Calendar
Week 01
Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Monday
Class intro
PROJECT 01: SHOW ME YOUR CAMERA
- Bring your camera to class, so that I can make sure it will work for the class.
- The important features are digital, manual focus and manual exposure (shutter speed and aperture).
Due: Monday, 31 January
Capture, Storage and File Formats
Week 02
Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.
Aaron Siskind
Monday
No School: Labor Day
Wednesday
Camera Check Day
Camera manuals
Week 03
In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.
Alfred Stieglitz
Monday
Camera Basics/Anatomy
- Set White Balance to Auto/AWB
- Set Exposure Mode to Program
- Set ISO to Auto (or 400)
- Disable all Effects/Styles
- Set File Type to RAW+JPG or JPG
- Verify Memory Card
- Show/Hide Histogram
Wednesday
PROJECT 01: COMPOSITIONAL STRATEGIES
- Shoot in Program Mode, not Auto
- Shoot at least 5 examples of each of the following Compositional Strategies. (50-100 images)
- Select the best 2 unique examples of each Compositional Strategy, 20 images.
- Resize each image to 1600px on the long side.
- Video: Resizing with Photoshop
- Rename each file with the Compositional Strategy most prominently shown. ashby-framing1.jpg, ashby-symmetry2.jpg, etc.
- Upload your best 2 of each to the All assignment. 20 images.
- Upload your favorite 2 images to the Picks Discussion
- Balanced Subjects
- Color or Pattern & Repetition
- Fill the Frame (Cropping)
- Framing
- Leading Lines
- Rule of Thirds
- Subject to (Back)ground
- Symmetry
- Triangular Composition
- Viewpoint/Perspective
Due: Wednesday, 20 Sept
Week 04
What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are time and light.
John Berger
Monday
Editing: Image size
Wednesday
Project 1 Review 1/2
Week 05
To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.
Elliott Erwitt
Monday
Project 1 Review 2/2
Wednesday
PROJECT 02a: FOCUS AND BLUR - DEPTH OF FIELD
- Use Manual or Aperture Priority (Av)
- Make 100-150 photos consciously using Depth of Field as part of your image
- Shoot and upload 2 examples of each of the following:
- Deep Depth of Field - Architecture/Object
- Shallow Depth of Field - Architecture/Object
- Deep Depth of Field - Person/Animal
- Shallow Depth of Field - Person/Animal
- Deep Depth of Field - Nature
- Shallow Depth of Field - Nature
- 12 images total
- Resize each image to 1600px on the long side
- Upload all 12 images to the "All" assignment
- Upload your 2 favorite images to the "Picks" discussion
- Use Manual or Aperture Priority setting
- Adjust Aperture first, Shutter Speed second, and ISO if necessary
Due: Wednesday, 4 October
Equivalent Exposures/Exposure Triangle
48 Hour Exercise #1
- Focus on something close to you, with some separation between it and the background
- Same subject & camera position
- Resize to 1600px on the long side
- Maximum Aperture (~f/2)
- Midrange Aperture (~f/8)
- Maximum Aperture (~f/22)
Due: Friday, by midnight
- How to Shallow Depth of Field:
- Large aperture (small f-stop ~f/2)
- Close to subject [Macro?]
- Long lens length (telephoto)
- Example
- How to Deep Depth of Field:
- Small aperture (big f-stop ~f/22)
- Far from subject(s)
- Short lens length (wide angle)
- Example
Week 06
It’s more important for a photographer to have very good shoes, than to have a very good camera.
Sebastiao Salgado
Monday
Editing: Digital Contact Sheets
Photoshop Contact Sheet II setup
Wednesday
PROJECT 02b: FOCUS AND BLUR - SHUTTER SPEED
- Use Manual or Shutter Priority (Tv)
- Use Auto ISO, except for Nighttime
- If Auto ISO isn't available, use 100-400 outdoors in bright light, and 400-1600 indoors or in dim outdoor light
- Shoot and upload 3 examples of each of the following:
-
- Fast Shutter Speed
- Something obviously in motion is frozen
- 1/500-1/2000 second
-
- Slow Shutter Speed
- Something obviously in motion is blurred
- 1/2-1/8 second
-
- Nighttime
- Outside, some time after sunset
- Set your ISO below 400 (100, 200, 400)
- Exposure should be 5-30 seconds
- Bracketing is a good idea (1s, 5s, 20s)
- Exposure guide
- This could be kinetic light painting
-
- Panning
- Move with your subject, keeping it centered in the frame
- 1/30-1/60 second
- Avoid direct, open sunlight. It's too bright
- Mastering Panning Article
- Upload all 12 images as a digital Contact Sheet to the "All" assignment
- Resize your 2 favorite images to 1600px on the long side, and upload to the "Picks" Discussion
Due: Wednesday, 11 October
48 Hour Exercise #2
- Upload 3 images.
