Digital Photography Course Outline
Delaware Art Museum, Winter 2012
A rough course outline, based on what was taught in the previous class. If you miss a Tuesday class, you can always make it up by attending Kathy Buckalew's class on Monday nights, same time, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. We don't have the same class outline, but the classes are quite similar.
Delaware Art Museum website | Link to parking map. | Photography Lessons in Delaware
 Our first five classes deal primarily with camera mechanics, the second five on aesthetics. That is, we learn how to use the camera, then learn to make better images. Our emphasis will be on capturing images, not post-processing them on a computer.
Students will learn some simple rules to making good photos. Because good photos often bend the rules, even break them, we will learn to rely less on rules and more on our eyes. Again and again we will look at student work and, when we find one photo that's better than others, we will try to analyze why. Sometimes we'll find answers!
If this class is successful, students be better able to use the camera as an extension of their eyes, so what they see can be preserved and shared as photographs.
Class #1:
Tuesday, January 17
Camera Basics, including Histograms
Review of upcoming classes and assignments. Introduction to automatic exposure, to manual shooting and the light meter; to the underlying structure of the Red-Green-Blue (RGB) images that digital cameras produce; to histograms and the concept of proper exposure. Histograms are a great way of analyzing your exposures. Here's a link to a discussion of histograms.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, January 24:
Try experimenting with your camera settings: automatic, shutter-priority, aperture-priority, and manual modes. Get familiar with your user manual. If you don't have one, look on-line. Also, small books are available for most cameras and are much better instruction than user manuals, which can be unreadable.
Class #2, Tuesday, January 24
Manual Settings
Introduction to shooting with manual camera settings. Continued introduction to the concepts of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO (camera sensitivity). How to steady your camera for long exposures. How and why to shoot manually using the camera's built-in light meter. Various ways cameras meter light: average, center-weighted, spot, and evaluative "smart" metering. Various formats cameras use to save images: RAW, TIFF, JPEG. As I said in class, if you make changes to a JPEG image on your computer, don't save it as a JPEG image after making your adjustments: you'll lose more data when the image is compressed a second time.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, January 31:
Continue experimenting with your manual camera settings, taking photos by adjusting your shutter speed and aperture and, if necessary, your ISO. Try to use the light meter you see when you look through the camera, if that's an option. After shooting, look at what you've shot, especially the histogram. Questions about shooting in manual mode? Look at your user manual. Look on-line:
Short article on manual shooting, ISO, shutter speed, aperture, light meters, and histograms.
A good general discussion of manual settings.
A good article on file formats: RAW, TIFF, and JPEG.
Class #3, Tuesday, January 31
Manual Shooting Emphasizing Aperture
Discussion of aperture settings. Review of homework assignment. In-class photos of paper sculptures. Bring in your photos!
To learn more about aperture settings, here's one good link.
Here's another article on aperture settings.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, February 7:
Take three photographs in manual mode as follows:
- No data lost. Both ends of the histogram near zero. This is a classically exposed image.
- Some data has been lost, has gone white. The right side of the histogram is high. This is a classically underexposed image, but what is of interest is well exposed.
- Some data has been lost, has gone black. The left side of the histogram high. This is a classically overexposed image, but what is of interest is well exposed.
Some subjects look better if areas of the image go white or black. That is, what is of interest in the photo is properly exposed, while what is not of interest goes white or black, or very light or dark. Cameras cannot tell what is of interest; they aren't that smart. This is one reason to shoot with manual settings. To see three examples, click on this link.
Subjects for Photo #1 are commonly found outdoors. Subjects for Photo #2 will have very bright backgrounds such as anything in shadow with the sky in the background. Subjects for Photo #3 will be brightly lit, but the background will be dark, as is often the case with artificially lit subjects. By adjusting your shutter speed and aperture, you can get good exposures for all three images even though the lighting is very different. You might also shoot the same scenes with automatic settings, to see what difference it makes shooting manually.
Class #4, February 7
Honing Our Skills
A discussion of aperture and depth of field, espcially why wider apertures (letting more light in) produces less depth of field instead of more. If you let in more light, why isn't more in focus? Review homework assignment. Continued review of using manual settings. How changing shutter speed, aperture, and ISO (camera sensitivity) changes the images your camera captures. In-class experimentation.
An article on how cameras meter light: Average, Center-Weighted, Spot.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, February 14:
Explore the limits of your camera. If you can, get good exposures! Make photos with:
- The fastest shutter speed.
- The slowest shutter speed.
- The biggest aperture (lowest f-number)
- The smallest aperture (highest f-number)
- The highest ISO (camera sensitivity).
- The lowest ISO (camera sensitivity).
Class #5, February 14
Final Class on Camera Mechanics
A discussion of metering modes: Average, Center-Weighted, Spot. In-class photo practice in manual mode using spot metering. Review homework assignment and answer questions. If time allows, in-class practice.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, February 21:
Experiment with separating the subject from the background. There are many ways to separate subject and background:
Class #6, February 21
Why Are Some Images Better Than Others? Subject and Background.
Review homework assignment. Discuss artificial illumination, fill-flash, silouettes, painting with light, and other kinds of illumination. But our emphasis in this and final classes will be to answer one question: Why are some images better than others? Rules of composition work in some situations, but not all. One rule is to separate the subject from the background. If time allows, we will practice separating subject from the background.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, February 28:
Experiment with your flash, not only as primary illumination, but also as a fill-flash. That is, use your flash in sunlit situations to illuminate shadow areas. Also, you can try using your flash indoors or in other low-light situations where there's almost enough light to get by without a flash but the flash adds just a bit more light to the scene, giving you a good exposure. You might also want to experiment with other artificial light sources such as lamps, overhead lights, headlights of cars, outdoor lights at night, etc. For example, ice cubes on a dark background take on a whole new look when illuminated from the side with artificial light. For example, grass and other vegetation take on a more dramatic look when lit with grazing light such as from a automobile's headlights. (Pull your car up on your lawn at your own risk.) Paint your scene with a flashlight or other small light source while your shutter stays open for 10-30 seconds. See the light paintings of local photographer Harold Ross or the teacher's simple light-painting experiments from an earlier class.
