Digital Photography
ART-150W 8638 Digital Camera
Spring 2004

Location:
A-303

Class Schedule: Lecture/Lab – Tuesday - Thursday  4 - 7 PM
Office Hours: 3-4 Tuesday / Thursday by appointment

Instructor:  John Sappington - john@basearts.com

Internet Resources-Links

Syllabus Overview - Expectations, Requirements, Objectives,
Best Practices.

Assignment:

Email account exchange - email my account (john@basearts.com) with Digital Photography DVC Spring 05 in the subject line for the purposes of a class email list.

5 images minimum - However you can get them here - in whatever media ...

Reading:
Camera Manuals

Course Outline - http://www.basearts.com/DigitalPhotoOutline.htm

Review Internet Resources - http://www.basearts.com/resources.htm


Search Sites:

http://www.lomographics.com

Lecture:

Digital Imaging/Camera Basics: Camera

Lab:

Assignment:

Locate and Read Camera Manual - Cover to Cover
Set Camera to highest resolution
Bring Camera with cables (usb/firewire)

Reading:


Search Artists:

Lecture:

Camera Operation - Exposure basics

Lab:

Assignment:

Bracketed Exposures - Choose a subject and make 5 bracketed exposures.
1st exposure according to meter reading.
2nd + .5 half step greater aperture selection or more exposure (over)
3rd + 1 whole step (full stop) greater aperture selection (over)
4th .5 half step smaller aperture selection or less exposure (under)
5th - 1 whole step smaller aperture selection or less exposure (under)

*Be sure to make notes of the exposures in your journal.

Experiment with the shutter speeds + and or - one shutter speed is equal to a full stop.

Reading:





Search Artists:

Lecture:

Introduction to Photoshop - Best Practices

• File Browser
• Image Size / Resizing
• Resampling
• Embedding File Info
• Layers Introduction
  

Lab:

Critique Bracketed Exercise

Search Artists:

Mathieu Bernard-Reymond
Yann Arthus Bertrand


Search Sites:

Digital Art Supplies
http://www.digitalartsupplies.com

Freestyle Photographic Supplies
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/e_main.php

dpchallenge.com weekly website photocontest, free open mempbership and other membership for contests.
deviantart.com, can set up your own online gallery that can be critiqued

http://www.colormatters.com/entercolormatters.html - A great site on color and its impact on psyche, the body, the culture, the planet, design, etc.

Reading:

Keep working on those manuals - reread as you work on the bracketed exposures. Reread ISO controls or sensitivity controls, White Balance.

Lecture:

Scanner

Photoshop: Creating Selections and Manipulating

• Marquee
• Move
• Crop
• Magic Wand
  
  Paths, Bezier Objects
• Pen Tool
  

Lab:

Assignment:

5-n-1 - Take an existing file and crop to create 5 different image files. Focus is on re-framing and composing. Not compositing.

Reading:

Digital Photography Workflow: Top photographers talk shop
Steve McCurry, Matthew Jordan Smith and Joyce Tenneson. Although their styles and subjects vary greatly, their digital workflows share common components. It's not merely a coincidence. Read about the technologies and workflow techniques each of these photography icons has employed to stay ahead of the game.
http://www.extensis.com/en/about/customer_stories.jsp?contentTypeView=all&ad=80302

Appendix A - Seeing and Writing 2 - On the Theory and Practice of Seeing - handout
Recommended: John Berger - Ways of Seeing
my travels with diana by mark sink

http://gallerysink.com/marksink/Sink_Info_Diana.html

Search Artists:

International Center for Photography
current exhibiton

Ralph Eugene Meatyard
On view from December 10, 2004 to February 27, 2005
http://www.icp.org/exhibitions/meatyard/meatyard_press.htm

White: Whiteness and Race in Contemporary Art
December 10, 2004 – February 27, 2005
http://www.icp.org/exhibitions/white/white.html

Bill Owens: Leisure
December 10, 2004 – February 27, 2005
http://www.icp.org/exhibitions/owens/owens_press.html

Recent Exhibitions Archive - ICP
http://www.icp.org/exhibitions/recent/index.html

George Eastman House -

http://www.geh.org/
Collection organized by photographer
http://www.geh.org/photographers.html
----------------------

Lecture:

Photoshop:

Luminance / Color Corrections

• Adjustment Layers
  Photo Filters
• Curves
• Levels
  
  
  
  Discussion:
  On the Theory and Practice of Seeing
  

Lab:

REVIEW: 5-n-1

Search Artists:


