CSUN Art 250: 

Photography I

Class Info

General Info:
Recommended Text:
Some Camera Options:
Some Materials Options:
Links:

Calendar

Week 01

Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.

Aaron Siskind
Monday

Class Intro

SHOW ME YOUR CAMERA & FILM

Show me your camera, so that I can make sure it will work for the class.
(35mm Film, Manual Exposure, Manual or Auto Focus, lens, working battery)

Show me at least 2 rolls of 36 exposure Arista 400, Kodak Tri-X 400, Ilford HP5+ or another 400 speed, black and white, negative film.

Due: Wednesday, 31 January

Upload your favorite image to the Canvas discussion.

Due: Monday, 29 January
Wednesday

Review Favorite Images

Camera Basics

Controlling Exposure: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO
Week 02

To consult the rules of composition before making a picture is a little like consulting the law of gravitation before going for a walk.

Edward Weston
Monday
Wednesday

Camera Check Day!

Using Your Camera

Camera Manuals

Camera Metering Modes Explained

PROJECT 1: FIRST IMAGES

Week 03

Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.

Henri Cartier-Bresson
Monday

The Origins of Photography

Videos:

IMAGE DISCUSSION 1: SURFACE

Create & upload a digital image that elicits a strong emotional response. Make a new image, don't recycle images for this discussion.
Example

TED Talk: Ways of Seeing

Lab Orientation

Film Processing Demo

Film Processing Guide

Wednesday

Proof/Contact Sheet Demo

Paper Processing Times

Contact/Proof Sheet Example

Ilford Contact Printing Guide

Week 04

What makes photography a strange invention is that its primary raw materials are time and light.

John Berger
Monday

Printing Demo

Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Week 05

To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.

Elliott Erwitt
Monday & Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Week 06

It’s more important for a photographer to have very good shoes, than to have a very good camera.

Sebastiao Salgado
Monday & Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Week 07

Every artist has a central story to tell, and the difficulty, the impossible task, is trying to present that story in pictures.

Gregory Crewdson
Monday
Classroom

PROJECT 2: BLUR & FOCUS

Basics:
Details:

Make sure each image strongly incorporates the requirement in a way that adds meaning/interest to the photo.

Turn in List:
Schedule:
Wednesday
Classroom

Project 1 Critique

Week 08

Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.

Ansel Adams
Monday
Classroom

Quiz Review

PhotoLab

Lab Lecture - Advanced Printing

Ilford on Dodging and Burning

Wednesday

Complete Quiz on Canvas, before midnight, tonight.

PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Spring Break!
Week 09

Sharpness is a bourgeois concept.

Henri Cartier-Bresson
Monday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

IMAGE DISCUSSION 2: WANDERING

Upload three of your images from Spring Break. Even if you stayed close to home, you must have made some images. Post your 3 favorites.

Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Week 10

Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.

Duane Michals
Monday

No Class: Cesar Chavez Day

Wednesday
Classroom

PROJECT 3: PORTRAITS

Basic Requirements:
Turn In Requirements:
Lighting Conditions:
  1. Just after sunrise or before sunset on a clear day (Outside, soft, directional light, long shadows)
  2. Midday on a clear day, no clouds (Outside, hard, directional light)
  3. Overcast (Outside, soft light, no shadows)
  4. Open shade (Outside, on a clear day, in complete shade)
  5. Mixed lighting, direct light vs shade, for subject and background (Backlighting is this, to an extreme) [Example]
  6. Window light (inside, natural, diffused light)
  7. Article: Natural Light Portraiture | Simple Portraits Using Window Light
  8. Article: How to Achieve Great Portraits with Window Light
  9. Nighttime (inside, artificial light, long exposure)
  10. Nighttime (outside, artificial light, long exposure)
Also turn in:
Due: Wednesday, 24 April
Week 11

A portrait is not made in the camera but on either side of it.

Edward Steichen
Monday

Portrait Videos:

PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Wednesday
Classroom

Project 2 Critique

Print List:
  1. Shallow Depth of Field or Deep Depth of Field
  2. Very Long Exposure or Very Short Exposure
  3. Night time
Extra Credit Print:
Week 12

It’s one thing to make a picture of what a person looks like, it’s another thing to make a portrait of who they are.

Paul Caponigro
Monday & Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Week 13

It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head.

Henri Cartier-Bresson
Monday
Classroom

PROJECT 4: THE FINAL

Schedule:
Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Final Project Concepts

Week 14

A camera is a tool for learning how to see without a camera.

Dorothea Lange
Monday
Classroom

Project 3 Critique

Turn in:
  1. Formal Portrait
  2. Narrative/Story Portrait
  3. Faceless Portrait
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Week 15

To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place… I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.

Elliott Erwitt
Monday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Show me progress. Be sure to check in with something substantial.

Wednesday
PhotoLab

Process, Proof & Print

Finals Week
Classroom

Final Critique

Monday, 13 May, 3-5p

Last chance to turn anything in.