Class #7, February 28
Designing Photographs
After reviewing the homework assignment, we will look at how photographs can be designed. We will look at how the frame affects the image, at diagonals, triangles, form and line.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, March 6
Create a simple sculpture out of paper, vegetables, found objects, or other materials. Photograph it. Your assignment is to take one or more items, arrange them into a simple tableau, and then photograph it, experimenting with composition and lighting. Don't worry about the sculpture so much. Keep it simple. Put your efforts into the design of your photo. How can you give the image depth? How can the image be graphic? What can be done to separate subject and background.
The inspiration for this assignment are some of the photos of Ion Zupcu, a photographer represented by Gallery 339 in Philadelphia. Click here to see the artist's work, most of which has very little depth of field.
Click here to see some photos the instructor shot in class in early 2011. (Some students in class did better!) We spent less than 60 seconds creating each sculpture.
Class #8, March 6
Portraits
Review of homework assignment. Further discussion of how to get better images with an emphasis on portraits. In class experimentation with portraits. Learn about white balance and various ways to use your light meter.
ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, March 13:
Make a series of ten portraits of the same person. These can be taken anywhere, under any lighting conditions, natural and artificial. Extra credit for trying to duplicate a famous portrait. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see links to famous photographers and their work.
Class #9, March 14
Simplicity and Complexity
Review of homework assignment. Further discussion of composition, especially the issues of simplicity and complexity. In class experimentation with light painting.
LAST ASSIGNMENT - by Tuesday, March 21:
Make a series of ten photos, but only of one subject. The subject can be people, places, animals, landscapes, close-ups, or action and sports. The ten images can tell a story.
Class #10, March 20
Learning to See Photographically
Review of homework assignment. Discussion of learning to see photographically, and simply learning to see. Final questions. Final review.
Free Activities
Meet-Up Photo Groups in Elkton, MD, and Delaware County, PA.
Delaware Photographic Society meets Monday evenings.
Photographer Links
Richard Avedon
Manuel Alvarez Bravo, 1930s of his wife, Frida Kahlo
Henri Cartier Bresson, French documentary photographer, 1930s-1960s. His ability to create Zen-like perfect moments from ordinary life is still widely admired, including a retrospective exhibit in 2011 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. One of my favorites in his ability to see beauty in the mundane.
Harry Callahan, 1949
Julia Margaret Cameron, 1864
Professor Harold Edgerton, a scientific photographer, developed stop-action techniques for photographing high-speed objects while working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work was exhibited at the Delaware Art Museum in 2011.
Robert Frank, 1950s documentary photographer. His book, The Americans, changed how photographers looked through their viewfinders and how Americans looked at themselves, if you believe NPR. Gary Winogrand followed in his tradition.
Yousuf Karsh, 1941, of Winston Churchill
Robert Glenn Ketchum, contemporary landscape photographer. I was first impressed with his book,Order From Chaos, in which he takes confusions of branches and weeds and sees in them some order.
Annie Leibovitz, contemporary portrait photographer. Has started releasing books of her personal work. Known for her editorial photography, known for traveling with two semi-truck trailers, one full of costumes, and working with a staff of a dozen helpers including makeup artists, costume designers, and lighting specialists.
Gordon Parks, 1941, of Langston Hughes
Edward Steichen, 1928, of Greta Garbo
Edward Weston, art photographer, and his sons, Brett Weston and Cole Weston, both landscape photographers.
Gary Winogrand, a street photographer, taught at The University of Texas Art School in the 1970s. He emphasized the development of the eye, of the ability of the photographer to see, to shoot without analysis. When he died, he had three years of photographs still undeveloped, that is, thousands of rolls of film. He believed in shooting first and asking questions later.
Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography at MOMA
There are five photos available. Click the number icons below photo.
Recommended
John White converts old Nikon lenses so they fit on new camera bodies.
Old Canon lenses on new camera bodies using adapters.
Lending Library
If you'd like to borrow one of these books, contact me.
Photography by London, Stone & Upton. A complete classroom in a book, 406pp, illustrated with many photos of historical significance.
Stoppee's Guide to Photography & Light by Brian & Janet Stoppee. Empasis on light and its capture. 502pp.
The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman. Emphasis on being able to see good compositions. 192pp.
The Photographer's Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos by Michael Freeman. Emphasis on being able to think about what you see. 192pp.
Developing Vision & Style: A Landscape Photography Masterclass by Cornish, Waite, and Ward. Three British photographers display their best work and talk about what goes into a good image. 158pp.
Mastering Landscape Photography: The Luminous Landscape Essays by Alain Briot. Thoughful writing about landscape applies to all aspects of photography. 251pp.
Creative Elements: Darkroom Techniques for Landscape Photography by Eddie Ephraums. This book about toning silver gelatin prints has much to say about the artist's vision. 165pp.
Still Life in Photography by Paul Martineau. A picture book of still life photography. 112pp.
Camera Work: The Complete Illustrations 1903-1917 by Alfred Stieglitz. 800pp.
Copyright© 2007- 2012 Danny N. Schweers.
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