COURSE NAME: Digital Photography

SCHOOL DISTRICT: Schuylerville

INSTRUCTOR: Matt Roberts

FULL YEAR

COURSE PREREQUISITES:

• Students must be in 11th or 12th grade.
• It is recommended that each student have taken a Studio Art course.
• It is required that the student provide their own camera. The camera must have the options of changing
  ISO, F-stop/Aperture and shutter speed. The camera must have an internal storage device such as a
  compact flash, secure data or data stick. A camera that will enable you to manipulate and share your
  images as digital files. Obviously a digital camera is designed to do this - your digital camera should be 8
  mega-pixels or more. Whatever camera you use, it is preferable if it has some controls or settings (e.g.
  shutter speed, aperture and automatic settings such as 'sport,' 'landscape,' or 'portrait') as the course
  will teach you about the full range of controls and settings that a photographer uses.
  
• Students must be able to bring the camera to school every day.
• Students must have access to a computer at school and home.
• Students must have basic computer knowledge (e.g. opening files, using programs like MS Word, emailing
  and emailing attachments.
• Students must have email access to email assignments to teacher.

BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION / OUTLINE: Whether you're new to digital photography or want to improve your
existing skills, this course will develop your ability to create and share digital images you are proud of. If
you're just starting out, you'll be able to compare notes with many other people in the same situation. If
you're already a keen amateur digital photographer, being part of an active community of photographers will
develop your fluency. Visually focused, with text kept to a minimum, the course will develop your technical,
visual and creative skills. A series of weekly hands-on assignments allows you to practice the skills you'll
learn.

This course is designed to be studied over a year, with approximately 7 hours of classroom work and study
each week. There are two pieces of work that must be submitted during the course, however, to get the
most out of the course we advise that you take part in the weekly photo assignments, and if you miss a
class, that you are able to find time to catch up (for example, spend 20 hours the following week).

The course is a creative mix of practice, learning, sharing and reflection:

• Practice: as often as possible you do a practical photographic activity to broaden and strengthen your
  photographic experience. Together these activities form the basis of your portfolio that you'll draw upon
  for your end-of-course assessment.
• Learning: each class you learn about the different aspects of photographic techniques, as well as
  relevant aspects of the technology behind digital photography.
• Sharing and reflection: each class you share your work within the class community of photographers.
  You'll steadily develop your ability to reflect upon your own and others' work, and to write about your
  increasing visual awareness.
  

12/21/06