CDES 206

FINAL EXAM

Just a reminder that your final exam is today. We'll begin promptly at 6:00 in Holt 170. Please bring a couple of pencils, I'll provide everything else.

Byron 

Extra bonus office hours

I have office hours scheduled on Monday from 11 - 1. I'm extending that time until 2:30, so now it's from 11 - 2:30.

Byron

Anti-piracy warnings

An additional new warning that will appear on DVDs and Blue-ray. Enjoy.

Chip got to wondering about my comment the other day about not seeing the anti-piracy warnings at the start of movies much anymore (since I almost always stream from Netflix, these days). It got him to wondering, and he ran across this article in Wired that talks about upcoming changes in the warning system.

Thanks Chip!

Byron 

Byron's finals week office hours

Byron's office hours for finals week will be:

Monday 11 - 1

Tuesday 2 - 4

Office hours for this week remain the same as previously scheduled.

Surviving the Promise and the Final Exam

Here's a more lighthearted look at the relationship between technology and people. It's a Medieval Help Desk.

Here are the visuals (with links) from Surviving the Promise of Technology.  Download SURVING THE PROMISE 

And finally, here is the study guide for the cumulative Final Exam which is next Monday at 6:00 PM in Holt 170 (our regular classroom).  Download 206FinalExamStudyGuideS12

Study for that final and see you soon!
Byron

Alternative process photo class: Fall openings

A cyanotype by Anna Atkins, 1843. One of several alternative process you'll likely learn in ARTS 343.

As I indicated in lecture yesterday, there will be an alternative (historic) process photography class offered in the Art Department this Fall. The course number is ARTS 343/434. It can be used toward the Photograpy Minor.

If I had time, I'd take it. It's sure to be interesting and fun. For more details, please contact Tom Patton (tpatton@csuchico.edu) in the Art Department.

Byron

 

Digital Imaging: Legal and Policy Issues plus some comments on careers

Shepard Fairey's HOPE poster, an iconic image with a complicated legal history that touches on many of the topics presented in this week's lecture. Read about it here.

Here are the visuals from this week's lecture on legal and business issues in photography.  Download Legal&BusinessIssues2

Byron

 

Failure vs. Perception

You've heard me talk about how photography has never been "one thing." That is, it has always been multiple competing technologies and methods, each with unique inherent properties.

Ten years ago, if you had been taking this class, one of the biggest challenges you would have had to face was failure. When photography was predominantly a film and chemistry undertaking, technical failures were the norm. Exposure was conceptually and technically difficult. Quality of prints was always a challenge. Answers to questions and solutions to problems were elusive and required persistence. It could've been four weeks into class before you had a reasonably decent print that we could then discuss. From an educational standpoint, I often felt like a big part of teaching photography required me to help people learn how to deal with failure and self-doubt. Persistence in the face of difficulty was a pre-requisite for success.

Today, it's different. With the advent of digital imaging, most of the conceptual and technical barriers that existed between you and a technically sufficient picture have been removed. Making a picture that's sharp and reasonably well exposed is easier than ever. All of those "photographic elements" (framing, composition, focus, timing, light...) that we've worked on all semester endure and still require time and attention, but the once-central lessons that came from technical failures are far less frequent.

From my observation, we've moved away from having to deal with technical obstacles to spending more time talking about how photographs work, and how to see the world in ways that yield new insights and revelations. In short, we talk a lot more about perception. How do you see (and show others) the world with fresh eyes? It's hard to do, but worthy of attention.

I don't mean to say that failure and perception are exclusive to the different methods of photography, but I do think that the scales of emphasis have tipped from one to another. I suppose one thing that has remained consistent is that persistence in the face of a challenge is still a pre-requisite for success.

Billy sent me the video (above) about a snowboarder turned wet-plate tintype photographer. Tintypes, if you recall, are a wet-plate process that produce a one-of-a-kind image, somewhat akin to daguerreotypes. Tintypes were often referred to as the "poor man's daguerreotype". This guy has a passion that is consistent with people who become consumed with a creative enterprise. He converted a large van into a mobile camera obscura and has dedicated his life to making mammoth tintypes.

What's most interesting to me in the video is how, despite his pure devotion to his enterprise, he still has to struggle with the failure of his medium. It just points out to me of how the lessons of photography have changed along with the medium.

Thanks Billy!

Byron

Color theory, please review

It would be a very good idea to review your notes and the visuals from Monday's lecture on color theory and practice prior to your lab this week. It will help inform our in-class exercise.

Byron 

Captions, color theory, and space and time

Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe, 2008. Reconstructing the view from the El Tovar to Yavapai Point using nineteen postcards.

 

Today's class had a lot of parts. First, there's was the discussion about captions. While not a requirement for this last project, you may find that using words in conjunction with your pictures might help create a context for a viewer.  Download CAPTIONS2

Second, I talked about some basic principles with color theory and color correction of digital images. The photoshop demos aren't included, but these are the visuals that led up to it.  Download ColorTheoryAndPractice2

Finally, here are the visuals from some work I've done over the years that relate to time, space, and photography. Download 206 Time&Space4 (it's a big file, please be patient.) The Third View Project has a web site and you can see a video demo of the DVD here. If that's not enough, you can see more at klettandwolfe.com.

Byron