- ISO on Auto
- Exposure Mode to Manual or Shutter Priority (Tv)
- 1/8, 1/30, 1/250
- Keep the images the same as possible. Don't recompose/move.
- Find a subject with moderate, continuous motion (bike wheel, slow fan, coin, etc..
- Try to find moderate daylight lighting; not direct sun, not artificial lighting.
- Friday (6 October), by midnight
Week 07
Every artist has a central story to tell, and the difficulty, the impossible task, is trying to present that story in pictures.
Gregory Crewdson
Monday
Wednesday
Project 2ab Review 1/2
Week 08
Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Monday
Project 2ab Review 2/2
Wednesday
PROJECT 3: PORTRAITS
Shooting Requirements:
- Shoot at least 150 photos
- At least 7 different people
- ~2-3 (different) locations/situations per subject
- Don't use the Portrait setting on your camera
- ~10 shots per setting
- Think about Depth of Field, Motion Blur, composition, cropping, etc.
- Try all the Lighting Conditions a few times
Turn In Requirements:
- Upload 8 images to the All folder
- At least 4 different people
- At least 3 different Lighting Conditions
- Try to use all Lighting Conditions at least once
- No more than 2 non-humans (with discernible personality)
- One image that doesn't show the subject's face
- Upload your 2 favorites to Picks discussion, different people
Lighting Conditions:
- Just after sunrise or before sunset on a clear day (Outside, soft, directional light, long shadows)
- Midday on a clear day, no clouds (Outside, hard, directional light)
- Overcast (Outside, soft light, no shadows)
- Open shade (Outside, on a clear day, in complete shade)
- Mixed lighting, direct light vs shade, for subject and background (Backlighting is this, to an extreme) [Example]
- Window light (inside, natural, diffused light)
Article: Natural Light Portraiture | Simple Portraits Using Window Light
Article: How to Achieve Great Portraits with Window Light
- Nighttime (inside, artificial light, long exposure)
- Nighttime (outside, artificial light, long exposure)
Reference:
Photographers:
Due: Wednesday, 1 November
Week 09
A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.
Edward Steichen
Monday
Wednesday
Quiz Review
Week 10
Monday
Quiz!
The quiz will be available on Canvas, during class.
Wednesday
Videos
Week 11
It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.
Paul Caponigro
Monday
Project 3 Review 1/2
Wednesday
Project 3 Review 2/2
Week 12
Monday
FINAL PROJECT
- Collection or Narrative or Documentary Essay
- 50-100 images
- 10-15 uploaded images
- Use Manual exposure mode.
- Av or Tv is acceptable. Nothing else.
- Written statement explaining your approach & selection
- No late projects whatsoever
- Collection Examples:
- Ed Ruscha
- Bernd & Hilla Becher
- Hans Eijkelboom
- Nicholas Nixon
Presentation PDF
- Due Dates:
- Present Concepts: Monday, 20 November
- Early Presentation: Monday, 4 December (Extra Credit)
- Presentation: Wednesday, 6 December & Monday 11 December.
Wednesday
Week 13
Monday
Final Project Concepts
Wednesday
Day of Reflection
Week 14
Monday
Photoshop 1/2
- Workflow:
- Save as Photoshop file
- Crop and Rotate lightly (if necessary, at least 1200px)
- Resize to 1600px on the long side, only if larger than 1600px
- Adjust Exposure & Contrast (Levels or Curves)
- Dodge and/or Burn, if necessary (Levels and/or Curves with a Layer Mask)
- Alter Color Balance/Temperature or convert Black and White (Adjustment Layers)
- Reassess Exposure and/or Contrast
- When complete, Save a Copy @ High Quality jpg
Wednesday
Photoshop 2/2
- Layout Specifications:
- Use Photoshop
- File>Automate>Contact Sheet II
- Use these settings, but you can alter the orientation (tall vs wide) and the rows and columns to best fit your images.
- Add your name and a title for your project.
- It should like something like this
Upload test shots
Week 15
Monday
Early Final Project Presentation
Wednesday
Final Project Presentation 1/2
Group 1 or 2
Week 16
Monday
Final Project Presentation 2/2
Group 2 or 1
Finals Week
Monday, 18 December, 3:00p–5:00p
Nothing to see here.
Drop by, if you have grade questions.
