Professor Tom Plummer
MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH AN EXCEPTION OR TWO
MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH AN EXCEPTION OR TWO
10:00 AM TO 11:20
Requirements:
Attendance and punctuality:
Unless you are at death's door, I expect you to be in class ON TIME EACH day. For every absence, I will lower your final grade by 1/3 of a grade (from A to A-, and so on). Since you have no other conflicts in Vienna, I see no reason why you should not be in class. We will also have several extra-curricular activities to do field work outside the normal class times.
Blog postings:
On your personal photo blog post five photographs each day for five days each week (total 25 per week). I will check your blogs weekly to see if you're taking your work seriously, if you're making progress toward being a better photographer. Your blogs must contain only pictures of Vienna or travel that we make as a class. Blogs should have only titles of daily photo projects and, if necessary, minimal text.
Reading notes:
Each time I assign a chapter or part of a chapter from Within the Frame, I want you to turn in reading notes to me via email. These notes will be due BEFORE we discuss the chapter, so that I know in advance that we're all on the same page.
Photo of the week:
Each week you will post, by Tuesday evening, your photo of the week. These photos will be the basis of the workshops, which we will hold each Wednesday.
Workshops:
Wednesday's workshops are a time for you to discuss each other's work. Everyone must contribute and participate.
Final project: On your own blog, I want you to design a final project for each term, which should consist of five, well conceived photos that you will present to the class and discuss with me in a one-on-one session.
Required texts:
David duChemin, Within the Frame
Alan Keele, "Ten Walks Around Vienna," printed out. We will use several of these as ways of discovering Vienna.
Grades:
Daily blog postings: 10 points per day, 5 days a week, 50 points per week. I will deduct 10 points for late submissions.
Weekly class blog postings (one a week): 150 points per week. I will not accept late submissions. Your photos must show progress and awareness of the principles of photography that are the focus of the class.
Reading notes: 20 points per post. I will not accept late submissions.
Consultation with Plummer: 20 points (required)
Final project for spring term, 200 and summer term, 200
Weekly class blog postings (one a week): 150 points per week. I will not accept late submissions. Your photos must show progress and awareness of the principles of photography that are the focus of the class.
Reading notes: 20 points per post. I will not accept late submissions.
Consultation with Plummer: 20 points (required)
Final project for spring term, 200 and summer term, 200
Syllabus, Spring Term, 2010
SPRING BREAK
Mittwoch 23. Juni | Photographing people, stage 2. Getting to know your subject, making your subject comfortable, learning to relax. Giving your subject the dignity he or she deserves in a good portrait. Sharing photos with your subject--by email, by direct print. The value of a business card. Continuing your acquaintance with your subjects. Things to discuss today: 1) the final project: form and content. What story will you tell? 2) always bring textbook and camera to class 3) problems with posting and how to solve them 4) schedule meeting times with Plummer And finally: 5) Showing your photos and entering competitions. It's time to play the game. Get your stuff out there. Enter a competition. What makes a photo worth showing? Here are the criteria for this year's Utah State Fair competition: See also: http://www.utahstatefair.com/exhibitors_and_competitions/competitive_exhibits/living_arts/photography.php Lot Numbers (subject areas) (For Classes A-E) 1. Action
2. Animals/Pets (domestic)
3. Architecture
4. Artistically Manipulated
5. Botanical
6. Commercial & Industrial
7. Creative Art
8. Human Interest
9. Humor
10. Journalistic
11. Macro/Close up
12. Panorama (8" x 24")
13. Portraits - children and babies
14. Portraits - female/male
15. Portraits - groups
16. Scenic - includes "hand of man" *see below
17. Scenic - excludes "hand of man" *see below
18. Sports
19. Still Life
20. Unclassified
21. Wedding / Social Event
22. Wildlife - in the wild
23. Wildlife - in captivity 24. Fair Theme ~ Uncommonly Good
* "hand of man" refers to anything in the photograph that is man made - for example, a fence, road, house, etc. QUALITY
General exposure, color, zones, sharpness, presentation and no obvious gimmics.
What do judges/people like? WHAT IS THE PURPOSE AND MEANING OF THE PHOTOGRAPH
QUALITY (nitpicking scrutiny) this can override impact in the final analysis.
TIPS FOR AWARD WINNING PHOTOGRAPHYIMPACT - something that catches the eye of the beholder.
