Thursday, May 28, 2009

Assignment One: The Slideshow

Assignment One: Slideshow
Slideshow Travelogues were a popular form of entertainment in the 50s and 60s as returning travelers would bore their unsuspecting neighbors with a lengthy sequence of vacation snapshots.

Assignment One will revisit this medium in the form of a digital slideshow projection created in iphoto that will be based on walking down an assigned path. The slideshow should not just merely document the experience of walking down the assigned street, but should have a unified theme or overarching concept. The slideshow can be based on your real experience or a fictional one, or it can be rooted in historical ideas, humor or social commentary.

The length should be between 3-10 minutes.

Due: June 10

Blog Assignment

Given that the first component of this course will explore issues related to travel photography, each student will create a blog throughout the course where images taken throughout the class can be posted online- acting as both an on-line art project and an opportunity to share your experiences with friends and family back in the US.

Blogs should be based on typical tourist photographs. Try to either provide a theme for your blog that focuses on one particular aspect of Tuscany, take photographs that represent your own personal point of view, or create posts which combine text and image to reveal your own unique observations on aspects of the city that you find compelling, contradictory, interesting or ironic.

Each student will be responsible for at least 4 posts per week (beginning June 1) for a total of 16 posts completed by the end of the course. Blogs will be reviewed on June 27. Posts should be paced at 4 per week- do not try to make all 16 posts during the last week of class!

Blog servers that can be used include blogspot, typepad, or wordpress. (Wordpress and blogspot are free, typepad is not free). You can also post blogs to your own personal website if you have one.

Provide the url address of your blog and put up your first four posts by Friday June 5 so that a link to your blog can be made from the main class website.

Note: Because of the issue regarding internet access in the class, I will bring a thumb drive to class onto which you can download your files. This drive will be kept on my doorknob so that you can take your files from the lab computers after you have worked with them in Photoshop and post them at the residence where you can access the web.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

ART 280 Summer 2009 Study Abroad in Tuscany Course Syllabus

Photography I: 280 01
Study Abroad: Tuscany
Summer 2009

Diane Meyer
dmeyer9@lmu.edu

Course Description
This course will explore digital photography as a medium of self-expression. Students will learn camera functions, exposure issues, negative scanning, preparing files for digital output, and Adobe Photoshop. In addition to learning the technical mechanics of the medium, students will consider photography in terms of aesthetic and conceptual concerns. Assignments will relate to explorations of Tuscany and will consider the genre of travel photography and the various means in which photography has been used to document place from the 19th Century to the present day.


Course Objectives and Student Outcomes
1. Through weekly lectures and demonstrations, students will be able to consistently achieve successful results in all technical aspects of using a digital camera
a. learn all camera functions
b. determine proper exposure through metering and knowledge of photography principles
2. Students will extensively photograph, and will form a distinct style and point of view which will be evident in a final portfolio.
a. use formal qualities of photography including composition, framing, and light
b. use photography to communicate ideas
c. combine technical ability and formal consideration with conceptual concerns
3. Students will become well versed in speaking about photography in critical terms through slide lectures, assigned readings and excursions throughout the city of Florence and environs.
a. ability to consider theoretical and critical issues and relate this to their own work
b. ability to articulate ideas verbally and visually
4. Given the collaborative nature of group critiques and working in a shared space, students will demonstrate professional and considerate behavior at all times.
a. attendance, promptness, and preparedness
b. thoughtful contribution to class discussions
c. importance of cleaning up after oneself and treating all equipment respectfully and carefully


Course Format and Methods of Evaluation
This 5 week course will consist of lectures, slide presentations, technical demonstrations, group critiques, in-class lab time, and excursions throughout Tuscany. Through the semester, students will be responsible for 3 photographic assignments and a final, cohesive project.

Attendance, effort and thoughtful participation are critical for successful completion of the course. More than two unexcused absences will result in the lowering of the final grade by one full letter grade. Three late arrivals to class equals one absence. Late assignments will be lowered by one letter grade, and will not be accepted at all after one week past the due date.

Class Critiques are an extremely important aspect of the course, and all students are expected to contribute their thoughts and ideas. Feedback from one’s peers is invaluable in the creation of work, and not having this important input, puts one at a marked disadvantage. Given this, students who do not have work for critique, or who are absent on a critique day, will have their participation grade lowered.


Grading Breakdown:
Attendance/Participation: 10%
Assignment One: Slideshow 15%
Assignment Two: Book Project 20%
Blog Project: 25%
Final Project: 30%

Digital Lab
Digital lab rules and regulations will be thoroughly discussed in class. Lab privileges can be revoked if rules are violated. It is very important that the facilities are treated responsibly and with care, and that students clean up after themselves.



Required Materials
*35mm SLR manual camera or SLR Digital Camera
If you don not have either of these cameras, please contact instructor before start of class to discuss alternative choices.
Negative and Transparency Film (If shooting with film camera)
Memory Card with at least 1 GB of storage (If shooting with digital camera
Notebook for recording ideas, technical data
CDs or DVDs for saving digital files
Camera Strap
UV Filter to Protect Lens
1 pack of 25 sheets Epson Glossy Photo Paper


**All students are responsible for adhering to "Study Abroad Courtesy Rules". Violation of these rules will impact your course grade and your privilege of continued participation in the course and the program. **If you ever have questions or problems with the material, please schedule a meeting with the professor.


Tentative Schedule by Week
(Please note that schedule may change due to excursions/field trips/other special itinerary programming. Also note that almost all classes will include supervised lab time).

Week One: May 25-29

MONDAY
• Orientation at Syracuse
WEDNESDAY
• Course Introduction
• Basic Camera Functions: Exposure, Shutter and Aperture
• Introduction to Travel Photography
• Discussion on Representing Place
• Importing Images and Adobe Bridge
FRIDAY
• Digital Imaging Basics: Image Size, Resolution, File Types
• Creating a Blog, Explanation of Blog Assignment
• Field Trip to the Alinari Museum of Photography


Week Two: June 1-5

MONDAY
• Artists and the Slideshow
• Explanation of Assignment One: Slideshow
• Using Time Based Presentation Tools

WEDNESDAY
• Adjusting Digital Images with Levels and Curves
• Enhancing Digital Images
• Using Layers and Selection Tools in Photoshop

FRIDAY
• Making Image Composites, Masks and Layers
• Accordion Books and Explanation of Assignment Two


Week Three: June 8-12
MONDAY
• Introduction to Final Project, Slideshow of Artists Working in Digital Imaging
• Demonstration on Creating Accordion Books

WEDNESDAY
• Making Contact Sheets in Photoshop
• Printing Files
• Demonstration on Making Accordion Books
• Work Session For Slideshow Movies and Postcard Project

FRIDAY
• Excursion to Pietrasanta


Week Four: June 15-19

MONDAY
• Excursion to Pietrasanta

WEDNESDAY
• Discussion of Final Project
• Contemporary Artists Working in Digital Photography
• Work Session for Blog and Accordion Books
• Critique of Assignment One

FRIDAY
• Work in Progress Critique for Final Project and Final Project Presentations



Week Five: June 22-26

MONDAY
• Second Work in Progress Critique for Final Projects

WEDNESDAY
• Advanced Techniques in Photoshop: Airbrushing, Replicating Film Processes, Faking Motion Blur and Depth of Field
• Critique of Assignment Two

FRIDAY
• Final Critique
• Work in Progress Critique
• Final Critique