Digital Photography

Art 82 - Section# 0196 - Santa Rosa
Fall 06

Location:
Room 1261

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

Instructor:  John Sappington - john@basearts.com

ANALY HALL - ART COMPUTER LAB HOURS

Mon./Wed. - 3-5:30
Tues./Thurs. - 1-3

Overview
Schedule
Resources

REPEAT - MEETING SCHEDULED?!

Outline
Schedule

Course Syllabus

Online Syllabus (this page):

http://www.basearts.com/curriculum/SRJC.DigitalPhoto.htm
Outline: http://www.basearts.com/curriculum/DigPhotoOutline.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 aesthetic and technical mastery.
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:

"Photoshop CS2 for Windows and Macintosh", Elaine Weinmann, Peter Lourekas, Peachpit Press 2005
www.peachpit.com

"The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers", Scott Kelby, New Riders Publishing, 2005
www.scottkelbybooks.com

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

Alternate Technical Texts:
Photography, Barbara London, John Upton, Ken Kobre, Betsy Brill, Prentice Hall

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

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:

20% of student grades will be based on class participation. Students must attend class in order to effectively participate.

70% 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.

Syllabus Overview Expectations, Requirements, Objectives, Best Practices.

Assignment:

• Bring in a minimum 5 images in any form to the second class meeting- representing your interests, motivations in photography.mail john@basearts.com with your current email address
  - include SRJC Digital Photo and your section number in the subject line.
  
• Locate and Read Camera Manual - Cover to Cover
  make notes in JOURNAL of questionable functions, settings, usage.
  
• Set Camera to highest resolution / lowest compression.
  
• TURN OFF THE FLASH!
  
• Bring Camera to second class meeting with cables (usb/firewire), or card reader.

Lomographic Society
http://www.lomographics.com

Camera Reviews

http://dpreview.com
www.steves-digicams.com
http://www.keh.com
 

Lecture:

Digital Technology

Camera / Scanner
Scanning Procedures

Transferring images from camera/media to system.

Begin fundamentals of camera technology.

Lab:

Establish Home Directories
Work with camera connection / file transfer

Assignment:

SHOOT IN THE DARK! - 5 Exposures / 5 Locations - 5 pnts.
Shoot in low light situations without flash / ambient light only (indoor /outdoor, late evening, after dark, lit street).

Reading:

Camera Manuals continued - journal with questions/notes from the manual.

Digital Camera Review - Technical Glossary
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/
http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glossary/Camera_System/

Artists:


http://www.jonaslund.com/
http://www.jonaslund.com/jonas/walk
http://www.jonaslund.com/jonas/c_walk/


Historical :

Karl Blossfelt
Moholy-Nagy
Man Ray
Eudora Welty

Review Photograms and Montage works... Click Here

---

Contemporary :

Jerry Uelsmann
Robert Adams
Duane Michaels
Mary Ellen Mark


Sites:

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

B and H Photo Video
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------

LOCAL Photography GALLERIES

SF Camerawork
http://www.sfcamerawork.org

Robert Koch Gallery
http://www.kochgallery.com/

Fraenkel Gallery
http://www.fraenkelgallery.com
49 Geary Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
Map

Hours:
Tuesday - Friday: 10:30 - 5:30
Saturday: 11 - 5

(415) 981-2661 p.
(415) 981-4014 f.
mail@fraenkelgallery.com

Haines Gallery
http://www.hainesgallery.com
49 Geary Street, Suite 540
San Francisco, CA 94108

Tel: 415-397-8114
Fax: 415-397-8115
info@hainesgallery.com

Urban Digital Color / Gallery 16
http://www.urbandigitalcolor.com/gallery16/galleryframe.html

Lecture:

Camera Operation - Exposure basics

Photoshop Introduction

• File Browser - Bridge
• File Types, Format

Reading:

"The Dubitative Image", Peter Lunenfeld

Artists:

Historical :

Fredrick Sommer
Henri Cartier Bresson

Contemporary :

Stephen Shore
William Klein
Pablo Ortiz

Sites:


Photo Sharing

http://www.dpchallenge.com
http://www.flickr.com/
http://www.slide.com
http://www.kodakgallery.com/
http://www.snapfish.com/
http://www.shutterbook.com/home/
http://www.deviantart.com/
http://www.zoto.com/


-- Blue Pixels (www.bluepixel.net)
-- Extensis (www.extensis.com)
-- GretagMacbeth (www.gretagmacbeth.com)
-- Lexar (www.lexar.com)
-- Nik Multimedia, Inc. (www.nikmultimedia.com)
-- Wacom Technology (www.wacom.com)

Lecture:

• Contact Sheet
• Automation Tools
  
  
• Photoshop Intro Cont.
• Size / Resize / Resolution
  
  

Review Bracket Exercise



Assignment:

Custom Digital Contacts - 5 pnts.
- 3 Subjects - 9 minimum shots exploring the subject presented via contact sheet II with customized layout and concern for creating a story of the object.