Appeal
A visual statement
An emotional stir
An interesting design
Stirring color or black and white
Composition
Rarity/beauty/pleasing
Singular without distractions
Unbelievable - How did they capture that? QUALITY
General exposure, color, zones, sharpness, presentation and no obvious gimmics.
What do judges/people like? APPEAL
The more universal the appeal of the image, the better chance of rating with more of the beholders. Did the maker accomplish their goal? Could they have done better? Is the purpose and meaning clear to the beholder? Does the beholder have to guess what the intention of the photograph is? Is there continuity? (Power, beauty, mood. emotion. positive-negative, color, action) Is the mood or feeling enhanced? Is the image believable? | ||||||||||||||||
Montag 28. Juni | In today's class we will work through DuChemin's chapter, "Photographing People," more carefully than we did on May 31, because photographing people is such an essential part of travel photography and the challenges of lighting, camera angle, positioning people is almost infinitely complex. If you have a great subject and your depth of field is too strong, or if you have a great subject and your lighting is unbalanced, you have a problem. This is also one of DuChemin's longest and most detailed chapters, filled with examples, and you'll need to read it carefully and try experiments on your own as you read through it. First, a quick German review. You will have to introduce yourself, however you can best do it: Hello: Grüss Gott (Austrian phrase). In Germany, you'd say, "Guten Tag." My name is: Ich heisse Maria How are you? DON'T ASK THIS QUESTION. IT'S INSULTING UNLESS YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW. AMERICANS IN PARTICULAR TOSS OUT "WIE GEHT'S" CASUALLY, AND IT'S INSULTING TO GERMAN AND AUSTRIAN SENSITIVITIES. What is your name? Wie heissen Sie? (But if you're talking to an adolescent or child, say, "Wie heisst du?" May I photograph you? Dürfte ich Sie/dich fotografieren? (Dürfte is a more polite form than darf in a case like this) Would you like to see your photo? Möchten Sie (or möchtest du) das Foto sehen? Thank you. Vielen Dank. Or Dankeschön. At this point, you might add a polite formality. Shake hands and say "Auf Wiedersehen." Remember that people will resent being treated like a photographic object or a trophy. You must take care to treat them as important people. Your assignment before next Monday will be the following: 1) Read through DuChemin's chapter on your own, again, write careful notes, and email them to me by Sunday evening (tgplummer@gmail.com). 2) Using DuChemin's ideas, take several photos of different people you do not know AFTER you've chatted with them and then asked to photograph them. Post all of the photographs on your blog AND send me a copy of your best two photos of these people by email by Sunday evening. 3) Review DuChemin's section on taking candid photographs of people on the street (pp. 131-138). Then take several candid photographs of people by sitting in a cafe with a cup of hot chocolate (remember, you can stay there as long as you want)--or some other public place of your choosing--and take several pictures of people passing by. Post these on your blog and email me your very favorite shot. 4) Find an interesting background for a candid photograph (see again the cover of DuChemin's book). SET YOUR CAMERA ON A TRIPOD. Take several photos of the background to be sure the background is just the way you want it. Then wait for someone interesting to come by. Maybe you set up in front of a church or a store or an interesting wall--whatever. Have your camera set up for white balance, depth of field, focus--all the things that can ruin a good photograph--and wait. Take several photos of people, post them to your blog, and send me the very best one by email. Summary: Please email me the following: 1) Reading notes of DuChemin's chapter on photographing people. This is a long and complex chapter, and your notes will be much longer than usual. 2) Email me the following photographss by Sunday evening: --Two photographss of people you've talked with and then gotten permission to photograph them. --Your very favorite candid photograph of a person or of people taken with a hand-held camera. --Your very favorite photo of people walking past an interesting background, taken with your camera on a tripod. IF YOU GET THESE ASSIGNMENTS RIGHT, YOU'LL ENJOY TAKING THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND YOU'LL MEET SOME INTERESTING PEOPLE. HAVE FUN. | ||||||||||||||||
Mittwoch 7. Juli | CAPTURING THE SPIRIT OF PLACE | ||||||||||||||||
Discerning the spirit of Vienna with your camera. Discussion of DISCERNMENT. Discernment is not just seeing--it is perceiving. To discern is to see past the mask of a place, past the mask of a people. Today we will talk about the power of discernment, the LANGUAGE OF DISCERNMENT. And we will explore ways the photographer might have to get into the heart of a place. Or, more appropriately, to get closer to the heart of a place. Take a few minutes to write a list of things you associate now with Vienna. Make a mental trip to places you been. What stands now out in your mind? What do you think of when you think of the “spirit of Vienna” as YOU know it. YOU are the photographer. YOUR feelings, YOUR reactions, YOUR impressions of Vienna are now more important than anyone else’s. No other photographer can see Vienna the way you see Vienna, because you have a personal vision, a unique vision of the place. Consider in your list
