Middlesex Community College Photography 1 Syllabus Fall 2018

MCC ART 141 Section 02 CRN#15870 Rooms HH-109 and HH-110 Teacher: Paul Light 781 280 3871 paul@lightwavephoto.com http://www.lightwavephoto.com Wednesdays 2:00-4:50PM Required reading There is no required book for this class. Instead during class we will be discussing the work of a variety of the world's most acclaimed photographers doing black and white darkroom photography. MCC Catalog Listing Examines photography as a fine art form and as a tool for communication and personal expression. Emphasis on exposure, development, printing and aesthetics of photographic vision. Students must provide their own camera (35mm or 120 format). Credit Hour Policy Middlesex Community College follows the Carnegie Unit for credit. Students are expected to spend a minimum of 45 hours of work for each credit. The most common breakdown for one credit is one hour of class instruction and two hours of homework for 15 weeks each semester. A three credit course demands nine hours each week. Instructional Goals/Objectives 1 Basic usage of 35mm camera Students will demonstrate their ability to use the control mechanisms on their 35mm cameras to produce photographs that have a sense of vision. 2 Black and White Film Development Students will demonstrate their ability to develop film while carefully controlling agitation, time and temperature. 3 Black and White Printing Students will be able to evaluate and explain the advantages and disadvantages of various black and white printing techniques including contrast control, burning and dodging. 4 Using Photography to Create Fine Art Students will assess the merits of their finished prints as art and explain their reasoning. Class Description This class is an introduction to basic photographic principles of using a camera and making black and white prints. All students will be expected to know these principles as well as how to use them in such a way as to produce inventive and original photographs. Each class will consist of 3 parts Part 1 Looking at Photographs 2:00 - 2:30 Part 2 Taking Pictures 2:30-3:00 Part 3 Making Prints 3:15-4:50 During the first class we will not be spending time making prints. During the second class we will only develop film. We will not make prints. This will be the only topic of discussion that day. Beginning the third class, from 2:00pm to 2:30pm we will talk about prints. Prints will be graded outside of class time and returned to students at the beginning of the next class. We will talk about your prints, my prints and photographs from the required websites. We will be using the websites as a visual dictionary. We will be using it as a standard to how people use photographs to communicate with the world at large. From 2:30pm to 3:00pm we will talk about taking pictures. We will begin by discussing any questions that you have about your camera relative to the camera topic we are discussing for that class. Occasionally I will take a picture with one of my cameras to demonstrate a concept. This will be followed by a 15 minute break from 3:00pm to 3:15pm where you are free to take a break. During this time I will be setting up the darkroom. The last part of class, 3:10pm to 4:50pm will be reserved for printing. It will take about 15 minutes to set up the darkroom and the last 15 minutes will be reserved for cleanup. All printing must stop at 4:35pm Grading and Attendance Policies All students will be required to produce black and white prints of subjects and techniques of their own choosing. Students who would prefer assignments from me rather than choose a subject on their own should feel free to ask me. Students given an assignment by me are not obligated to fulfill it. It is a suggestion only. One photograph is due each class except the second class. Prints must be at least 8"x10". No grades are final without proof of negatives and contact sheets. No color photographs or digital prints will be accepted. The school has a darkroom which you will have access to that is set up for black and white darkroom work only. Work will be graded primarily on one's ability to make an inventive and original photograph rather than on technical things like how dark or light the photograph is or how much textural detail is evident. Photographs passed in late lose 3 points per day. In some special circumstances students will be given an extra class to produce a photograph. Students will be graded only on photographs produced during the semester. Please do not bring in photographs shot before the class started. Each of the grades will be of equal weight. They will be averaged together to produce a final grade. This average is tabulated after each class and that grade is available on request. There is no midterm or final exam. You will be given two sick days. After this each absence will cost you 10 points from your final grade. In other words, suppose your final grade was 81, but you missed six classes. The first two absences would not affect your grade, but the other four would reduce your grade to a 41. Each time a student arrives more than 15 min. late or leaves early without my permission 5 points will be deducted from their final grade. All grades will be made numerically. The MCC grading system works as follows A=93-100 A-=90-92 B+=87-89 B=83-86 B-=80-82 C+=77-79 The numerical grade is only a working standard. The registrar's office only records letter grades. So, a person with a 93 will get the exact same grade as a person with a 98. I only give straight A's to students who have gone way beyond the rest of the group and have clearly demonstrated the ability to produce consistently outstanding work. A- is the grade for work that is somewhat outstanding. B+ is for work that goes beyond the basics of making a photograph and shows some merit. B signifies that you have successfully completed the assignment. B- indicates that the photograph has some deficiencies. C+ is given to photographs that demonstrate a limited grasp of what are the elements that make up a good photograph. Grades below C+ are given for various degrees of deficiency or more often as a penalty for handing in any given photograph after the deadline. Method of