Introduction

Good Evening,

My name is Elizabeth Pisano. I am a senior at AMC and very excited about this course. I will be going to Europe for 14 days this summer and look forward to taking some great photographs. My husband bought me a camera for Christmas and I am getting to know it as we start the class. Good luck to everyone else in this endeavor.

Week 2

Students in Digital II, you need to commit to an in depth project this week.... Run the idea by me by posting your idea to this blog and include an image, either of one of yours or one by someone else that illustrates the concept you will be working on....  Check the syllabus for a long list of ideas but you are not limited to those alone....

Photo I folks... Now begins the work of getting out there to shoot.... This week I am asking you to take a walk in a built environment... you home town or another.... Fill the frame with design and light... avoid including sky unless it is compelling and avoid photographing buildings that are far away.... move in close... look for light, and turn off your flash....  Here is the syllabus entry for this week....

Week 2

Introduction to Composition

We will learn to use line, mass, value (tone), contrast, color, and selection consciously in the creation of your images.

A big part of the photographer's art lies in one's ability to organize the visual chaos of the visible world. You learn to clarify, simplify and present your environment with intention and control. Here, we will learn to go way beyond "taking pictures", accepting whatever "comes out of the camera", and move to "making photographs" through your careful looking at your subject before shooting.

Reflect on the concept of selection and looking at the edge of the frame to consciously decide what to include and not incude in your image. Appreciate light and form and how that is central to your work for this class.

Look at the work of Edward Weston. Consider this image:

Edward Weston used his 8"x10" camera to photograph this small green bell pepper set in a simple wooden bowel by window light. Notice how he moved in, and filled the frame with the form of the pepper. The simple elegance and direct presentation of the pepper has transformed it from a mere description of an ingredient in tonight's dinner to an image that is transcendent.

Read Photography—Not Pictorial, Edward Weston, Camera Craft, Vol. 37, No. 7, pp. 313-20, 1930

Browse through Weston's other natural forms.

Assignment: Downtown

Photograph shapes, reflections, light and pattern in an urban or town environment paying particular attention to the shapes you select in the frame and the quality of light on the subject.

Avoid being far away or showing a whole building. Always shoot with natural light. Never use flash in this class... get in close, fill the frame.

Read about Paul Strand.... His work in New York City in the early 20th Century defined how photographers could use new ideas of modernism championed in painting to great effect.

Read The Art Motive in Photography, Paul Strand, The British Journal of Photography, Vol.70, pp. 612-15, 1923

Browse through my portfolio of images from my "Connecticut Towns" project, particularly Stonington and Noank

You may work in black and white. Picasa3 makes it easy to convert and tone your images. Adjust the tones using Picasa's advanced editing tools.Submit your best two images on the class blog and post 6-10 or more to your fotothing album. (Links in academic expectations below).

Hi Everyone!

My name is Geraldine Hawthorne and I am a Senior here at Albertus. If all goes well, I will be graduating in May of this year. I love taking photos but never seem to find the time to take quality photos. After graduation, I plan on spending more time using all the skills I learn this Mod.

Looking forward to getting know all of you!

Me!!!!

Hello Class! My name is Shantel Garcia and my major is accounting here at Albertus Magnus. Digital Photography is one of my last two classes before graduation in May! Yay!... I've been trying to take this class for the longest but failed because it conflicted my schedule but here I am! I can't wait to start exploring the world of photography! Good luck everyone!

Intro

Hi all,

My name is Jennifer, but please feel free to call me Jenny if you want. I am in my junior year of college--my first year at Albertus Magnus, in the accelerated degree program. I'm an English major, but have a passion for photography, and hope to improve my skills and get insight into its more artistic aspects. Normally I work with film, so I thought it would be interesting and fun to learn a little more about digital and how to make it just as personal. I am excited to be in this class for that reason, and hope to gain perspectives not only from our teacher, but from you all as well.

Thanks!

Jenny

How to Post to the Blog

Here's a video I created on how to post to the blog... those of you who have already posted have figured this out already... but if some of you are still confused, hopefully this will help clear things up...

http://jnevins.com/howtopost

First try

Hi I'm Mattie

A senior and ready to graduate in May. Wish me luck!

Self Portrait

Hello Class!

My name is Robert Shingler and I'm 32 years old. I grew up in Wallingford, CT. This is my first year at Albertus Magnus College and so far enjoying every minute! I'm not one for taking pictures because I don't take them very well and I'm hoping I'll learn how to take great pictures in the future.

Good Luck to everyone in Mod 4!

Robert Shingler

All About Me

Hi my name is Stephanie Smart. This is my first year at Albertus Magnus College. I have two daughters one in law school and one in her last year in college as well as one grandchild. This is my first time taking any type of digital photography and I'm really excited to see what the class is all about!

What Do I have to Do This Week?

Hi Everyone.... all of the instructions below are a bit long winded...so in a nutshell here is what you need to do this week...

-Read the syllabus linked from the list of links here on the blog.