Think about the city at key times of the day: between 5 am and 10 am (yes, we’re going to do it). Think about the city between 4 pm and 10 pm. Those are the times when the LIGHT is most beautiful, when the city radiates is unique charm. What does the city say to you at those times of day? What are its lines, shapes, colors, smells, and sounds at those times? Do you know the which way is east, which way is west in Vienna? Do you know the direction of the sunlight? Think about the Danube. Which direction is it flowing? Does that help orient you? In taking photographs of Vienna now, in these last few weeks, take slow strolls through the neighborhoods you want to explore again. Relax. Sit for a bit and look around you. What do you SEE? What do you FEEL? How do you convert that into a photographic vision? You now have the tools to take photographs that capture these feelings and emotions. Review the syllabus and decide what things you want to explore now, but be prepared for surprises. SERENDIPITY. We will talk more about SERENDIPITY. Serendipity means “meaningful coincidence.” Something happens, someone comes along, the light changes, shapes emerge in a unique moment and give you an image you could not have captured if you had not be ready for it. SERENDIPITY comes to those who expect it. You find a place with the background that you want to capture. You set your camera on a tripod in a place that you want to deliver an image for you. You make sure all of the technical matters are in place—focus, white balance, light and you WAIT. YOU SIT AND TAKE DEEP BREATHS AND WAIT. And you listen, and you watch, and you inhale and you smell the smells and listen to the sounds. YOU MAKE A SPIRITUAL CONNECTION WITH THAT PLACE, AND YOU WAIT FOR SERENDIPITY TO DELIVER THE IMAGES TO YOU THAT YOU ARE WAITING FOR. This photo comes from David duChemin’s blog: Here’s what he writes about it on his blog: Genoa, Italy. I took a spot reading off the pavement in the beam of light. It happens to be pretty close to 18% grey, so I exposed manually at those settings, prefocused on the spot, and waited until someone came. It’s usually worth the wait. Remember his words? He found a place where the light spoke to him. He set his white balance, set his ISO, shutter speed and aperture so that everything was ready. Then he waited. And when this man came along to the stage that duChemin had set for him, he took the photograph. Or he took a series of photographs to make sure that he could reproduce the man in the place exactly as he want to capture both the man and the place. It’s a fine photograph, because he was ready to take a fine photograph. Taking a fine photograph means being ready for SERENDIPITY when it comes to you. Your assignment, due BEFORE we leave for Hallstatt on Friday, is to read in duChemin, pages 188-207 and write notes on those pages. Email your notes to me by Monday of next week. I will not ask you to turn in your notes. I will know if you read the pages and tried to come to terms with them. Your assignment in Hallstatt will be to apply the lessons you’ve learned in this lesson to capturing the most personal photographs you can of that place. I would like you to send me or download onto my computer the best five photos you took, the five you are proudest of. These you should send me by Wednesday of next week. We will continue our discussion of the “spirit of place” and our own applications of it next week. | |||||||||||||||||
Montag 11. Juli | The Spirit of Place continued Bob Krist, one successful photographer, says that photographers put together a shot list before they go to a new place. Here is a possible list from his book, The Spirit of Place: Skylines Street scenes People--including local celebrities and characters Recreation Culture Historic monuments and buildings Shopping Entertainment Storytelling--close ups of detailed shots Neighborhoods Festivals, street fairs, and parades You now have six classes, counting today, to finish shooting your travel photography book. It's time to examine what you have, what your points of emphasis will be, and to write a shot list of things that you still need to shoot. Krist's list, above, is a good way to think about it. You do not have to have shots of every item on the above list. But it's important to write your own shot list. What haven't you photographed that you want to include in your book? Do you want more people? More buildings? More shopping areas? How will your book of photographs be an expression of your trip? Krist says that one way to get photographs that aren't run of the mill is to go out when no one else is around. DuChemin says that his schedule is to shoot from first light to 10 AM and then from 4 or 5 PM until dark. First light comes about one-half hour before sunrise and darkness comes about one-half hour after sunset. Those are the times when light is most dramatic, most colorful, and shadows least intrusive. Here's a list of sunrises and sunsets in Vienna for the coming days. To repeat: if you are shooting early morning, you should be ready to SHOOT, not leave the house but to shoot, by 4:39 on July 14. | ||||||||||||||||
