This blog is designed to facilitate the instruction of Art 2030 Photography. This is the introductory photography course at the University of Toledo in Toledo, OH, USA.
The Strobist website/blog is a great place to start learning about using flash. There is a ton of information available from there. The video immediately below if from there.
Large format lenses use leaf shutters which allow you to use flash at all shutter speeds. This allows you to use fill flash even when it is very bright outside and you need/want to use a fast shutter speed.
Wednesday/Thursday, we will discuss the effective use of focal length to control the apparent space between objects. We will also disucuss composition. To follow up on that, I would like you to read the following over the weekend.
Once you find the book, you click on the read online link or something like that. If you connected to the internet via a UT connection, you will not have to sign in. If you are at home, then you will have to sign in using your name and R number.
A really great Kodak presentation on photo composition made in the late 1970s. I love this presentation. I have it on slide and audio cassette; easier to show this way.
Kodak Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition - this is an old Kodak guide to photo composition that someone scanned and transcribed. The images still hold up. It is a newer version of the other presentation.
Take a star trail photo. At least a 5 minute exposure. Use your remote to trigger the opening and closing of the shutter. Don't pace near the tripod when the shutter is open. Avoid brightly lit area such as near a street lamp. Use Long Exposure Noise Reduction.
You don't need to bring your cameras to class on Wednesday as I will be presenting a lecture on composition. Be sure to bring your memory card though so that you can upload them to Flickr.
Hello guys, Monday we are going to meet at 9:30 am at the Ritter Planetarium on main campus. It is the littler building with the dome on it. Just meet in the hallway. You will see Faux Space photos there in the display cases. We will learn how to use a telescope to take astrophotography and watch a movie in the planetarium about the same. Please email me to let me know that you got this message: seder.burns@utoledo.edu Thanks, Seder
In the Fall of 2012, University of Toledo Physics department unveiled a new fancy projector in the Ritter Planetarium. As part of their grand opening ceremony, they invited us to put up work in conjunction with the opening. It went really well. Students enjoyed the project and produced really great images. So the Physics department asked us to do it again.
Your class will be the third class to produce prints on this theme for display at the Planetarium. Next time you are on campus, be sure to stop by Ritter Auditorium on main campus to see the prints on display from the previous class. They play full dome films in their planetarium which are fun to see. You should check one out.
So, your second Project is going to be about Space. This may seem difficult with photo, but I assure you there is much that you can do. Start by checking out this excellent series of photos of the topic.
The film The Fountain made use of close up photography of viscus fluids for much of the special effects. Here is a short write up about it. Here is a link to the guys that made the visual effects with some additional similar examples.
Air and Space magazine have a collection of photos and articles titled 50 Years of Space Flight.
Americans Dream of Space. A great video about the nation's excitement and fascination with space during the 1950s-1980s. Excellent gallery of early space program photos.
Did you know that there is a museum dedicated to space named The Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, Ohio? Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, was born in Wapakoneta. The museum chronicles Ohio's contributions to the history of space flight.
Be sure to check out NASA's extensive resources. Much of the imagery that comes to mind when we think of Space is included in NASA's Great Images in NASA collection.
Additional food for thought: There are some people who don't think we ever really landed on the moon.
Bannedin America: Proof of Fake Moonlanding is a film on the topic. It is interesting as they explain the methods which they believe were used to fake everything. You could use these techniques to fake your own trip to the moon. If you want more information on the supposed conspiracy, just do an internet search on ‘Moon Hoax’.
Think aliens...think early space exploration…think current space exploration….think space tourism…watch some bad science fiction for inspiration…think War of the Worlds….read up on private space exploration such as Space X. Most people believe it is where the future of space exploration lies.
The only limitation is that any editing that occurs to your image must take place in Adobe Camera Raw. This isn’t an exercise to see how good you are at image editing. This is to say, you are supposed to the work for this assignment with your camera, not on the computer. It’s about how creative you can be. Millions of excellent photographs were taken prior to the invention of the computer. You are allowed to perform local edits in ACR.
Below is a slideshow made from the students work from Fall 2012. You can see the images as a Set on Flickr.
There is an artist by the name of Miranda July whose work I adore. She is an author, performance artist, conceptual artist, actor, director, and all around amazing. She has a website, Learning to Love You More, which provided 'assignments' for the public to complete. People would then submit their completed work for possible inclusion on the website. No longer active, it is still a fantastic site. I am asking you to complete Assignment #55: Photograph a Significant Outfit. There are lots of examples there. This is due on Monday as a RAW file. You will have time to edit it and post it to Flickr at the beginning of class. You must include the significance of the outfit as a caption on Flickr. I suggest that you write that ahead of time.
This assignment serves to introduce you to the powerful combination of text and image.
Additionally,
I want you to explore photography in a different context. Not all
images have to look good to be good.
If you want to read a really excellent collection of short, quirky stories, then I encourage you to read Miranda July's book No One Belongs Here More Than You. She has also written and directed two films.