Reading:

Recommended:

Roland Barthes - "Image, Music, Text", "Elements of Semiology", "Pleasure of the Text"

Ted Nelson - Project: Xanadu

http://www.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0155.html
http://xanadu.com/
http://ted.hyperland.com/

John Berger - Ways of Seeing

Artists:
Sally Mann

Sherry Levine
Richard Prince
Cindy Sherman

Moriyama Daido

Sites:

Lecture

Photoshop:

• Layers Palette Introduction
• Adjustment Layers
• Levels Adjustment Layers
• Curves - Adjustment Layers
• Channel Mixer- Adjustment Layers
  
  
  Shadows and Hightlights
  Working with layers as masks

Lab

Adobe Instructional Resources Pages
http://www.adobe.com/education/instruction/main.html

Artists:

Historical:

Ansel Adams
Edward Weston
Paul Strand
Tina Modotti

Contemporary:

Todd Hido
David Hockney
John Baldessari

Sites:

The Art of DeTouch explores the manipulation of images related to the human form. Drawing photographs from existing online portfolio sites of professional re-touch artists, this application allows a user to explore precisely how the images were altered. Using Processing, an open source programming language and environment, before and after images are compared algorithmically pixel by pixel to generate visualizations of the alterations.

http://detouch.org/

Russell Brown Tips & Techniques
Image processor for Photoshop CS
http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html

Lecture

Photoshop:

• Working with and around Selections
  Information / Histogram
  
• Photo Filters- Adjustment Layers
  
• Sharpening
  Unsharp Mask
  
• History Brush
  
  

Lab

Assignment:

Critique - 5 pnts.
- present best 10 images / contact sheets submitted
within home directory under "contacts".

Reading:


Leaflet, Written for Los Angeles Museum - Edward Weston

Artists:

Andreas Gursky
Nan Goldin
Uta Barth
Josef Sudek

Sites:

Mid Term Interviews:

Sign up for a time on the Sign-up sheet

Evaluation Form <--click here
(Please Complete and Submit from your home system)

Photoshop:

• Compositing
  
• Blending Options
  
  
• Roxio Toast
  
  CD and DVD Burning
  

Interview Times: Section 0196 for Wednesday 10.18

3:00 Bee
3:10 Katherine
3:20 Angelica
3:30 Ashley
3:40 Sonia
3:50 Jessica
4:00 Patrick
4:10 Landon
4:20 Rob
4:30 Christian
4:40 Kim
4:50 Avena
5:00 Karl
5:10 Nick
5:20 Ariana
5:30 Gene
5:40
5:50
6:00
6:10
6:20
6:30
6:40
6:50 Bill
7:00 Carina

Mid-Term Interviews - 5 pnts
The midterm interview is mandatory and = to a shooting assignment.

Prepare a selection of ideas for you your final portfolio. Write up a brief description of each and submit during the interview. Reference specific images within your home directory if you have images related to the subjects chosen for the final portfolio.

You are only required to show up for the time of your interview.

Evaluation Form <-- click here

Lecture:

Artists:

Historical:

Eadweard Muybridge
Immogen Cunningham
Harold Edgerton
KARSH

http://www.edgerton.org/biography.html
http://www.josephbellows.com/dynamic/artist_artwork.asp?artistid=32

Irving Penn

Contemporary:

Hiroshi Sugimoto
Homma Takashi

Sites:

ARTSEDGE: Formal Visual Analysis: The Elements & Principles of Composition
Description:
Formal analysis is an important technique for organizing visual information. In other words, it is a strategy used to translate what you see into written words. This strategy can be applied to any work of art, from any period in history, whether a photograph, sculpture, painting or cultural artifact.
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3902/

Reading:

10.23.06

Lecture:

Composition

-tone

-color
-light
-balance

-line
-framing

Assignment:
------------------------------------

5 prints - 5 pnts. - 8x10 minimum

---

Added Assignment:

Subject explorations / Framing exercise. Shoot a minimum of 20 images of a single subject from every angle and a variety of compositional arrangements.

explore position/ balance/ background/ etc...

