FA105C-02: Digital Photography, Fall 2009

Thursday, 18:00-20:00, Cramer 120

Instructor: William D. Colburn
E-mail: schlake@nmt.edu
Cell Phone: (505) 480-9406

How To Pass This Class

To receive a grade of "S" (Satisfactory) in this class:

How To Learn Something In This Class

If you are here to learn:

Lecture Topics

This class is a broad overview of photography in general. I will cover the basics of camera use over roughly the first half of the semester. The second half of the semester will be a variety of lectures on a few specific kinds of photography.

Digital Image Manipulation

The focus of this class is about taking a good picture. Fixing your pictures later in software such as Photoshop is counter-productive. The goal is to take a better picture from the start. There are a lot of things you can "fix" after the picture is taken, but it is always better to take a proper picture from the start.

Things you should use digital editing software for:

Things you might use digital editing software for: Things you should not use digital editing software for:

Homework

Please submit your homework online. Your initials act as a "password" and to identify your photos. I use your two or three letter initials as provided by Banner. The homework number should be just the number, without 'HW' in front of it. Try to submit early, and email me if you have troubles. If you can't get the files uploaded, then bring them to class on a CD or USB thumb drive.

Homework on a particular topic is given twice. The first, before the topic is lectured on to see how people perceive the topic, and the second, after the lecture to see how peoples perceptions have changed, and how their photography has improved.

So, for any given lecture you will be submitting images based on the current lecture, plus revised images based on the previous lecture.

Homework is assigned to give you a chance to express yourself creatively, and to practice the technical aspects of the subject matter.

Homework images are shown to the class for group discussion. Learning how other people see things, and how they interpret them is very important. In fact, I consider the class critiques of the homework to be the most important part of the class.

Useful Links

Class Schedule

The format of each class is fairly simple. For approximately the first hour I will lecture on the topic of the day. For the second hour, we will review homework photos on the projector. An "hour" is considered to be 50 minutes, but you don't get a break between them. I know you'll try to escape if I give you a chance.

This is a top-loaded class. The classes in the early part of the semester are long, while I try to shorten things as midterms and finals approach. The first seven classes will cover theory and practice of basic photography and the features and limitations of modern digital cameras. The remaining classes will cover artisitic endeavors and interesting side topics in photography, and should be much lighter and fluffier lectures.

Schedule (and other important dates)