Basic Photography - Digital Camera

Location:

Class Schedule: 

Instructor:  John Sappington - john@basearts.com

Overview
Schedule
Resources

Film Development Quick Reference
Printing Quick Reference

Course Syllabus

Online Syllabus:  http://www.basearts.com/curriculum/SRJC.BasicPhoto.htm

DESCRIPTION:

This course will present an overview of traditional photographic processes as well as an historic exploration of the aesthetics of photography. From concept to print, this course explores the technical and chemical processes required as well as the conceptual and critical issues inherent to the medium. Traditional and new electronic photographic methods are presented as a vehicle to understand the implications of photography as an art form. Emphasis is placed on the creative process while exploring image making as a means of communication used by contemporary artists.

Required Texts:

A Short Course in Photography, Barbara London/ Jim Stone

Recommended Texts:

Photography, Barbara London, John Upton, Ken Kobre, Betsy Brill, Prentice Hall
or
Photography, Revised Edition, Henry Horenstein, Russell Hart Prentice Hall


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


Required Supplies / Equipment:

35mm Camera with manual exposure controls.
(the camera should also have a built-in light meter, or you will need a handheld light meter)

1 Gallon of Lauder Dual Fixer

Film - Kodak TMax or Tri-X (* or equivalent 400 ASA general purpose black and white)

Photographic Printing Paper - (Resin Coated)

1 Towel (*this will accumulate stains so don't take your mothers best towel, use an old throwaway)

Rubberized Apron (optional)
Rubber(latex) Gloves
Sharpie Permanent Marker
Sissors
Anti-Static Brush
Can of compressed air
Negative Storage Binder (3 ring binder) and Protective Pages (*35-7B)
5 - 9x12 Manilla Envelopes
oo or ooo spotting brush

Mounting Board - to be dicussed.

EVALUATION:

30% of student grade will be based on attendance and participation.

50% of student grades will be based on the completion of assigned exercises and journal. 
Incomplete assignments will be considered not done. 

20% of student grade will be based on the complete of a final portfolio containing a minium of 20 prints.


ATTENDANCE POLICY:

You 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. 

More than three absences will affect a student’s grade; the fourth and each subsequent absence will drop a student’s overall grade one portion of a letter grade (e.g. from a full B to a B-). Repeated tardiness will also affect a student’s overall grade; every three tardies will count as equal to one absence.

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.

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

Lecture: Department and Facilities Policy Review and Tour
Begin fundamentals of visual phenomenology / camera technology
Basic Camera Operation

Lab:

Critique / Review 5 images of influence.

Assignments:

Review Online Syllabus
Review Internet Resources

Bring in 5 Images either of your own or from public media sources
that best represent your interest in photography.

Bring in Camera * practice framing

Initiate Journal - 5 pnts.


Reading:

Camera manual
Chapt. 1 & 2 Short Course

Search Artists:

Henri Cartier Bresson
Robert Frank
Ansel Adams
Robert Adams

Lecture:

Pinhole Camera
Beginning Exposure
Bracketing

Lab:

Begin Construction on Pinhole -
Test Construction
First Exposures

Assignment:

Construct Pinhole camera and test for light leaks and exposure. - 10 pnts

Reading:



Oatmeal Box Pinhole Photography by Stew Woodruff
- How to Make and Take Pictures With Pinhole Cameras Made from Oatmeal Boxes
http://www.bonus.com/contour/pinhole_camaras/http@@/users.rcn.com/stewoody/index.htm

The Pinhole Gallery
http://www.pinhole.org/

Photo.net
http://www.photo.net/learn/pinhole/pinhole

Artists:

Jo Babcock
Fredrick Sommer
Duane Michaels
Mary Ellen Mark

Lecture:

Continued Exposure...

Lab:

Pinhole shoot / Print

Assignment:

Bracket Roll (first roll) - Shooting and Developing - 10 pnts.

Bracketing Exposures - Choose a 2 subjects and make 5 bracketed exposures of each.

1st exposure according to meter reading with a gray card.
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.

With the remaining exposures experiment with the shutter speeds + and or - one shutter speed is equal to a full stop.



Reading:

Chapters 3 & 4 - Short Course

Artists:

W. Eugene Smith
Minor White

Stephen Shore
William Klein
Pablo Ortiz Monesterio
Sophie Calle

Lecture:


Review Pinhole Prints
Photograms

Lab:

Preparations for printing. Photograms

Assignment:

Printing Photograms - 5 pnts

Reading:
Photograms and Montage works... <--Online Click Here

Handouts:
The Decisive Moment - Cartier-Bresson


The Lomographic Society - http://www.lomography.com/ - from Mason Baird
http://www.lomography.com/about/
Welcome dear photo-adventurer. you are just about to discover the most interactiv, vivid, blurred and crazy face of photography worldwide. we heartily and most warmly invite you to dive into our unique online photo-features, to taste our cameras and -most of all- to become a lomographer. help us to simply build the biggest snapshot portrait of our planet and to revolutionize the picture communication from the hip. prost.