-Post a hello to this blog.... Do add a picture of yourself too...

-Set up your fotothing.com account and place that picture there too... I can't add you as a friend until something is posted there....

-Download and install Picasa.

-Start taking pictures!

...Important!.... Pleas post your fotothing screen name here as a comment.... I don't want anyone to slip through the cracks.....

Self Potrait

Hello Class!

I am very excited to learn and grow! I have chosen this self picture because all of my friends and famliy tease me that i have one pose. They say my head can be removed and placed on any one of my photos. So why not start off with that!

I love taking picuters and am never sure if what i am doing is right. One thing that I would like to learn right away is how so many photograhers are able to keep one part of the picture in color and the rest in black and white. 

Thanks!

Christine Dias

Welcome to MOD 4 Digital Photography

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the Digital Photography online class.  Digital Photography is a natural to offer as an online class because of the ease in creating and posting your work electronically.  I find Campus Cruiser to be cumbersome in general and have decided to publish the course syllabus on my own website, jnevins.com, and run the entire experience using the web, a blog, and a public hosting site.  Campus cruiser currently does not have the capacity to hold the number of images you’ll be posting as part of this class.

Class runs from March 23^rd until May 14th. All work needs to be completed by then.

There are four elements we need to juggle in order for this to be a successful experience for everyone... 

1.  The class syllabus... here are all the assignments and links to readings that you will need to work through the problems for each week of the class. The syllabus is found with this address:  jnevins.com/digitalphotographysyllabusonline.htm or click here. While you are at it, browse around the rest of my site to get to know me better.  I have posted a portfolio of my photography, links for finding galleries and museums online, my teaching philosophy and more.

2.  The Class Blog.  Here. This is where we will build a sense of community.  It is important to post examples of your work each week as well as comments about your images to accompany the images posted as well as comment on the work of others in the class... you can ask questions to me personally anytime via email, but here is a public place to offer suggestions, ask questions and just generally where we can create a class environment.  Blogger is very easy to post to... the best way to post your images and comments is using Picasa2: The URL is   http://mod2digitalphotography1.blogspot.com/

Your grade is based on your posts to the blog and more importantly your portfolio of photographs, illustrating your understanding and completion of the assignment for each week.

 I  have added you to the class blog using your Campus Cruiser account… you need to respond to the the link that Blogger.com sent you in order to become a member of the class blog. Once you are a member, you can post there.  I'd prefer to stay in contact with you via regular email rather than Campus Cruiser email. If you email me using Campus Cruiser (jnevins@cc.albertus.edu) the auto response will reply right away asking you to please email me at jnevins@albertus.edu or  jnevins@jnevins.com. You may call me at home anytime (up until 9 pm) at 203-664-1014 if you would like to talk personally or to help solve a technical issue that would be harder via email. It is very important to get all technical issues solved and out of the way at the outset, in the first week.

3.  Picasa3 software that is free from Google and found here  This is a fairly comprehensive image editing and organizing program.  It makes finding, opening, editing, posting to the blog, printing, emailing, etc.... your photographs extremely easy and there isn't the steep learning curve associated with Adobe Photoshop CS2. Photoshop is expensive , ($280 or so for the student price) and hard to learn at first.  If you have Photoshop and enjoy using it then by all means continue to use it.  You will do just fine staying with Picasa2 though.

4.  Image hosting for your whole portfolio.  My online art classes host their portfolio images at  Fotothing.com from the UK.  It makes posting your assignments a snap and we have the ability to form a group or virtual community as "friends", similar to myspace.  Join up there then send me your screen name so I can add you as a “friend” ... my screen name is jnevins.  Check out the portfolios of previous Mod  students. They are “my friends” to the right of my page. Fotothing.com/jnevins  If you can't figure out how a shot was done, post your question to the blog or email me and I may use it as a post on the blog to the rest of the class.

This first week, we must iron out all of the technical issues to be sure that everyone is up to speed.  I have asked for you to post a self portrait and to tell us something about yourself.  This is an art course and its primary focus will be on your portfolio as the basis for your assessment.  Read through the syllabus to get a sense of what I will be looking for.  Links I have posted to visual images and readings are an important component of the class... I'll be looking at how you are in dialog with the images and ideas linked in the syllabus as a component of your grade.  Also important is that I get a sense of your  spending time at the assignments and are growing in the medium of photography as the course unfolds. Posting your best one or two  images you are creating to the class blog about twice a week is vital to your success in this class.  Use the comment button to respond to your classmates posts.  One of the strong points of using Fotothing is the ability to post comments there as well. The bulk of your work will be posted to fotothing.  I am expecting 7 images per week as the bare minimum… (6 that really fulfill the intent of the assignment and more like 10 would be a better number… this is digital!)

Any comments, suggestions, or observations as to how I can smooth the way for you as we get going will be welcome.  My goal is your success and your feeling that this was well worth your time.

Looking forward to launching this new class!

Best wishes,

Jerry