Digital Photography 1

Students will conceive and create photography projects using DSLR cameras, smartphone cameras, natural and studio lighting, free applications, and Adobe software. Our focus is on responsible and expressive documentary-style work— meaning, learning to use these tools to truthfully share experiences of the world around us. We are intentionally aiming to build a digital photography habit: fluency, comfort, and confidence in your skills.

RESPECT

• Respect the studio, your materials, your classmates, your instructor, and yourself.

• Listen to directions the first time, and ask questions appropriately when necessary.

• You are expected to work in collaboration with other artists in an environment of respect and positive, supportive relationships. Profanity, insults, and language or behavior demonstrating intolerance are unacceptable.

• For health and safety reasons, please no food or drink other than a water bottle in the studio without advance permission of the instructor.

• Respect our class time. You forfeit your participation points for the week if you opt to play games, watch movies, or otherwise idly use our computers. Homework for other classes should be done outside of our studio time.

• Whenever possible, communicate with your instructor in person. If email is necessary, please be courteous and respectful, and remember that how you communicate makes an impression.

RESPONSIBILITY

• Arrive to class on time, and begin working immediately. Look for posted instructions.

• Bring your notebook to class daily.

• Respect, maintain, and return all supplies, and clean your workspace. Collaborate with others to maintain our shared studio.

• You are responsible for weekly practice and project deadlines.

• You are responsible for making arrangements to collect missed assignments, obtain demonstrations, and making up studio time if you miss class.

EFFORT

• Focus with the attention of a maker.

• Suspend your disbelief and try.

• Keep a positive attitude and an open mind, especially to the relevance of this subject matter.

Adobe Photoshop: Students will become proficient with the Photoshop tool selections and how filters and layers can enhance photography.

Adobe Lightroom: Students will be able to apply Lightroom as a tool to organize photos and apply presets that will unify a body of work.

Adobe Express: Students will capably understand and apply the mobile design tool Adobe Express to create social media graphics and digital portfolios.

Google Tools: Students will capably use Google Docs, Photos, Slides, and Drive as organizational tools for storing and showcasing their work.

Digital DSLR Cameras + Tripods: Students will be able to effectively and responsibly use professional-grade digital cameras with a basic degree of manual control.

Smartphones & Free Applications: Today’s smartphones can be powerful tools for photography and multimedia work. We will explore smartphone photography and some free applications to create original digital work.

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to be present and on time for class.

Zoom instruction is no longer available.

Unexcused absences or cuts receive 0 for daily participation and cannot be made up.

Diversity Statement

All members of the school community are expected to be respectful to each other. Negative comments about anyone’s race, nationality, religion, physical appearance or ability, intellectual capability, gender identity, sexual orientation, work ethic, or character are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Students are encouraged to discuss any concerns with an adult in the building.

Respecting online materials

Course materials (videos, audio or video documentation of class sessions, chat transcripts, assignments, resources, etc) are for use in this course only. You may not upload them to external sites, share with students outside of this course, or post them for public commentary without your instructor’s advance permission. Please discuss it with your instructor if you have any questions about this policy.

A note on phones

Please see WSSD Board Policy 237-AR on Electronic Devices.

It is the intention of any arts course to provide an experience that immerses students in focused creative problem solving, critical thinking and a broad range of experiences to build the foundation for deeper understanding, advanced learning, and innovation.

Our technology, cameras, computers and mobile devices are some methods by which we share information/knowledge and process images and sound. However, the nature of smartphones, mobile devices, headphones/earbuds, and laptops as both utility and entertainment can be a temptation.

Students enrolled in any arts course are expected to be able to maintain the distinction between appropriate and inappropriate use when in class. This is a fundamental part of our shared high standard of artistic integrity.

The instructor reserves the right to limit the use of and/or confiscate any technology that is observed to be distracting the student/owner or other students in the class.