Reading:

Appendix B - Seeing and Writing 2 - On Reading Visual and Verbal Texts -handout

February 11, 2005
Watching the Detective Watching the Detective

The conceit is half Blair Witch Project, half Paul Auster; 'Laura,' an artist working as guard at the Vancouver Art Gallery, makes art out of allowing visitors to her website to take charge of the museum's cameras and see what she sees. 'Sometimes I wonder whether more happens because I'm watching or whether events line themselves up for my benefit or something,' she reflects in her first diary entry on the site, dated September 1, 2004. Every few days, something new is posted, including video clips from the day's observations. These have slowly coalesced into a mystery of sorts, as the narrator obsesses over the interactions of the milieu's recurring characters--a detective, a skateboarder, an odd woman. True to that initial entry's promise, as you watch the narrator piece together the clues, you can never be sure whether something is 'really' going on, or whether it's in her head. Nevertheless, all the references to Blow-up, The Conversation and other fictions in which the observer becomes the observed make one guess that Laura's job is about to become even more interesting. . . . - Ben Davis

http://eyesoflaura.org

New York Times Photo archive
http://www.nytimes.com/nytstore/photos/index.html

Lecture:

Photoshop:

• Burn / Dodge
• Clone
• Healing
• History

Discussion:
On Reading Visual and Verbal Texts

Lab:

Critique: 5 of current best images - Non-Assigned

©Lanny Adami

Site Submission from Chris Merritt:
This is an awesome site to get your pics critiqued, or if you want help on something. The people are really nice (from my experience) and some are extremely talented. They also have a nice gallery that has a ton of pictures.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/dimaging

And here is the hardware portion of the forums. If you have a question about cameras or printers, they have an answer

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/dphardware

Search Artists:

Moholy-Nagy
Man Ray
Jerry Uelsmann

Review Photograms and Montage works... Click Here <--

NY City Pics:

NYC - Christo Gates I <--
NYC - Christo Gates II <--

Lecture:

Photoshop:

• Compositing
• Vector Tools
• Text Tools

• Automation Techniques - Presentation
  

Lab:

Assignment:

Composite - 1 in 5 - Create one image file from the components or pieces of minimum 5 image files. Create multiple variations on the composition at will.

Reading:


Recovered digital photos show tsunami wave
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/02/24/tsunami.digital.photos.ap/index.html


SF CAMERAWORK

Artist Lecture:
Caitlin Atkinson and Valerie Mendoza
www.sfcamerawork.org

Tuesday, March 22, 7:30 pm - Gallery opens at 7 pm

Two local photographers turn their cameras on themselves to investigate interactions between memory, history and personal experiences. Caitlin Atkinson’s constructed scenes, taken from her own experiences and dreams, remind us of those painful yet humorous momentary occurrences of everyday life, while Valerie Mendoza works with history, science and memory to create personal narratives offering scientific and historic rationale that explain daily natural and unnatural phenomena.

2005 Members Portfolio Review:

Saturday, April 2, 10am-12:00pm

Open to Camerawork members free of charge, each participant may reserve one or two 15 minute review slots with the reviewers. Space is limited and reservations are accepted on a first come first serve basis.

Reviewers are:
Ellen Shershow, Assistant Director of Photo Alliance, SF;
Alison Bing, art critic and writer;
Courtney Fink, Executive Director of Southern Exposure, SF;
Dore Bowen, Writer, Curator and SF Camerawork Programming Co-Chair;
Julio Morales, Artist, Curator, Co-Director of Queensnails Gallery, S;
Ada Takahashi, Robert Koch Gallery, SF.

Please call 415-863-1001 on Saturday, March 5th, after 12:00 pm to make reservations. Reservations will not be taken before this date.

Search Artists:

Huger Foote
Uta Barth

Fifty Crows - Social Change Photography
http://www.fiftycrows.org/

25 under 25: Up and Coming American Photographers
http://cds.aas.duke.edu/books/25under25_2003/index.html

Mid-Term Reviews / Interviews

If you do not have an assigned time make sure you show up at the start of class to get one!

Lab:

Assignment:

Evaluation Form (Please Complete and Submit from your home system)

Reading:

Met Museum Acquires Gilman Trove of Photos
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/17/arts/design/17gilm.html?pagewanted=2&hp

Digital Photography: The Dubitative Image, from Snap to Grid: A Users Guide to Digital Arts, Media and Cultures, by Peter Lunenfeld

"Thinking about photography: Debates, historically and now.", Photography: A Critical Introduction, Edited by Liz Wells


Search Artists:

David Hockney

Larry Clark - Retrospective at ICP
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/12/arts/design/12icp.html
http://www.icp.org/

http://www.johnlachapelle.com/gallery/index.shtml - Michael Chun
---
Digital workflow seminar for professionals
happening now through May 15, 2005
www.justshowmehowpro.com
---

Lecture:

Working with Flash and ambient light.

