<p>hey guys -
I love everyone’s work! I don’t know whether to be intimidated or just plain inspired!</p>
<p>I only started painting seriously in september so I don’t have too many pieces yet, but here is my portfolio thus far. I do a lot of experimental film photography so I included a few photos as well:</p>
<p>@nicomagnolia: I thought exactly the same when I looked at other peoples portolios (and I still am very intimidated xP) but I looked through your portfolio and commented several pictures! I really like it Where do you want to apply? I only started 2 weeks ago with my portfolio because I am currently studying something else and I need to write my bacelor thesis… -.-</p>
<p>@ emm345: i commented some of your work on flickr in more detail generally I like what you did, but I am not so sure of your photographs though… i am sometimes missing the “wow-effect” which I had when I saw your paintings But don’t get me wrong, they are still good! One last suggestion, I dont know where you are applying to, but maybe you want to do some observational drawings and bring more variety to your portfolio by using different media like pencil, charcoal, ink etc…?</p>
<p>Hi Everybody, I run a small studio school in New York City which focuses on portfolio preparation for college. If you need help with your drawing, painting or conceptual work skills, check it out. <a href=“http://www.academicart.com/college.htm[/url]”>www.academicart.com/college.htm</a> Our classes are all year round, weekends during the year, and weekdays during the summer. Tuition rates are very reasonable. If anyone has questions, I’d be happy to answer. Here is a link devoted to our alumni <a href=“http://www.academicart.com/alum.htm[/url]”>http://www.academicart.com/alum.htm</a></p>
<p>I’m applying to Cooper Union, SUNY Stony Brook, Brandeis; already accepted into Arcadia, Hofstra, Temple. I haven’t heard back from the others yet.</p>
<p>Comments/critique would be greatly appreciated :)</p>
<p>Problem in brief: I suddenly figured out about a year ago that I wanted to go into Media Production. Now I’m applying for the Media/Design programs at UCLA and Calpoly. Unfortunately, these schools require a portfolio for these programs, and for the past four years I’ve done about zero art (and I didn’t have any knowledge before that, either). It’s a moronic situation, but nevertheless I’m going forward. Therefore I seriously need input on what’s wrong with my amateurish self-portrait:</p>
<p>Yeah… Honestly, I don’t know if I /can/ improve it (I’m shocked it’s this good), but I’m pretty sure it’s not at the level of the people who are SUPPOSED to be applying to these schools. Could you guys point out things that I could do?</p>
<p>ALSO I don’t really know what I’m doing here, so your guys’ opinion on whether I should really bother applying would be nice. If it’s completely out of my league, I’d rather not. :'P I also have no idea what I’m going to do for the 9 other required items, except that I may dump in a few photos I’ve taken and maybe some 3D graphics.</p>
<p>Hey guys, I posted a while back but I didn’t get any replies, so I’m gonna post again.
I’m a junior in high school, trying to put together a photography portfolio, and I need some opinions.
Is it bad that I’ve never developed my own film (since I have no access to a darkroom?)
Also, are colleges okay with digital manipulations or is that highly frowned upon?</p>
<p>@ Petaweda,
Nice list of schools… please let us know who says yes and no! You should be confident in your chances.</p>
<p>@ everythingelse,</p>
<p>Let me answer your questions first.
1.) Nope, you don’t have to develop film to get accepted to a college program. It is nice to have those skills but not needed at this point. I’d rather you spend your time shooting than developing.
2.) Digital manipulation of an image is a bit of a tricky subject for college submissions. In general, most people reviewing your work for college admission will be looking at it as art and not as ‘process’. By that I mean that the images will be judged on how they look, not on how they were made. So that would suggest that Photoshopping is okay BUT here’s the tricky part: high school artists tend to over-do it. My advice is either be extremely gifted with Photoshop or go very lightly with the manipulation. </p>
<p>Regarding your portfolio…
Most of this is more or less average for a high school junior. You’re on the right track but you need to further develop both your skills, and your subject selection. You have one almost great image, the portrait of the girl in front of the blue wall. I say almost great because there are some technical flaws that would hold this back:
1.) Whenever you shoot anything with horizontal or vertical lines you have to pay a lot of attention to your geometry. Your image is slightly tilted and this distracts the viewer. It either needs to be perfectly lined up or way off balance for the image to work well.
2.) The lines at the left and right bow inward at the middle. This is called lens barrel distortion and it caused by your lens. Almost all lenses create this distortion but the better lenses have less distortion. The good news is there are many plugins for photoshop to eliminate barrel distortion. </p>
<p>The other fix for this is to use a fixed focus lens (non-zoom) like maybe a 50mm on your Nikon. You’ll notice less distortion.</p>
<p>But, getting back to the blue wall…
This is a cool picture and I’d encourage you to do a series like this. How about a fat old guy or a grandma or a construction worker? Set it up the same way. For inspiration check out this dude’s work –> [THE</a> RICHARD AVEDON FOUNDATION](<a href=“The Richard Avedon Foundation”>The Richard Avedon Foundation)</p>
<p>Like I said, you’re on the right track but you need more development. Study Avedon’s portraits. Learn about fill flash and bounce cards. Shoot more pictures. This is me cracking the whip! :)</p>
<p>Avedon sure does some tricky zoning adjustments in his portraits! Deff not easy and considered some of the best for capturing one’s personality with both strengths and flaws. </p>
<p>I think Lucia Holm ( luciaholmphotography.com) is one of my fave young hip female photographers. Her film photographs are amazing plus she understands character, detail, lighting, color, composition, and pattern/style. Not only is she cute and versatile but takes her art and not herself too seriously.</p>
<p>You’re right, getting ‘Avedon lighting’ is really tough. Pros have been trying to emulate that style and lighting setup for years and I haven’t seen anyone nail it yet. There are many things to love about Avedon’s work and one of the things I was trying to illustrate is how to pick the subject of a portrait. Look how interesting Avedon’s subjects are and not one is ‘model pretty’. In fact the more flaws the better. </p>
<p>There is a ton of info on Avedon’s style on the web (and don’t forget YouTube) for anyone that wants to understand his basic setup. Essentially it’s this: white paper background on a North facing outdoor wall, no lights, one or two bounce cards, medium or large format film camera about 6 feet from the subject, and a long cable release. Avedon would stand off to the side with a 20 foot cable release and talk and wait for the expression he wanted and then hit the trigger. At least that’s the story. </p>
<p>Lucia Holm! Thanks for that link, I don’t think I’ve seen her work before. Really good! She reminds me a little of some of Cindy Sherman’s work.</p>
<p>Here is where I applied/am applying to:
*SAIC (recieved 88k scholarship that I am still in awe of O_o)
*UMich Dual Degree (BA+BFA upon graduation- still waiting to hear back on scholarships)
Oberlin College
*Knox College (12k a year scholarship)
RISD (scared)
Cooper Union (even more so)</p>
Where do you want to apply? I only started 2 weeks ago with my portfolio because I am currently studying something else and I need to write my bacelor thesis… -.-</p>
Could you guys point out things that I could do?</p>![http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1373.snc4/164556_191415584202018_100000007329827_759887_627560_n.jpg[/url]](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1373.snc4/164556_191415584202018_100000007329827_759887_627560_n.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
![http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs069.snc6/167952_191417064201870_100000007329827_759894_7066133_n.jpg[/url]](http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs069.snc6/167952_191417064201870_100000007329827_759894_7066133_n.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