Artists:

Historical:
Margaret Bourke-White
Yosuf Karsh


Contemporary:
Judy Dater
Annie Liebovitz
Graciela Iturbide


Sites:

The artists.org

major modern & contemporary visual artists

artists and art, the-artists.org, the major modern & contemporary visual artists, each artist with portrait, brief biography, links to articles, essays and artist interviews; original art, limited edition art prints, photography and poster art, paintings, multimedia and artist's books & cultural tours.
http://the-artists.org/artshop/photography.cfm

Printers - Materials - Supplies

PS Print (LA based commercial printer)
http://www.psprint.com/

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

Urban Digtial Color (SF, printer)
http://www.urbandigitalcolor.com/urbandigital/udcframe.html

Digital Art Supplies (San Diego based, print supply )
http://www.digitalartsupplies.com

Northbay Photo Supply (Santa Rosa, based photo supply)
http://www.photosupply.com
location map
http://www.photosupply.com/aboutusindex.htm

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

Quad Tone Ink Links - True Grayscale printing on an inkjet printer.

B&W Inkset is a set of 4 archival black inks in which 3 have
been diluted with a clear base stock to produce 3 shades of gray and 1
black.

http://www.inksupply.com/bwpage.cfm

MIS ULTRACHROME EQUIVALENT CARTRIDGES - These cartridges contain MIS 7600
Ultrachrome equivalent Archival color ink. Use for making fine art prints
with high fade resistance. It is for both matte and glossy media.

MIS PRO CARTRIDGES - These cartridges contain MIS PRO Archival color ink.
It is an improved version of the MIS Ultrachrome Equivalent ink. It has
less bronzing and higher gloss. Use for making fine art prints with high
fade resistance on Epson C84, C86, C88, 4000, 7600, 9600 printers. It is
for both matte and glossy media. It can be used for other Epson prints,
but a profile will be required.

http://www.inksupply.com/epsoncarts_xx.cfm

http://www.inksupply.com/quadtone.cfm

Below is the workflow provided by Paul Roark for making Variable Tone
prints using an Epson printer and MIS VM or VMS inks. The MIS variable-mix
ink and the adjustment curves produce beautiful prints that can be either
warm-tone, neutral or cool.
http://www.inksupply.com/workflow_roark.cfm

Currently, the main vendors for quadtone inks are MIS Associates,
Piezography, and Lumijet. Check their web sites for lists of currently
supported printers.

http://www.completedigitalphotography.com/index.php?p=32
http://www.inkjetmall.com/store/piezok7/piezography-neutral-k7.html


Additional Quad Tone Printing Resources

http://www.basearts.com/curriculum/files/QuadTonePrinting/

Lecture:

Photoshop: Printing

• Resolution (review)
  
• File Preparation
• Color Management
• Color Modes
  

  Handout - Processing a Digital Image.pdf
  

• Papers
  Surface/Finish
  Texture
  Color
  Weight

Lab:
Printing

Printing Demonstration - Epson R1800 / 1280 Printer Drivers

Device/Paper Profiles - additional resources

Color Field Guide - how to install and apply
Epson's ICC Profile Guide

Red River Paper -How to Install and apply profiles.Epson(PC)
Red River Color Profiles -How to Epson(MAC)

Lecture

• Lighting

- Utilizing Ambient Light
- Backlight
- Flash Modes

Photoflex - Lighting Resources Catalogue and Lessons

Lab:

Critique - Current progress on portfolios



Assignment:

----------------
3-5 images of light - 5 pnts. -
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:

Sites:

B&H - Flash Gel and Diffusion Samples

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.

Lecture:

Review: Images of Light,

Reading:

Discussion : Susan Sontag, "In Plato's Cave"

Artists:

Historical:


Contemporary:

Sites:

-------------

Gregory Colbert's Ashes and Snow is an ongoing project that weaves together photographic works, three 35mm films, art installations and a novel in letters. With profound patience and an unswerving commitment to the expressive and artistic nature of animals, he has captured extraordinary, unscripted interactions between humans and animals.

http://www.ashesandsnow.org/en/home.php
http://www.ashesandsnow.org/en/portfolio/

Aperture's Digital Photography Fundamentals

San Francisco Society Photographs
http://www.drewaltizer.com/

Shutterfly Professional Photo Gallery
http://www.shutterfly.com/professional_photo_gallery/how_it_works.jsp

Lecture

Commercial Photographers - Online presence

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

Lecture:

Batch and Automation techniques

Internet Distribution

• Image Ready
• Optimization

Lab

Printing continues through to the end...

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

Digimarc
www.digimarc.com
http://www.digimarc.com/mypicturemarc/

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

Artists:

Historical:

Contemporary:

Sites:

By Daryl Lang, PDN Newswire

Having seen his photo ripped off on lots of amateur web sites, photographer Arthur During
has embraced the irony of it, and created an exhibition of the infringements.

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003494255