• Basic Camera Mechanics

• Composition

• Lighting Principles including using natural lighting, portrait lighting, and a backdrop in our studio

• Photojournalism & Photography Ethics

• Photography History & Contemporary Photographers

• Current Topics in Photography and Digital Media

• Caption Writing & Visual Presentation

• File Management & Portfolio Development

• Style & Voice

FROM THE STUDENT HANDBOOK

We believe that all members of our school community should strive to act in an honorable way at all times. We should be judged on the basis of our own work and are accountable for our actions. Collaboration, while encouraged, does not give us the right to plagiarize each other’s work. Contributions from others must be properly credited. A standard of trust for the completion of individual work is expected. In our school community, we value effort, learning, and the sharing of knowledge. We foster an environment of integrity, which prepares us for future academic work through holding ourselves accountable for our actions.

Strath Haven High School students are expected to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity. Students who are found to have engaged in any violation of academic integrity will receive the following consequences:

1. Student will receive a zero as a grade on the specific assignment.

2. Guidance counselor will be notified.

3. Teacher will contact the parent/guardian to notify them of the offense.

Please consult the student handbook for more details on academic integrity. In photography classes, previous academic integrity concerns related to submitting images for assignments that are not a student’s personal work, or copying from others’ written or artistic work without credit.

• YOU NEED ONE NOTEBOOK to take notes, collect handouts, sketches, storyboards, etc. You should have this with you daily. You may purchase a notebook for $2.

• One SD card, minimum 16 GB. We will provide you with one SD card for the class. If you lose it, you are responsible for replacing it. You should have this with you daily. You can store it in the studio between classes.

• A digital DSLR camera is not required for this course. If you have one, you are welcome to use it. If you have access to a camera, we can keep it in the classroom during the course. If you do not have access to a camera, you can use one of our studio cameras during class times.

In any arts course, we try to find frequent opportunities to share student work. Art takes on new life when it is displayed outside the classroom! When we display work, we give audiences a chance to learn from our artistic vision.

Your work may be displayed in various locations in Strath Haven High School, and/or on the @MediaLab223 Instagram account. School event photography may be shared with student publications, where every effort will be made to credit student work fully if published.

Work for public display is always labeled with the name of the student artist. You may be assigned to participate in displaying our own class’s work, or to respond to other artwork displayed in the community.

If you would rather that your work is not displayed, please speak individually with your instructor,

Assessment uses total points, including:

Digital Photography Projects

Projects assignments are assessed based on rubrics, usually at 5-20 points.

Weekly Practice

Weekly practice is assessed at (5) points every week. See the detailed description of weekly practice that we will cover in class. Your weekly practice grade drops to (4) as a starting point if you submit it from one week late through the end of the quarter.

Daily Participation Grade

Students receive (1) point for each daily class period:

• (1) Follows all student expectations

• (.5) One reminder to adhere to student expectations

• (0) More than one reminder to adhere to expectations.

Most project assignments are assessed on a mastery-based model with a point scale of up to 10 points. A sample 5-point scale follows below.

Advanced/Exceeding (5): Student thoroughly achieved the standard, exceeding the expectations.

Proficient/Meeting (4): Student met the requirement at the expected level.

Approaching (3): Partially meets standard, some parts incomplete, missing or lacking detail.

Still Developing (2): Minimally meets, lacks completion, missing elements, or did not follow directions.

Does Not Meet (1-0): Student did not submit an assignment and/or didn’t follow directions. There is no evidence of meeting the standard.

You can choose to re-do any PROJECT assignment at any point before the end of Q1 for Q1 assignments, and any point during Q2 before finals begin for Q2 assignments. If you opt to re-do an assignment, please make sure to re-submit work on Classroom.

NOTE: Our grading system currently includes 10% of the overall semester grade calculated based on a final examination or project. We will evaluate the status of a final project based on how our course progresses.

IMPORTANT: Assignments are submitted, collected, and offered feedback on Google Classroom, but scores are recorded in PowerSchool. Please check both sites regularly.

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