn't seen anything really like it so fingers crossed.
 

ClockworkSoldier

Clockwork Army
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Messages
1,899
Location
Melbourne
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
On the camera side:

If you can get your hands on a digital SLR at all, use that.

Otherwise, I tend not to go for anything under 5 megapixels. 5 and up gives you a good size, good quality and room to move. Careful about the camera choice though, some cameras take darker shots than others, and have little quirks in the picture taking you may not like.
 

Lindethiel

New Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2008
Messages
20
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
In my experience, Photoshop isn't a bad choice. IF you know how to use it sensibly, its and art making tool, just like a paintbrush or a pencil. The only problem is, most young people who dapple in Photoshop, don't really know the extent and range of possibilities the program offers, most just want to whack a few butterflies and frangipanies on a pic of them and their mates, professionals sometimes call these compositor wannabes, "Photoshop monkeys."

It's like handing a 10 year old a paintbrush and saying, "Mono Lisa that canvas."

Using as less of Photoshop as possible is a pretty open-ended phrase. More correctly, using less of the tools in photoshop is probably best.

Say you wanna change the colour levels in a photograph, most people would use the Hue Adjustment tool, where as the Curves tool has a higher succes rate.

If you know how to take a pic, the only things you really should need is Curves and maybe a teeny touch of contrast, thats what I use.
 

Jump Rock Elle

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
2
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
Editing photos was the most painful part of the BOW process. I'd spend the school holidays, trips and other opportunites to take photographs, then spend the rest of the term behind a lap-top working on them.
The best part was when I started adding polaroids of the photos and manipulated them as they were developing. Actually doing something more 'hands-on' was such a relief.
Expensive though. I spent about $200 (printing and polaroid film)

I ended up with 9 boards with 4 - 7 photos on each - 50 photos in total, with about 20 roids'.
 

zietanus

Banned
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
30
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
Is it true that doing photography has less MERIT than say painting/sculpture etc.?
Heck no. It is truth that stacking pencils can has more merit than making the Eiffel Tower, because the Eiffel Tower is dumb.

Look at this same photography that you are trying to do, photo + photoshop: (see here) Some pics take more talent then best statue or painting because only good deep philosophy about art can make come out good, not even knowing everything about photoshop or cameras, you still make junk.

aim to use photoshop as little as possible.
This is like saying to painter "aim to use your other brush as little as possible", photoshop is tools just like camera lens filters, flashes, umbrellas, color filters for flashes, and makeup / fancy clothes for the model.... But it takes more skill to do photoshop awesome then to do all those things I just said, you can learn those in 2 days, but photoshop + art theory to use photoshop good takes way longer.
 
Last edited:

-may-cat-

Tired Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2008
Messages
3,472
Gender
Female
HSC
2008
zietanus said:
This is like saying to painter "aim to use your other brush as little as possible", photoshop is tools just like camera lens filters, flashes, umbrellas, color filters, and makeup / fancy clothes for the model.... But it takes more skill to do photoshop awesome then to do all those things I just said, you can learn those in 2 days, but photoshop + art theory to use photoshop good takes way longer.

Question, do you think that photos that have been photoshopped way beyond what they originally looked like should be entered as photography, or graphic design?
 

B.the.B

New Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
1
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
I'm not sure about if it marks worse, I don't see how it would, surely they mark everything equally.
The one thing I can answer, hwoever is the camera question.
If you are wanting a camera that will take crystal clear, perfect each adn every time, right dow to the last pixel, you will want a digital one, preferably an SLR (but these are pricey) and with decent mega pixels.
Of course you can do this in photoshop, but you will find that cheap film cameras that you pick up at second hand shops will do wonderful dreamy shots. Of course, be prepared for light leaks, weird colours and strange focus, if you are using an autofocus.
Try finding an old film slr camera.
They are lovely things.
 

zietanus

Banned
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
30
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
-may-cat- said:
Question, do you think that photos that have been photoshopped way beyond what they originally looked like should be entered as photography, or graphic design?
Well if they HAVE TO be entered as one or the other, then that's tough........... like saying "I glued half of an orange and half of a lemon together, is it more of a lemon or a orange???"

Since you have to pick one I am thinking more Photography since Photoshop is just way convenient photography tools to enhance.... (just wayyyyyy not as expensive as photo tools, you have to be rich to do good photo art without Photoshop, it's not fair)
 
Last edited:

crsingle

New Member
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
4
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
I would never in a million years use a DSLR for my HSC photography artwork. they take photographs that are too good. they will show your mistakes. at the end of the day- your 17 or 18 with comparativly low experience with DSLR and it will show. I used film for mine and I got the results I wanted. Also, I think that film adds to the interest of a photograph becasue you don't really see it nowadays. If you want to see what I'm talking about- go look at my BOW in the NSWAG next year:party:
 

dizzyizzy

snubble
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
211
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
Whaaaat...?

I would never in a million years use a DSLR for my HSC photography artwork. they take photographs that are too good. they will show your mistakes. at the end of the day- your 17 or 18 with comparativly low experience with DSLR and it will show.
I think if you actively worked on improving your photography through the huge amount of tutorials/information on the internet you'd be fine- I've only had a DSLR for a year but I've improved massively through reading up on the controls and practice.

And 'mistakes' like composition, exposure faults etc. will always be there no matter if you have a top-end DSLR or some piece of crap.
 

hannahcheeseman

New Member
Joined
Mar 16, 2009
Messages
24
Gender
Female
HSC
2009
sometimes photography can be marked down because heaps of students go out and take like 800 shots and of course at least 1 of them are gonna be good so art making changes from being about good technique to being able to organise good and bad photos. but if we know stuff about exposer/apeture/shutter speed/lighting etc. then it shows in our photos.

its but like i have seen photos that my mates have taken on my DSLR and some of them are really good but they have been taken on auto setting and u can tell. so if we just show how much we know (eg work in a manual setting if possible) then we can do well.

well thats what my teacher said :)
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 1)

Top