"Action" Flash Tutorial by Brandon Smith

Lab:

Assignment:

Reading:

From Brandon Smith - colored gels and diffusion material for on camera flash units...

This book has alot of filters for diffusion.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=45184&is=REG

This book has more colors.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=45189&is=REG

Only have to pay $.01 plus shipping ($4), no gimmick.

Search Artists:

Lecture:

Photoshop: Printing

• File Types - Reviewed
• Color Management
• Resolution
• Pre-Press File Preparation
• Proofs / Printing Options from w/in PSD

Reading Discussion

Lab:

Assignment:

Digital Art Supplies
http://www.digitalartsupplies.com

order sample sheets....!


Shooting Assignment:

Let's make it simple - 3-5 images of light. Where light is the central subject or primary focus of the image.
Consider both ambient or existing natural and artificial light sources and utiliting the flash.

Be sure to also experiment with the flash in daylight. What impact does it have ... ?

Reading:

Printers - Materials - Supplies

PS Print
http://www.psprint.com/

Preparing files for print - Pagemaker, Illustrator
http://www.psprint.com/helpcenter/preparingyourfiles/digitalcheck_pm.asp

Digital Art Supplies
http://www.digitalartsupplies.com

Search Artists:

Tuesday: Discussion

Digital Photography: The Dubitative Image, from Snap to Grid: A Users Guide to Digital Arts, Media and Cultures, by Peter Lunenfeld

Lab:

Photoshop:Printing

Assignment:

Come with ink jet paper for proofs.

Reading:

Search Artists:

Lab:

Photoshop:Printing

Scrapbooking Resources

Archiver's: The Photo Memory Store
http://www.archiversonline.com/

Scrap Attack—Coddingtown Mall
http://www.scrapattack.com/

Scrapbook Garden Inc—Southwest Blvd, Rohnert Park

The scrapbooking megasite
http://www.scrapjazz.com

Lecture:

Output to the Web

Lab:

Assignment:

Reading:

Search Artists:
Commercial Photographers - Online presence (sampling)

http://www.nadavkander.com
http://www.jockmcdonald.com/
http://www.milesaldridge.com/
http://www.marcleclef.com/

Lecture:

Photoshop: Web Cont...

• Optimization
• Automation Techniques

Lab:

Assignment:

Reading:

Search Artists:

Lecture:

Legal / Copyright Issues

Protecting your images
Respecting the work of others

Lab:

Assignment:

Adobe Digital Kids Club!
http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/


Reading:

Electronic Frontier Foundation
http://www.eff.org

Intellectual Property Online: Patent, Trademark, Copyright
http://www.eff.org/IP/

U.S. Copyright Office
http://www.copyright.gov

Adobe
http://studio.adobe.com/us/tips/tip.jsp?p=1&id=54&xml=phs7addcopyright

The Free Expression Policy Project
http://www.fepproject.org/fepp/fairuseintro.html

Search Artists:

Illegal Art
http://www.illegal-art.org/print/index.html

Reading:

Digital Images by Charlie Morey / digitalphotography.tv
www.digitalphotography.tv/

NY Times Article


How much are a thousand words worth when the going rate for pictures is half a million? That is the amount US Weekly magazine is said to have paid for photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on a beach in Kenya together. US Weekly is said to have paid $500,000 for this photograph. Star concocted a cover from two shots. A disclaimer ran inside. But the $500,000 photo is not proof that the overall market for candid celebrity photos is inflated.

BUSINESS / MEDIA & ADVERTISING | May 9, 2005
So Many Paparazzi, So Few Coveted Shots
By LIA MILLER
Recent photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on a beach in Kenya sold for $500,000. Still, the price for celebrity photos seems to be on the decline.

BUSINESS / MEDIA & ADVERTISING | May 9, 2005
So Many Paparazzi, So Few Coveted Shots
By LIA MILLER
Recent photos of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on a beach in Kenya sold for $500,000. Still, the price for celebrity photos seems to be on the decline.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/09/business/media/09tabloid.html?ex=1116388800&en=209a6a4baba83216&ei=5070