MTA 103 UNDERSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHY                                                                                                                          Fall 2007

Instructor:   Dan Wise

Office:   212 VCB / Phone : 994-6236 

e-mail: dwise@montana.edu dwise@montana.edu

Sections 01/02/03/04/05/06

 

LECTURE SYLLABUS

 

Note:  Lectures, assignments, & due dates may change B come to class & pay attention!

 

Aug. 27/28            Introduction to course.  Assignments, grading, etc.  (also Photo interpretation series & Final project)

Explanations galore about supplies, lab use, etc.

Assign 1^st  first written paper (due in Lab Sept.10/11/12) -- discuss 1^st shooting assignment

Basic camera operations (enough to get you started) B Drop /Adds

READING: LU  Chapter(s) 1, 2, 5, 6 & 16

 

Sept. 3                    Labor Day Holiday - no classes

 

Sept. 5                    Bring CAMERA; Camera & meter exposures

Assign 1^st shooting assignment

Exposures - f stops, shutter speeds - what are they & how do they work

Drop/Adds

READING: LU Chapter(s) 2, 3, 5 & 7

 

Sept. 10 Paper & film - what are they

Basic chemical safety measures

Film processing demo

Drop / Adds (Note - this is the last day to add)             

 

Sept. 12 More on camera operation, functions, f stops & shutter speeds.  Equivalent exposures.

Do you get it yet?  This is important.  If you don=t understand B say something!!

                      

Sept. 17 Assign - Depth of field (extreme to shallow/selective focus).  Lecture on & show examples.

Film to negative print

AThe magic of photography@ Making the photographic print

READING: LU Chapter(s) 7 (review previous chapters).  (Note - this is the last day to drop)

 

Sept.  19                Review Depth of field and selective focus - what, how, why (aperture)

Perception vs Reality B the power & responsibility of photography.

 

Sept.  24                Assign - Shutter speeds.  Lecture on & show examples.

                                Shutter speeds - what, why, when (stop/freeze action, blur, & pan)

(slow vs fast) movement implied vs real

READING: LU Chapter(s) 2 & 5 (yes again!)

 

Sept. 26 Review camera operation - equivalent exposures, etc

Introduce - APhoto interpretation series@ and  AFinal Project@

 

Oct. 1                     Assign - Line, shape & texture.  Lecture on & show examples.

Light - how to use it - form, texture (Good light, bad light)

Assign - APhoto interpretation series@ (short written proposal due Oct. 15, 16 & 17 in lab, & photographs are due on  Nov. 12, 13, & 14 in lab)

READING: LU Chapter(s) 8, 12 & 16

 

Oct. 3                     Guest lecture on composition / More slides / images related to Form and texture.

 

Oct. 8                     Assign - Light as the subject.   Lecture on & show examples.

Visual rules - basic composition                                                         

Visual perception (breaking rules?)

READING: LU Review 8, 12, 15 & 16

Oct.   10 Review aperture - shutter speeds B do you have any idea of what we=ve been talking about??

How do they relate to each other?  Equivalent exposures

*you must understand these concepts* 

Controlling contrast (zone?)  Over and under exposure & development.

Questions ?  What have we learned so far?  Review/Quiz?

 

Oct.  15                  Assign - Portrait & Self Portrait.  Lecture on & show examples

Portraits, self portraits vs snapshots and people pictures.  Is there a difference.

READING: LU Chapter(s) 3 & 16

Lenses, focal lengths; perspective, magnification, visual expansion & compression.

What, why, when, & how.

More people pictures?

 

Oct. 17                   Test # 1                                                

 

Oct. 22                   Assign - After dark.  Lecture on & show examples (indoor & outside).

Photography after dark; long exposures, reciprocity failure & compensation

** use handout (night exposures - you already have it)**

READING: LU Chapter(s) 4 &12

                                                                               

 Oct. 24                  Filters - why, when --- B&W and color

Assign - Final Project (written proposal due in lab - Oct 29, 30, & 31)

Your final project is worth 2 your final grade -- it=s essentially your Apractical final exam@ or Capstone project.  Think about it, put some work into it, but make it something you enjoy photographing.  The photographs are due on Dec. 3/4/5  along with a short written self-evaluation of the project.

READING: LU Chapter(s) 4 & 9

 

Oct. 29                   How to critique a photograph.

READING: LU Chapter(s) 16 & handout on How to Critique photographs             

               

Oct. 31                   Photography beyond the single image (documentary, editorial, journalism, etc)

Photo stories, essays, sequences, truth

READING: LU Chapters 15&16

 

Nov. 5                     More on photojournalism

                       

Nov. 7                     Introduce - Multiple image & Photograms.  Lecture on & show examples.

These two assignments are optional - you may use one (1) of these to replace one earlier weekly assignment. These are fun, but a lot of work if you want to make them work well.

READING: LU Chapter(s) 7 & 13                     

 

Nov. 12                   A look at my work.  What, why & some on how.  Yup B I do this photography stuff too.    

 

Nov. 14                   History

READING: LU Chapter(s) 17            .              

                   

Nov. 19                   Guest lecture, film or student presentation

 

Nov. 21-23             Thanksgiving Holiday - VCB closed Nov. 22 & 23 (no lab - work on final project on your own time)

 

Nov. 26                   Button pushers B photography that is controversial.  Why do we react the way we do?  It=s a question that only you can answer for yourself.            

                      

Nov. 28                   Guest lecture, film or student presentation.     .

 

Dec. 3                     Review & evaluations

 

Dec. 5                     The Aother@ test  

 

Dec. 10-12            FINALS WEEK  - (Print Christmas presents)

 

 

 

 

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