Digital Photography

Digital Photography
ART 82 - 4186
Fall 2005

Location:
Room 1261

Class Schedule: Lecture / Lab, Wednesday 4:00 - 7:00 PM
Office Hours: 3-4 Wednesday by appointment.

Instructor: John Sappington - john@basearts.com

Course Syllabus

Online Syllabus (this page):

http://www.basearts.com/DigitalPhotoSRJC.fall05.htm

DESCRIPTION:

This course is an introduction to approaches and techniques of digital imaging with a focus on the use of the digital camera and Adobe Photoshop. The course will cover the technical and practical aspects of the digital camera, and the use of image editing software (Adobe Photoshop), covering traditional darkroom concerns and exploring the technical particulars and aesthetic potential of digital photography.

This course will present and overview of digital imaging techniques as applied to the art of photography. Traditional and new electronic photographic methods are studied as a vehicle to understand the implication of this medium as an art form. Emphasis is placed on the creative process while exploring electronic image making as a means of communication used by contemporary artists.

Outcomes and Objectives:

Explore digital photography.
Understanding and applicable use of the tools of digital and electronic photography.
Employ creative thinking skills in assessing visual images
Develop skills in manipulating photo images with new tools
Examing past work for relevance
Practice aesthetic criticism

Topics and Scope:

Synthesize digital tool manipulation with photographic images.
Produce work using a variety of digital equipment.
Investigate how digital tools change photographic images.
Analyze the work of current artists and designers using these tools.

Assignments:

1. Scanning Techniques
2. Digital Camera Operations *manual
3. File Management Practices
4. Printing Procedures
5. Text and Image, Alternative approaches to graphic use of photographic materials
6. Presentation Methods *Web/Internet

Recommended Technical Texts:

Photography, Barbara London, John Upton, Ken Kobre, Betsy Brill, Prentice Hall

Photography, Revised Edition, Henry Horenstein, Russell Hart Prentice Hall

"The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers", Scott Kelby, New Riders Publishing, 2004
www.scottkelbybooks.com

Alternate Technical Texts:

Black and White Photography, A Basic Manual,, Little Brown and Company

"The Photoshop Book for digital photographers", Scott Kelby, New Riders Publishing, 2003
www.scottkelbybooks.com

"Photoshop 7 Professional Photographic Techniques", Janee, Nyree Costello, Gavin Cromhout, Vikas Shah, friends of Ed, 2002
www.friendsofed.com

"Photoshop 7 for Windows and Macintosh", Elaine Weinmann, Peter Lourekas, Peachpit Press 2003
www.peachpit.com

Required Supplies / Equipment:

A 2 Megapixel (or greater) digital camera is required.

Students are required to obtain backup media to store class example files and work in progress.

Optional media types are:

- 100MB/250 Mb Zip disks

- CD ROM/DVD-R, Write-once or Re Writable: Approx. capacity 700+MB

- Flash cards, memory sticks, etc..

Students are also required to have an e-mail account. This can be accessed through the lab and may be a free account like those available from Hotmail, Yahoo, Freemail, Excite, etc. The instructor will assist students in obtaining an e-mail account if necessary. Students will be expected to check this e-mail account at least twice a week. General class announcements will be reported via e-mail.

EVALUATION:

40% of student grades will be based on class participation. Students must attend class in order to effectively participate.

50% of student grades will be based on the completion of assignments. These assignments will not be graded for skill or content, but will be evaluated for technical completion.

10% of the student grade will be determined by the final portfolio presentation.

ATTENDANCE POLICY:

Students are expected to attend all of every class meeting unless they have received prior permission from the instructor. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class meeting. Anyone absent when attendance is taken will be assumed absent from the class. If you are late to class it is your responsibility to make sure your attendance is acknowledged by talking to the instructor.

If you are intending to drop the class, please notify the instructor. You should not assume that the instructor will automatically drop you because of absences. If you stop attending classes and you do not drop the class, and the instructor has not dropped you from the class; the instructor may be required to give you a grade of F for the class.

