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Honors
Honors 2

Assignment Overview

In this project, you will explore photography as a creative studio practice. You will complete a series of photographic challenges designed to help you experiment with composition, lighting, perspective, subject matter, and visual storytelling.

Each project will ask you to approach photography in a different way and make intentional decisions about how you use your camera and your surroundings. You will have opportunities to experiment, revise, and solve visual problems rather than simply taking a photograph of what you see.

The goal is to create photographs that demonstrate technical control, thoughtful composition, creativity, and personal decision-making. As you work, consider not only what you are photographing, but how your choices change the way the viewer experiences the image.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the Photo Studio Projects, students will be able to:

• Apply photographic principles such as composition, lighting, perspective, and depth of field to create intentional images.

• Experiment with different photographic approaches and recognize how changes in camera position, lighting, focus, and composition affect an image.

• Use the camera purposefully rather than relying on automatic or default settings.

• Make creative decisions about subject matter, viewpoint, framing, and visual emphasis.

• Solve photographic problems through experimentation, revision, and multiple attempts.

• Evaluate and select photographs based on technical quality, composition, and creative intent.

• Use photography to communicate an idea, mood, or visual experience.

• Reflect on their creative process and explain how their photographic choices contribute to the final image.

Final Outcome: Students will create a cohesive collection of finished photographs demonstrating their ability to use photography intentionally and creatively. The final collection should show experimentation with different photographic techniques and approaches while maintaining strong attention to composition, lighting, focus, perspective, and visual impact.

Students will select their strongest images from the completed studio projects and present them as a final digital portfolio or curated collection. Each selected photograph should demonstrate thoughtful decision-making and reflect the student’s growth as a photographer throughout the project.

Assignment Overview

In this assignment, students explored the unique qualities and techniques of three traditional art media: colored pencil, chalk pastel, and watercolor. They began by creating technique samplers to experiment with each medium, practice different approaches, and develop an understanding of how each material can be used to create color, value, texture, and detail.

Building on these explorations, students applied their newly learned techniques to create three zoomed-in observational renderings of insects, using photographic references from Unsplash. Each artwork focused on a different insect and was completed in one of the three media: one in colored pencil, one in chalk pastel, and one in watercolor.

By enlarging their subjects, students were challenged to look closely at the intricate details of insect anatomy, including patterns, wings, legs, textures, and color variations. This close-up approach encouraged careful observation while allowing students to explore how different media can communicate the distinctive characteristics of their subjects.

The goal of this assignment was to strengthen technical skills, develop observational drawing abilities, and understand how artistic choices and materials influence the appearance and expression of an artwork.

Learning Objectives

• Experiment with and demonstrate a variety of techniques using colored pencil, chalk pastel, and watercolor.

• Apply learned techniques to create three finished insect studies.

• Practice close observation, proportion, detail, and the representation of texture.

• Explore color, value, layering, and mark-making within each medium.

• Recognize the unique strengths and possibilities of different art materials.

• Develop craftsmanship, patience, and confidence when working with unfamiliar techniques.

Final Outcome: Three detailed, zoomed-in insect renderings, with one completed in each medium: colored pencil, chalk pastel, and watercolor.