Artists:

Moholy-Nagy
Man Ray
Jerry Uelsmann
Karl Blossfelt
Eudora Welty

Lecture:

Printing Procedures
Contact Sheets -
Multi-Contrast Filters

etc...

Lab:

Printing - Contact Sheets - Photograms

Assignment:

Contact Sheets of Bracket rolls - 5 Pnts
Experiments with Photograms


Reading:

Chapter 6 - Short Course

Film Development Quick Reference

Printing Quick Reference

Inspirational by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy


Artists:

David Hockney
John Baldessari
Sally Mann
Sherry Levine
Moriyama Daido

Lecture:

Printing Procedures

Contact Sheets

Test Stips

Multi-Contrast Filters

Burning and Dodging

Lab:

FIRST CRITIQUE - BRING ALL PINHOLES AND PHOTOGRAMS

Assignment:

Light and Shadow - 10 pnts.
- pick a location and photograph it on a recurring basis throughout the course of one day.
36 exposures minimum. Make photographs which illustrated the changing conditions of the
light and shadow in this location.

Reading:

Leaflet, Written for Los Angeles Museum - Edward Weston
Inspirational by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

Pushing Film allows you to shoot in lower light situations.

This solution essentially fools the light meter by setting it at a
higher ISO or ASA rating and then overdeveloping the film in
order to compensate for the underexposure.

Although your experiences may vary somewhat - here is a good starting base for pushing:

400 ASA pushed to 800 ASA - 50% overdevelopment - 10 minutes normal development time = 15 minutes.
400 ASA pushed to 1600 ASA - 100% overdevelopment - 10 minutes normal development time = 20 minutes.

Artists:

Harry Callahan
Immogen Cunningham
Nan Goldin
Uta Barth
Richard Misrach
Mark Klett

Lecture:

Composition - Fundamentals

Lab:

Multi Contrast Filters / Printing continues

Reading/ Discussion:


Leaflet, Written for Los Angeles Museum - Edward Weston


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.

Photo Alliance
http://www.photoalliance.com


Artists:

Judy Dater
Graciela Iturbide
Dieter Appelt
John Divola

Midterm Interviews and Printing

All assignments due ...

Reading/Discussion:

Inspirational by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

On Photography, "In Plato's Cave", by Susan Sontag, 1973, Picador.

Artists:

Margaret Bourke-White
Linda Connor
Annie Liebovitz
Yosuf Karsh
Irving Penn
Bruce Weber

Open Lab

Lecture:

Lab:

Shoot 1 roll minimum per week
Work Prints now through week 14

Reading::



Artists:

Lecture:

Monday

John LeBaron presents his work.

Critique:

Bring light&shadow prints/contacts for review
as well as, the prints/contacts from JLebarons assignments.

First hour or so in class room - last half lab print/develop

Reading:

AGAIN
Photo Alliance
http://www.photoalliance.org

Artists:
Bill Owens
Lee Friedlander
Henry Wessel
Linda Connor

Lecture:

Flash

Working with
Ambient / Artifical Light

Lab:

Assignment:

Reading::



Artists:

Lecture:

Lab:



Presentation / Mounting

Lab:


Discussion:
Final Portfolio Expectations - see final for description.

Next to last Assignment:

Object of Art - Total point = 10 pnts

Select an object- must be larger than 1/2 your body size, no larger than you are able to carry.. Choose a location for placement of said object and photograph. Includes developing a written thesis of the object and how you have photographed and presented it. Alternative methods in the final presentation are incouraged with review and approval by instructor.

Make a minimum of 36 exposures of the object of art from a variety of vantage points, angles /lighting situations or conditions, utilizing various lenses if required or desired. Utilize any tool at your disposal in both the shooting, development, printing, or presentation processess.

Reading:

In Plato's Cave - Susan Sontag

Artists:

Harold Edgerton
David Hockney
Richard Prince

Lecture:

Legal / Copyright Issues

Protecting your images

Lab:

Lab

Final Critique
---------

Final Portfolio = to include:

Any outstanding assignment prints/contacts you wish to submit.
5 - final prints of your choice mounted and matted.
Final Print Presentation

(Alternative forms incouraged)
------
2 prints - Pinhole Camera Images
2 prints - Photogram Compositions
2 prints - Light and Shadow
5 prints - OBJECT OF ART

1 print - SELF-PORTRAIT.