Mitwoch 14. Juli | On Monday of next week, July 19, we will make a pre-sunrise field trip to a place, to be announced, where you can take some good shots in the wee early hours. Shoot from a high angle. It is also important that you find points for high angle photographs of the city. One that you may find useful is the tower in St. Stephen's cathedral, which is accessible at various times of day. And we need to round out some historical sites. We will take one field trip to Kahlenberg, where the Turks were turned back and defeated in the Battle of Kahlenberg in 1529. And, finally, what details would you like to photograph but still haven't? Remember the "divine details." What are those details for you in Vienna? Are they the cupids on buildings? The faces of people? The shops that you've frequented? The food? These photographs will make your final project more interesting and valuable to you. Be sure when you think about these photographs to reexamine duChemin's suggestions. He'll save you some time and help you get great photos. For the sake of your photographs, remember that the best hours of the day are in the early morning hours, between sunrise and, say, 10 AM and then again in the late afternoon, between 5 PM and 9 PM. On Wednesday, July 14, we will discuss photographing architecture, so I suggest you wait until after that class to take photographs of buildings. Your assignment for Wednesday: write your own shot list. Write a list of shots that you believe cover what you want and a list of shots that you need to take. Email this list to me by Wednesday at 8 AM. We will discuss your lists in class. Also on Wednesday, we will discuss photographing architecture. This is an important area of travel photography that we have not yet touched on with any degree of detail. We won't be able to do it justice in this class, but we do need to discuss some key elements. Photographing architecture This website is a good place to begin thinking about how to photograph architecture: http://photo.net/architectural/exterior The following ideas have come from Val Brinkerhoff, photography professor at BYU: Photographing architecture General: Architectural photography may include photographing exteriors and interiors. Among other things it involves photographing residences, businesses, churches, mosques, temples, and historical sites such as buildings, monuments, and statues. It includes, but is not limited to, photographing architectural details, styles, forms, features, and symbols. It requires an understanding of focus, depth of field, lighting, and camera angles. Modern twists on architectural photography include using limited depth of field, soft focus, tilted images, motion (cars, people, bikers, etc.) blurred in with the photographs of architectural sites, and panorama photography. Photographing architectural exteriors: Pre-shooting: If possible, scout the building beforehand. Walk around the entire structure and consider the following: What is the time of sunrise and sunset? How much earlier and how much later do you need to be there for the best light? What is the direction of the light? At sunrise? At sunset? How can you even out the contrast between interior and exterior lights? What is the weather forecast for the day you will shoot? Position of the photographer What are the best angles or your positions for your photograph? What distance should you be from the object? What will you do about nearby buildings or objects? Styling concerns: Landscaping: What landscaping would you want to exclude or include in your photograph? What blockages are a problem? What distracting elements should be avoided or moved? (cars, garbage cans, unsightly signs, unwanted people, construct, etc.) What are the effects of street lighting that may cause color casts? Should you make minor improvements to the object before photographing it? Photographing the building’s exterior Use a tripod, if possible a cable release or remote control. Alternatively, use the timer on your camera to avoid any unnecessary shaking or movement. Utilize proper pre-selected and planned times, angles, and lenses (if you have them). Continually observe how the lighting is changing around you as you shoot and how that is affecting your work Prepare for the unexpected Plan to take breaks where possible to think about what you are doing and to consider shifts in your work. | ||||||||||||||||
Montag 19. Juli | In preparation for chatting with you about your final projects, I am passing on the following recommendations: Your final project should include photographs with
Returning to duChemin’s chapter on story telling, and including other discussions from class, I believe a good final project would include the following (this updates earlier class discussions about the number of photographs for your books):
Total number of photographs: 33 to 65 You may, of course, want to include more than 65, but keep in mind that quality is the key. I consider the quality of your photographs far more important than the quantity. Your book should reflect what you have learned from this class about taking good photographs. You should choose a printer with a reputation for quality. I have no personal experience with printers other than iPhoto, but blurb.com comes highly recommended from one of my photographer friends. Blurb.com’s pricing is as follows on the two formats I would recommend: I strongly suggest that you consider either the “standard landscape” or “large format landscape” books for your project and that you have your photographs printed on “premium paper”—either “lustre” or “matte” finish will reproduce good photographs. I have used both in printing my own photographs. | ||||||||||||||||
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