Evaluation Your grade for each print is made up of 3 parts 25% Technical camera use 25% Technical printing ability 50% Content This is a measure of your ability to observe animals, people or spaces and then turn this into a photograph that is more than a simple visual record of what you saw. You will be judged on (1) choice of distance from subject, (2) choice of camera angle, (3) choice of lighting. In all of these situations I expect bold experimentation resulting in surprising and original visual images. Decide on each of these very carefully. Look at the required websites and see how professional photographers use distance, angle and lighting. A technically flawless photograph that is no more visually literate than an everyday photograph is a creatively worthless photograph. Assignments submitted that ignore content issues will be given a maximum grade of 50. One print is due at the beginning of each class beginning the fourth class. Prints passed in at the end of class will be graded as one day late. Prints must be at least 8"x10". The Darkroom The darkroom is Room 110 in Henderson Hall (Building 3) on the Bedford campus. In addition to class time, there are open darkroom sessions. The days and hours will be posted on the darkroom door. A darkroom monitor will be there at all times to assist you. Darkroom work will be limited to black and white processing only. Supplies Students may work with any materials they find appropriate to make photographs. Some recommended materials are Kodak Tri-X Film, Kodak t-Max 100, Ilford HP5 Plus, Ilford FP4 Plus and Ilford Multigrade IV RC Deluxe Paper. A good store to buy photography supplies is Hunt's Photo and Video. Hunt's has several locations. To find the store closest to you see their website. A good place to have broken cameras fixed is down the street from Image Inn at Sanford Camera Repair at 1056 Massachusetts Ave. (781 648 2505) - Arlington, MA Handle processed film with great care. It fades with too much exposure to direct sunlight and scratches very easily. Negatives should be stored in archival quality plastic storage sheets, such as those produced by Print File. Do not leave cameras, lenses, film or paper in your car on hot days. All of these things are easily damaged by exposure to heat over 80ºF. Schedule You will be expected to do at least 3 hours of work outside of class between each class. Outside work will include taking pictures, making prints and looking at websites. Look over the schedule carefully as to what days we will be in the darkroom and what days we will not be in the darkroom. #1 September 4 Types of film Exposure meters Choosing a camera Homework: Create a series of photographs of any outdoor subject shot during the first two or last two hours of sunlight using either Kodak Tri-X or Ilford HP5+.  Please do not use any other type of film. Shoot on a sunny day if possible. Buy a package of Print File storage sheets. You will need a plastic storage sheet to take your negatives home. #2 September 11 Students will demonstrate the ability to develop film paying careful attention to agitation, time and temperature. We will not be printing during this class Homework: For the next class bring the negatives developed today, printing paper (Ilford Multigrade IV RC Deluxe Paper - 8"x10" sheets - 2 packs of 25) and your camera. Please bring printing paper and your camera, and your camera manual to all of the remaining classes. Watch for the special Ilford offer where you buy a pack of paper and get 2 free rolls of Ilford HP5 film. #3 September 18 Students will demonstrate the ability to make a contact print of the negatives that were developed in the previous class. Homework: Shoot first half of a second roll of film. #4 September 25 Work Prints Students will demonstrate the ability to make a work print. Work prints serve as a basic outline for final prints. Homework: Shoot remainder of the second roll of film. Process film. Make into contact sheet. Bring contact sheet and negatives to next class. First print is due next class. #5 October 2 Printing Filters Students will demonstrate the ability to use printing filters to control the contrast of the print. Homework: Second print is due next class. #6 October 9 Spotting Students will demonstrate the ability to spot out white spots due to dust on prints Homework: Third print is due next class. #7 October 16 Burning Students will demonstrate the ability to burn areas of a print to selectively darken parts of the print. Homework: Fourth print is due next class. #8 October 23 Dodging Students will demonstrate the ability to dodge areas of a print to selectively darken parts of the print. Homework: Fifth print is due next class. #9 October 30 Shutter Speed Students will demonstrate the ability to fully control shutter speeds on their cameras. Homework: Sixth print is due next class. #10 November 6 Aperture Students will demonstrate the ability to fully control aperture settings on their cameras. Homework: Shoot first half of a third roll of film. Seventh print is due next class. #11 November 13 Wide Angle Lenses Students will demonstrate the ability to use a wide angle on their cameras. Homework: Shoot remainder of the third roll of film. Process film. Make into contact sheet. Bring contact sheet and negatives to next class. Eighth print is due next class. #12 November 20 Long lenses Students will demonstrate the ability to use a long angle on their cameras. Homework: Shoot first half of a fourth roll of film. Ninth print is due next class. #13 November 27 Other lenses Students will demonstrate the ability to use a long angle on their cameras. Homework: Tenth print is due next class. #14 December 4 Adding Light 1 Students will demonstrate the ability to add light to an indoor shooting situation by adding light from a window, by using reflectors or by using electronic flash. #15 December 11 Adding Light 2 Students will demonstrate the ability to add light to an indoor shooting situation by adding light from a window, by using reflectors or by using electronic flash. Paul Light paul@lightwavephoto.com All text by Paul Light is copyrighted 1987-2019 Paul Light All rights reserved on text by Paul Light Last revised August 25, 2019