teaching a intro photo course in the spring...

[charles.]

Hi, I am going to be teaching my first intro to photography class beginning in

January of next year and have two questions.

 

<p>First, what texts do you recommend (or have others recommended to you), both

for the technical and also the pictorial side of learning photography. And

second, how can I let publishers know I am teaching so I can recieve copys of

these texts to review? Thank you all in advance.

[charles.]

Oh an any general tips you may have to offer would be much appriciated. This is all for a college-level intro course.

[mtk]

Hi Chuck! Sounds interesting challenging and fun...I do not have any recommendations, but some questions I would have before I went that far is what is your course description? Are you teaching basics (exposure, aperature, f stop, composition etc?) How much are you going to be touching on digital? Darkroom? Post processing? Is this a precourse for "photo 2"?

I would think that one would need to know what your requirements as an instructor would be before one could recommend appropriate materials....

Good Luck! Sounds like fun! Mark

[charles.]

Ah sorry, I shouldve included a little more info.

 

<p>This course is 100% wet process b&w. Starting with photograms for the first assignment, then moving on to basics of metering, exposure, camera operation with manual SLRs, and at the same time darkroom printing basics (contrast filters, dodging burning, etc and maybe getting into split-filter at the end depending on how the kids take to single filter printing). I think I am basically looking for a good reference guide, as I wont have any trouble teaching the camera stuff, developing & printing... and I'm not looking for a book with assignments written in already. But at the same time something not overly technical from the start.

[mtk]

Chuck.....Maybe this suggestion is a little over the top, but I would think bears some consideration...Have you ever looked at the Ansel Adams series of books, "The Negative" "The Print" "The Camera"? They may be a great starting tool for you as a reference guide. Even if you are not a great fan, they have ALOT of information in them, and tend to remain true to the BW wet printing process. Check out at a large chain bookstore, or online....Just a thought....

Mark

[jonathan_ratzlaff]

How long is the course? Will everyone be using film? Get a copy of Bryan Peterson's book Understanding Exposure. It has recently been revised and reprinted and I think it is about the best book for beginning photographers available. As far as other texts, I would recommend that you consider getting the students to read a wide variety of books by different photographers to see different styles.

I would not do anything with darkroom work until the students had some idea of how to get a decent image without the added complication of trying to learn to print a image that is not properly exposed or composed.

If film was a necessity, I would start with transparency film to learn basics of exposure and composition. After that if black and white is the end result, I would introduce that medium.

[robert_hooper1]

Kodak used to provide high school and college level educators with introductory photo course material and support. It's been years since I looked into this, but I would be surprised if Kodak did not still offer some support in this regard. I would call Kodak and ask.

 

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/3/687&pq-locale=en_US

[tsuyoshi_ito1]

Hi Charles,

 

I teach beginners and intermediate classew in continuing education setting all the time. The textbooks that I recommend are the followings:

 

1) Photography by Barbara London&John Upton

2) Photography by Bruce Warren

3) Black*White Photography by Henry Horernstein

 

The first two are very very comprehensive, and it is a lot more than what your class can cover. But I ususally tell my students that these will be a good future reference. They are expensive, both costing around $80. I usually tell them to get used ones though.

 

If you want something more economical covering B/W photography, Henry Horenstein's book is a classic. They recently came up with third edition which was a major update.

 

I would simply contact a sales rep at the publisher to send you a copy. I have never done that before personally, but I do not see why it can be so difficult.

 

Let me know if I can be more help. Good luck!

 

Warmly,

Tsuyoshi Ito

 

----- P R R O J E C T B A S H O -----

When seeing ends, vision emerges

www.projectbasho.org

[timsumma]

The London and Upton Text is considered the main text at universities. They are readily available used in quantity at most of the university and off campus book stores. Reference: that Half Price Books Records and Tapes is an excellent outlet and sells on line (note to all of you, the CEO and main controlling stock holder of 1/2 Price Books has a husband who is a photographer. If you seek books on photography call their Broadway store in San Antonio Texas and ask for Ramine, no not the husband but the guy in SA who knows all the ins and outs of photography at � Price Books).

I would care to make a rather strong recommendation with regards to your lesson plan. Even collage kids get bored, I know I was one once! I would levee the lecture and the photogram assignment for other classes. When I taught an intro class for darkroom B&W photography, I waited 15 minutes to assemble the class then I took the request roll. That done I took the entire class to the darkroom, handed them a 4X5 50 sheet paper box that had been turned into a pinhole camera. (You can get the boxes still from any pro lab that processes sheet film for commercial photographers. Just tell them what you are doing and why and they will stack 20 of them for you.) The first thing I did was to have them give a name to their camera, they wrote it on the front box part. Explain the basic steps to doing the exposure take them out, you also with a pinhole camera; each person takes a self portrait. They go in and process the image (use Ilford RC IV Variable Contrast paper cut to 4X5 sheets, LPD developer at 1:5 dilution). They SEE the magic of the camera negative come up in front of them for the first time. Use 1:3 dilution on the fix so you are in and out quick. You tell them only to increase or decrease their exposure as they develop. Send them out to shoot more. Half way through they will stop and make contact prints using standard basic set exposure method. Run test strip prints and then full area prints all on 4X5 paper. They go home with dry negatives and wet prints, a true sense of the magic of the darkroom, a completely intuitive understanding of film exposure, negative development and printing. And that second class that you do on Wednesday or Thursday will be one of critique of their first assignment in which they mix both technology and aesthetics� to grasp what the magic of photography is. You will need to fight them to stay out of your class and the darkroom. For a hand out to the next class tell them to go find Eric Renner�s book on Pinhole photography. Get it ordered and into the Library and put it in the special reserve room so that it cant be checked out only viewed and read. Eric and his wife are the creators and custodians of the Pinhole Resource in New Mexico. Call him or write he is a vary cool person.

Last, give them the assignment to find an object and to make their own pinhole camera that is site specific and to be used to make a single pinhole image. The result to be displayed as the image and camera as object. Make THEM research and find out about the pinhole camera, they will learn more about the history of photography than you can lecture to them. Their research is a paper about what they discovered and the whole thing is their midterm. If you want more detail about this then e-mail me at tsumma@satx.rr.com I was the Chair of a department of photography for 12 years and I had new faculty do this in classes, it never failed to put fire in the student behinds that we all had trouble toning down. Have fun, they will!<div></div>