Introduction to Digital Photography (10 credit points)

Pre-requisites for enrolment

No previous experience required. You will require your own SLR digital camera with manual settings.

Special Information

Materials and equipment provided for students as part of the course and included in course fee:

• Access to PC or Apple Computers with recent versions of Adobe Photoshop installed
• Access to basic monochrome and colour printers.

Essentials Materials and equipment students will need to provide themselves: (Estimated cost: £100 - £300 depending on usage)

 

• Digital Camera with memory card (Entry level Digital SLR, Digital Hybrid ‘Bridge’ camera, or Digital Compact Camera, all suitable)

 

Content of Course

The course teaching is delivered over weekly class sessions totalling 27.5 hours. Depending on the specific timetable of the occurrence of the course, this will either be delivered over ten weeks of 2.75 hour class sessions, eleven weeks of 2.5 hour class sessions or five weeks of 5.5 hour class sessions. Over the class sessions the course will cover:

• Introduction to Camera Handling and Creative Manual Controls. Assignment 1: Photographic Seeing and Abstract Photography
• Introduction to Digital Darkroom with Bridge and Photoshop Downloading and working with images, Further Camera Handling
• Working with Bridge and Photoshop, Organising & Editing Image Adjustments and Adjustment Layers in Photoshop Assignment 2: Still Life Photography
• Digital Darkroom: digital tools and retouching techniques Assignment 3: Portraits and Photographing People
• Night Photography Urban Landscape photography session Digital Darkroom work with Photoshop Assignment 4: Landscape and Urban Landscape
• Introduction to developing a personal photography project
• Working with a visual journal for photography
• Photography Project work – editing, sequencing in Adobe Bridge Making digital contact sheets and work-prints
• Photography Project work – adjusting final images in Photoshop
• Colour, Tone and Contrast Adjustments, Selective adjustments
• Photography Project work – preparing images for digital output
• Student Personal Project work with tutor support Introduction to Mounting and Presentation for Photography
• Student Personal Project work with tutor support Mounting and Presentation of finished photography work Informal Crit and Group discussion of student work

Teaching method(s)

This course will be based and delivered in specialist art studios and digital workshops and will typically include a range of practical exercises, introductions to techniques, processes and concepts, and set projects which lead to more focused and personal exploration.
Each week, students’ progress will be monitored and supported by the tutor who will negotiate and agree a ‘directed study plan’ for work to be undertaken out with the class hours each week. This will include researching a range of suggested artists or designers and their associated movements to engender a contextual awareness of the discipline being taught as well as how to annotate and evidence this within a sketchbook and practical outcomes.
Teaching will include practical demonstrations, one to one tuition, group discussions and critiques.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, through attending classes and engaging in directed and independent study, students should be able to:
RESEARCH
research and explore a range of photographic vocabularies such as light, shadow, tone, surface, composition, colour, contrast, focus and crop as a means to communicate creative ideas;
PRACTICE
use a range of digital camera manual and automated creative controls, and use digital imaging software as a digital darkroom, to achieve photographic goals
PRESENT
demonstrate the ability to edit, print, and present a personal digitally-based photography project

Sources

Core Readings

Essential
none
Recommended

 

• Lipkin, J., 2005. Photography Re-born: Image Making in the Digital Era. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
• Wells, L., 2004. Photography: A Critical Introduction. New York: Routledge
• Wolf, S. and Henry Art Gallery, 2010. The Digital Eye: Photographic Art in the Electronic Age. New York: Prestel
• Shore, S., 2010. Nature of Photographs: a Primer. New York: Phaidon Press.
• Alexis Cassel, A. and Schneider, N., 1996. Photography After Photography: Memory and Representation in the Digital Ages. USA: DAP distributed Arts.
• Bucher, C., 2011. Black and White Digital Photography: Photoworkshop, USA: John Wiley.

 

Web Sources

Specific Web resources will be determined by course tutors.

Class Handouts

Course information will be provided on enrolment and handouts provided during the course.

Assessment

Details of the Art and Design assessment requirements can be found on the short course website. Please click on the following link for more information: Submission and Assessment Information

Studying for Credit

If you choose to study for credit you will need to allocate significant time outwith classes for coursework and assessment preparation. Credit points gained from this course can count towards the Certificate of Higher Education.

Queries

If you have questions regarding the course or enrolment, please contact COL Reception at Paterson's Land by email COL@ed.ac.uk or by phone 0131 650 4400.

Student support

If you have a disability, learning difficulty or health condition which may affect your studies, please let us know by ticking the 'specific support needs' box on your course application form. This will allow us to make appropriate adjustments in advance and in accordance with your rights under the Equality Act 2010. For more information please visit the Student Support section of our website.