Kevin-P4

 Self Portrait

Student Name: Kevin Mobbs

Group Name: The Snapshots Back to list



Title: Now- What the Hell Am I Gonna' Do for My Self Portrait?

Tags: portrait, computer, frustration, chickens, overlay

Self Critique As with most of my ideas, the final product is not too close to the initial vision. In this self-portrait, I was aiming to merge different pictures of myself and computers with the idea of showing my feeling that, sometimes, computers are trying to assimilate me into their Borgness. This concept was not working very well. The idea for the final picture came to me as I had my head in my hands thinking, “Now- what the hell am I gonna’ do for my self-portrait.”

I considered creating a portrait of another person, but for some reason no one would agree. Therefore, a self-portrait was required along with self reflection, which is not a problem for me. However, sharing it is. All of this led me to a point of frustration which I believe is portrayed in the photograph.

I created this picture by taking several shots of computers even though I only used one. I also took several pictures of myself with my head in my hands. Using Photoshop, I merged the two selected pictures by adding the one of myself into a new channel of the other.

(45-50 pts.) || 80 – 89% (40 - 44 pts.) || <80% (<40 pts.) || Critique Comments:
 * Category || Strong || Adequate || Weak ||
 * Concept || Does an outstanding job of communicating the concept. || Does an adequate job communicating the concept. || Does a poor job communicating the concept. ||
 * Composition || Photograph uses composition principles very effectively. || Photograph does a good job using composition principles. || Photograph does a poor job using composition principles. ||
 * Focus || Focus is a perfect match with the concept of the shot. || Focus is an adequate match with the concept of the shot. || Focus is a poor match with the concept of the shot. ||
 * Technical Aspects || Shutter speed and aperture were perfectly chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were adequately chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were poorly chosen and do not match the concept. ||
 * Depth of Field || Excellent use of depth-of-field. || Adequate use of depth-of-field. || Poor use of depth-of-field. ||
 * Title/tags || Title and tags were perfectly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are excellent with no mistakes. || Title and tags were adequately chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are good with only minor errors. || Title and tags were poorly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Contains multiple spelling errors or wrong word choices. ||
 * ** Instructor evaluates this section ** ||
 * Self Critique || Excellent self-assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate self-assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor self-assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Critique || Excellent peer assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate peer assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor peer assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Comments || Peer comments exceed expectations. || Peer comments meet expectations. One or two comments might be missing. || Three or more peer comments were missing, incomplete or poorly written. ||
 * Total Points || >89%
 * Total Points || >89%

Peer Critique Name: Emily Smith (45-50 pts.) || 80 – 89% (40 - 44 pts.) || <80% (<40 pts.) || Critique Comments: Emily -Kevin, your ideas never cease to amaze me! I like that you did the layering of the photos to achieve your results; however, I cannot really see your face because of the computer screen. Maybe that is what you were hoping for. I would suggest maybe moving the picture of you over to the right slightly; in doing so, the eye will be seen poking through the hands and be more obvious. It gets lost behind the green of the computer screen. If I can figure out how my Photoshop elements software works, I would like to try to layer photos as well. Overall, you did a nice job portraying yourself and your frustration.
 * Category || Strong || Adequate || Weak ||
 * Concept || Does an outstanding job of communicating the concept. || Does an adequate job communicating the concept. || Does a poor job communicating the concept. ||
 * Composition || <span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Photograph uses composition principles very effectively. || Photograph does a good job using composition principles. || Photograph does a poor job using composition principles. ||
 * Focus || Focus is a perfect match with the concept of the shot. || <span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Focus is an adequate match with the concept of the shot. || Focus is a poor match with the concept of the shot. ||
 * Technical Aspects || <span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Shutter speed and aperture were perfectly chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were adequately chosen to match concept. || Shutter speed and aperture were poorly chosen and do not match the concept. ||
 * Depth of Field || Excellent use of depth-of-field. || <span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Adequate use of depth-of-field. || Poor use of depth-of-field. ||
 * Title/tags || <span style="background-color: #00ff00; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 8pt;">Title and tags were perfectly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are excellent with no mistakes. || Title and tags were adequately chosen and written to express the content and concept. Spelling and word choice are good with only minor errors. || Title and tags were poorly chosen and written to express the content and concept. Contains multiple spelling errors or wrong word choices. ||
 * ** Instructor evaluates this section ** ||
 * Self Critique || Excellent self-assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate self-assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor self-assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Critique || Excellent peer assessment. Written comments meet or exceed requirements. || Adequate peer assessment. Written comments meet requirements. || Poor peer assessment. Written comments do not meet requirements. ||
 * Peer Comments || Peer comments exceed expectations. || Peer comments meet expectations. One or two comments might be missing. || Three or more peer comments were missing, incomplete or poorly written. ||
 * Total Points || >89%
 * Total Points || >89%

Other comments: Jacki - Kevin, I really love your concept for the picture! I, like you, had a hard time deciding how to tell a story through a portrait. I think your picture tells a story. I think you did a great job merging the two pictures. My one suggestion is to move the image of your face a bit lower in the picture so that my eye is drawn to it directly. It seems as though the top of your face is cut off by the edge of the picture.

Donna- Kevin, you are obviously exceptionally creative. I like the way your hands cover your face to portray your frustration. (I assume this pose quite often myself:) I agree with the others about the need to emphasize your face more. I wonder how the image would be different if the computer screen had been blank instead of active.

Mike - Kevin, I love the idea that frustraiton is the primary focus of this picture. I had to look more than once to see your face, though. I focused on the hands and the computer screen. I don't have any ideas about how to improve on this. The only thing I might suggest is to move yourself toward the right of the picture a little. Seeing your face in the darker area might get our attention. Great job of conveying how I have felt about part of this class and what is expected of me. **This has changed...thankfully!** Good use of layers to achieve your end result.