Digital Photography Schedule (subject to change)		Course Outline Photography Resources http://www.basearts.com/resources.html#photography
Week 1	Syllabus Overview Expectations, Requirements, Objectives, Best Practices.	Assignment: Minimum 5 images in any form - representing your interests, motivations in photography. Email john@basearts.com with your current email address - include SRJC Digital Photo Fall 05 in the subject line.
Reading: Artists: Sites:
Reading: Artists: Sites: Camera Reviews http://dpreview.com www.steves-digicams.com http://www.keh.com
Week 2	Lecture: Digital Technology Camera / Scanner Scanning Procedures Transferring images from camera/media to system. Begin fundamentals of visual phenomenology / camera technology.	Lab: Assignment: Locate and Read Camera Manual - Cover to Cover Set Camera to highest resolution Bring Camera with cables (usb/firewire)
Reading: Camera Manuals Artists: Moholy-Nagy Man Ray Review Photograms and Montage works... Click Here Sites: http://www.lomographics.com
Week 3	Lecture: Camera Operation - Exposure basics Photoshop Introduction File Browser File Types, Formats	Lab First File Transfers 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: Artists: 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.
Week 4	Lecture:	Lab:
Reading: Artists: Sites:
Week 5	Lecture: Photoshop: Cropping Selections Layers Adjustment Photo Filter Curves Levels Paths, Bezier Objects Pen Tool	Review Bracket Exercise Tour Analy Art Lab
Reading: Appendix A - Seeing and Writing 2 - On the Theory and Practice of Seeing - handout Recommended: John Berger - Ways of Seeing Artists: Sites:
Week 6	Lecture Photoshop: Adjustment Layers Levels and Curves Continued	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: Appendix B - Seeing and Writing 2 - On Reading Visual and Verbal Texts - handout Artists: Sites:
Week 7	Lecture: Photoshop: Compositing	Lab: Assignments: REVIEW: 5-n-1
Reading: Appendix B - Seeing and Writing 2 - On Reading Visual and Verbal Texts Artists: Sites:
Week 8	Lecture Photoshop: Burn / Dodge Clone Vectors History Discussion	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: Artists: Sites:
Week 9	Lecture Photoshop: Text Tools Batch Processes Contact Sheets	Lab Assigments: 5 Best of your work. Open Critique Preparations for Midterm Interviews
Reading: *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 Artists: Sites:
Week 10	Mid-Term Critique	Lab Evaluation Form (Please Complete and Submit from your home system)
Reading: *Digital Photography: The Dubitative Image, from Snap to Grid: A Users Guide to Digital Arts, Media and Cultures, by Peter Lunenfeld Artists:* Sites:
Week 11	Lecture: Lighting - Utilizing Ambient Light - Backlight - Flash Modes - Corrections	Lab Printing Demonstration in Analy - Epson Printer Driver Assignment: 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: Artists: Sites:
Week 12	Lecture Photoshop: Printing Reviewed File Types Color Management Resolution File Preparation Proofs / Printing Options from w/in PSD Color Modes	Lab:
Reading: 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 Artists: Sites:
Week 13	Lab:
Reading: Digital Photography: The Dubitative Image, from Snap to Grid: A Users Guide to Digital Arts, Media and Cultures, by Peter Lunenfeld Artists: Sites:
Week 14	Lecture Photoshop: Web Output Image Ready Optimization Automation Techniques	Lab
Reading: Artists: Sites: Commercial Photographers - Online presence (sampling) http://www.nadavkander.com http://www.jockmcdonald.com/ http://www.milesaldridge.com/ http://www.marcleclef.com/
Week 15	Lecture: Legal / Copyright Issues Protecting your images Respecting the work of others	Lab
Reading: Artists: Sites: Additional 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 Digimark www.digimark.com Adobe copyright resources 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:
Week 16	Lab Preparations for final.
Reading: Artists: Sites:
Week 17	Final Critique Presentations of selections from individual portfolios 10-20 images. Beginning at 4:00
Reading: Artists: Sites: