Art 121/07:  Darkroom and Digital Photography I

Fall 2010

Southwestern College

Instructor: Siobhan Arnold

Email: siobhan.arnold@gmail.com

M/W 12:00-2:50pm, Room 518

Course # 56329

Office hrs. by appt.

 

Course website: http://www.siobhanarnold.net/Art121/121index.htm

SWC Photo Dept. website: http://www.swccd.edu/~photography

Textbook website: http://wps.prenhall.com/hss_london_photo_9

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Art 121 is an introductory course in black and white photography.  This course focuses on photography as a creative art and emphasizes the communication of ideas through the visual image.  Students will learn the technical aspects of the medium including camera operation, darkroom technique, and digital photographic workflow.  Though Art 121 is a highly technical course, students will also discuss their concepts, ideas, and apply critical thinking to their own work and the work of others.

 

COURSE STRUCTURE:

This course will include lectures and demonstrations introducing photographic concepts and skills.  There will be quizzes to assess your comprehension of technical information.  Assignments will encourage research, problem solving, and creativity.  Each assignment will culminate in a group critique.  Students will be required to keep all handouts, assignment sheets, complete assignments.  Additionally, students are expected to keep notes and research in a notebook form. 

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

 

REQUIRED TEXT:

A Custom Edition of Photography 8 (or 9) by Barbara London, John Upton, Bill Kobre, and Betsey Brille.  This is available in the campus bookstore. There are also a couple of copies of the text on reserve at the SWC Library for limited checkout.

Note: If you plan to continue with your studies in photography, I highly recommend that you purchase the full text edition of Photography by Upton, et al.

 

ACADEMIC ACCOMODATIONS:

Disability Support Services (DDS) of Southwestern College recommends that students with disabilities discuss academic accommodation with their professors during the first two weeks of class.  An alternate format of this syllabus and class handouts are available upon request.  Call (619) 482-6512 or email dss@swccd.edu.

 

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY:

Plagiarism and cheating constitute violations of academic honesty whether perpetrated actively or passively.  All violation and suspected violations of academic honesty will result in action taken against the parties involved and will be documented in writing with the Dean of the School of Arts and Communication. Penalties may include no credit on the assignment in question, course failure or formal charges of student misconduct.  Formal charges can result in academic probation, suspension, or expulsion.

 

Academic Success Center Referral  To further your success, reinforce concepts, and achieve the stated learning objectives for this course, I refer you to the Academic Success Center learning assistance services.  Upon request for tutorial services, you will be automatically enrolled in NC3:  Supervised Tutoring, a free noncredit that does not appear on your transcripts.  Services are located in the ASC (420), the Writing Center (420 D), the Reading Center (420), Math Center (426), the library LRC Interdisciplinary Tutoring lab, MESA specialized on-campus School, tutoring Labs, the Higher Education Center, and the San Ysidro Education Center.  Online learning materials and Online Writing Lab (OWL) are available at www.swccd.edu/~asc.

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

The California Education Code sets these guidelines.  You are required to attend the class sessions while enrolled in this course.  This includes attending both the lecture portion and the lab portion of each class session.  Excessive absences will result in you being dropped from this course.

 

Please make every effort to contact me prior to class if an unusual circumstance (i.e. illness, extreme family emergency, observance of religious holidayÉ) arises and prevents you from attending class.  A conflict with your work schedule is not an acceptable excuse for missing class.  You must arrange your schedule (home, work, children) to allow for attendance of all class meetings. 

 

Students are responsible for officially withdrawing from classes they are no longer attending.  Failure to withdraw from the course by the withdraw deadline may result in an ÒFÓ.

 

GRADING AND EVALUATION

This course requires active participation.  All assignments will culminate in a group critique.  You are required to attend and participate in group critiques.  Your participation in discussion and critique are a necessary component of your successful completion of this course. You will be asked to share opinions, responses and observations related to the content of the class.  Your participation is also required in demonstrations, lectures and exercises as well as in the completion of assignments. 

 

Grading for assignments and quizzes will be based on a 100point scale.

100-90= A                   79-70= C

89-80= B                     69-60= D         below 59= F

 

Assignments must be turned in on time.  You will be allowed to turn in one late assignment per semester.  The late assignment must be turned in no later than one week past the due date.  Any more than one late assignment will result in no credit for that project. 

 

If for some reason you are unsatisfied with your grade, I will allow assignment Òre-doÕsÓ.  Any re-doÕs/re-shoots must be turned in during the last week of class (week 17). 

 

The final exam will take the form of a final portfolio.  The final portfolio must reflect your best work of the semester, a culmination of the skills and concepts that you have acquired throughout the term. Details for the portfolio will be distributed later in the semester.

 

Criteria for grading of visual assignments is as follows:

I will go over in detail what each of these items entails as we approach our first assignment.

 

One Extra Credit opportunity will be accepted.   You may attend a photography exhibition outside of class requirements/field trips and write a short essay (one page) about your experience.  Your essay must include the following: the title of the show, the artists included, titles and descriptions of at least three different works, and your thoughtful opinions about the form and content of the works.  Comments like, Òit suckedÓ or Òit was really coolÓ are not thoughtful, critical comments.  Use the skills you gain in class critiques to write an informative, well written essay.  I will let you know about events/exhibitions that you may be interested in.

 

In addition to assignment grades, your overall grade will be determined by weighing the following factors:

Assignments/Skills Development                      50%

Quizzes                                                            15%

Participation                                                    15%

Final Portfolio                                                  20%

 

Lab Safety And Class Etiquette:

Information on chemicals used in the lab and related health & safety is available upon request. Students with concerns should check with the instructor or lab tech, (Carlos Richardson). If you have an allergic reaction or have an accident, notify me or the lab tech immediately!  Avoid direct contact with chemistry (this means your skin)!  No food or drinks in the labÉthis is for your safety.

 

Disruptive behavior to the class will not be tolerated, can reduce your final grade, and if continued is grounds for dismissal from the class.  Keep cell phones silent during class! Ringing phones are considered disruptive behavior! Do not answer phones in class.  Clean up after yourselves! Treat the equipment with respect. Photography equipment is expensive and not easily replaced.

 

LAB COURSE ENROLLMENT

 

This is a time intensive course.  It is highly recommended that you enroll in the lab support course, Art 118 while you are taking Art 121.  Art 118 is a one unit, non-instructional lab that allows you to use the photo lab facilities outside of Art 121 meeting times. You may attend any or all of the three labs during the course of the week. Please see the schedule for available lab times.  
REQUIRED SUPPLIES: 

 

1.              35MM SLR FILM CAMERA (non-digital).

You do not need to purchase a brand new camera to use in this class.  There are many good, used cameras available for reasonable prices.  Please check local camera shops, flyers posted in the classroom, craigslist, ebay, and other 2nd hand sources.  (See list of sources below).

 

Make sure the camera that you use has a working light meter (check batteries), a normal lens (50mm or a zoom 18-55, for example), and UV protective filter for the lens.

 

2.              35MM BLACK AND WHITE FILM

There are many brands available including Ilford, Kodak, Fuji, Arista, etc.  You will need at least 10 rolls of film, ISO 100 and 400.  Please see the freestylephoto.biz list for recommendations. 

**Note: DO NOT purchase Kodak T400CN or Ilford XP2.  These can only be processed by labs, and not in our darkroom.

 

3.              BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO PAPER (8X10). 50-100 sheets

Again, there are many brands of photo paper available.  You will need RC (resin coated) VC (variable contrast) black and white photo paper. See the freestylephoto.biz list for recommendations. Do not open the box of paper unless you are in the darkroom!!

 

4.              Anti-Static Cloth

5.              Dry mount tissue

6.              Mat/mount board

7.              Gray Card

8.              Negative sleeves

9.              3 Ring Binder

10.           Portfolio

11.           Lens cleaning kit

12.           Thumb drive for data storage

 

OPTIONAL SUPPLIES:

 

1.     Digital Camera (point and shoot or DSLR, at least 6.0 megapixels)

2.     Cable Release

3.     Tripod

4.     Plastic Developing Tank and Reels

5.     X-acto Knife

6.     Lens Filters (various)

7.     Handheld light meter

8.     Apron, gloves, towels

 

A list of the above supplies is available for purchase at discount prices from:  www.freestylephoto.biz.  Click on Student Lists, then enter 2950 in the Class Code box.  I have also included some optional items that you may find useful.

 

You are not obligated to purchase your supplies from Freestyle.  Below is a list of other photographic retailers and camera stores.

 

 

 

LOCAL/REGIONAL RESOURCES:

 

NELSONÕS PHOTOGRPAHY

1909 India St.

San Diego, CA 92101

(619) 234-6621

http://www.nelsonphotosupplies.com

La Jolla Store:

 7720 Fay Avenue

 La Jolla, CA 92101   (858) 729-6565

 

FREESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHIC SUPPLIES

5124 Sunset Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90027

(800) 292-6137 and (323) 660-3460 

fax  (800) 616-3686 and (323) 660-4885

www.freestylephoto.biz

will ship

Camera Exposure

2703 Adams Avenue,

San Diego, CA 92116

http://www.cameraexposure.com

619) 640-5300

(619) 640-5304 Fax

* See ÒSpecialsÓ for special student deals on cameras

 

CALUMET PHOTOGRAPHICS

830 W. Valley Parkway Suite 330

Escondido, CA 92025

(760) 737-6002

www.calumetphoto.com

other locations in CA

will ship

 

chula vista photo supply

367 3rd Ave

Chula Vista, CA 91910

(619) 425-2400

 

GEORGEÕS CAMERA & VIDEO

3837 30th Street

San Diego, CA 92104

(619) 297-3544

http://www.georgescamera.com/

 

KURTÕS CAMERA REPAIR

7811 Mission Gorge Rd # E

San Diego, CA 92120

(619) 286-1810

kurtscamerarepair.com