CART 210-01, Digital Photography

Fall 2008

Instructor Sven Anderson

Fine Arts 321, Monday Wednesday, 10:00 am – 11:50 am

About this course:

The major emphasis of this course will be the creation of fine art photographs. There will be a lot to cover in this course, so don’t let yourself get left behind. We will cover both technical and aesthetic issues involving digital photography.

How the semester will go:

We will start out with the basics of manual camera operation and how the settings effect the resulting image. We will move on to an intensive view of Adobe Photoshop and other photographic software, including work with Camera Raw and professional workflow software.

The Goal:

Many computer art courses and computer artists are consumed with the tool itself rather than the resulting piece of art. The goal of this course is to create a blend of information that leads to a better understanding of photography and digital tools that lead to the creation of fine art prints.

Why:

Computer art is no longer a novelty item. Artists working on the computer must be held to the same standards and criteria of traditional artists. People are no longer getting jobs just because they know how to use the computer. It’s the artistic skills that count.

Supplies you will need:

A digital camera with the ability to make settings manually, it should be at least 3 megapixels, 5 or more would be better. (if you are buying a camera for this course, PLEASE talk to me first!

Tripod sturdy yet portable.

Card reader or proper cables to work with your camera for image download.

Portable hard drive, I recommend anything with the name Seagate on it. (Firewire is faster than USB, make sure Mac compatible)(all Seagate USB and Firewire drives are Mac compatible)

I recommend a stack of CD-R’s (burnable CD’s) for back-up and/or DVD-R’s

I recommend a Cintiq 21UX Grip Pen ZP501E or 6D Art Pen ZP600 (if you want to use our spiffy new Cintiq tablet displays)

A fully functioning brain

How to reach me:

Office Hours: MW 1-3 pm

Office Fine Arts 309

Phone 436-3174

E-mail anderss@oneonta.edu

AOL-Instant-Messenger or iChat Wild Voxel

Volcano Editions 433-1133

Texts and other materials:

It is recommended that you become familiar with the medium by personal investigation on the world wide web and by reading periodicals. The Milne Library has a large collection of books on photography and art in general. I would be happy to guide you to some sites on the web or help you select a periodical to review.

Catalog description:

The concepts and techniques of digital image making. Processes including image acquisition through digital capture or scanning, image compositing, editing, and output to various media. Students will be encouraged to explore the creative potentials of the different techniques and to develop their own personal style.

Prerequisite: CART 201.

Specific course objectives:

1. Develop camera skills

2. Develop digital skills

3. Develop critical assessment skills

4. Develop a personal style

5. Develop verbal art skills

6. Prepare digital works for exhibition

Attendance:

Class attendance and active in-class participation is required. I expect you to do most of your work in the computer art lab. Your participation in the lab is very important to your development as an artist and to the other students. You may work on projects at home but I must see the progress on them regularly. I do not want any surprises on the last day of class where I see a bunch of work for the first time.

Grading:

You will be graded on a combination of finished product and participation. 60% finished product, 40% participation. For those students that cannot speak in public, there is the option of a 30 page paper. See me for details. This option cannot be selected at the end of the semester.

Assignments:

You will be required to submit assignments once a week by posting them to your website in a predetermined format by the start of class at 10:00 am. These include both the daily and weekly assignments along with any projects that are due that day.

A. Vitamins*

Just like your vitamins, you will take one picture every day of the week.

B. Weekly Roll*

Each week you will take 36 pictures. This can include your vitamins.

*This includes weekends and holidays and cannot be combined with any other projects.

The Projects:

Each project will be defined in class. Please refer to the description pages for complete details on the requirements of each project.

1. 100 Shots Monday September 1

2. Self Portraits – 1 hand held, 1 posed, and 1 without you in it. Sep. 8

3. Blocks to build with. Create images that feature Shadow, Texture and the use of “Depth of Field” to provide emphasis or drama. Sep. 15

4. Transparency and Reflection – Photograph through a reflective and transparent object. The reflection should have a relationship with the object. Sep 22

5. A Moment in Time Series A series that’s subject is time. Some shots will freeze time and others will observe it’s passage. The series will consist of at least 10 shots. Sep. 29

6. My kind of people – A group shot with at least 5 of you in it. Oct. 6

7. Earth Works Oct 13

8. Reflective or Ambient Color Oct. 20

9. Cornflakes and other Serials. Two sets of serial images. 1 tells a story and the second one will give personal observations about an event. Use the Polaroid format with written text in the bottom margin. Do not use actors or setup these shots. Oct. 27

10. Scanner Nov. 3

11. Light Writing Nov. 10

12. Non-Traditional Photo Nov. 17

13. The world is a stage. Dec. 1

14. Parting Shot(s) Dec 8