Class assignments are listed below, numbered by the week in which they are given. This is a provisional list, subject to change based on the needs of your particular class. They are offered with this caveat: Each assignment is based on the information discussed in class, and so the description below will only be fully understood if you have followed that discussion. Come to class. Pay attention.

Introduction and Preparation
This is a mechanical shakedown. Get the camera that you are going to use and bring it to class if you have it. Expose a roll of film, on a subject of your choosing. Use care in assessing your exposures, record your light readings and exposure settings. Then, process your film and bring it to class.

Also, please bring some examples of black and white work that you admire or wish you had done.

Subject: Your choice here.

Mechanics: Everything from camera settings to darkroom procedure. This is your first opportunity to "close the loop." We are not demanding perfection here, just an effort to complete it by next Monday.

Goal: Get your feet wet and be ready to work in week 2.

Resources: A 35mm or medium format camera with manual controls; Film for that camera-- ~ISO 100-400.

Lens Control #1:
Working with the tools that you have available--choice of lens, aperture, and most importantly, your choice of subject, position, and viewpoint-- create an image that is effective in accentuating the feeling of space or volume within the two dimensions of the picture surface. You will be using the same part of your brain as you did when you were using charcoal and paper, so work carefully and be selective about what you photograph. Unlike your drawing work, you will not be able to fudge details to adjust your composition. Crop them, include them, or make them work as part of the composition.

Shoot and process film for printing in Monday's class.

Subject: This is of your choosing, but that does not mean that you can shoot just anything! Some (but not all) landscape, architecture, or street subjects might work. I will point out though, that if your subject does not have a spacious sense it will be hard to show one in a photograph of that subject.

Mechanics: An understanding of exposure control; Aperture adjustment as a way of controlling depth of field; Camera focus.

Goal: You are at the beginning of the road toward making, building, or creating photographs instead of just taking them--seeing a photograph instead of pressing a button. The goal of this assignment is to slow you down to look with purpose.

Resources: The slide show I presented in class is here, and you might also take another look at the handout I gave you in class.

Tone Control #1
Take your time. This week we are working on pushing away from blind obedience to your camera's light meter, which, when faithfully obeyed, will render any scene 18% gray. Visualize and photograph a scene that is high key or low key, and make the necessary interpretation of your light readings to render the scene as you have visualized it. Take your time. (Don't forget those two exposures you need to make for your threshold test) I am hoping that you take the time you need for this one.

Subject: This is your call, but it must be supported by your decision to overexpose or underexpose the negative. We are looking for high/low key images, anything but that deadly middle gray that you will get from an automatic exposure reading.

Mechanics: An understanding of your camera's meter, aperture and shutter speed controls, and, well, whether you know what happens if the numbers get bigger or smaller. If you are having trouble with the effects of shutter speed and aperture, you will need to sort this out. Review the handouts, experiment with your camera until these relationships make sense.

Goal: Control, control, control... over the tonal range of your image. The goals of this week's assignment are to (a) Get you to visualize your final image; (b) Make a decision on the value range of that image; and (c) Use the exposure control tools you worked with in the past two weeks to commit that vision to film.

Resources: The handouts I gave you in class, your own camera's light meter pointed at a stable subject so that you can spend the time to work these relationships out, and your camera's manual if you have not mastered these controls. (Try googling it!) Also, the presentation I gave in class is here.

The Frame
This week it is time to bear down on both your reason for becoming a photographer and that part of your vision that you will bring to your work. I am asking you to explore a subject that interests you and spend time really being critical about how you compose your images within the frame. Use the cutout windows I handed out in class to look carefully without the distraction of meters and focusing grids. Remember that one way or another you are bringing your sense of organization to your subject. Look for opportunities to put the elements of design to work in arranging the pieces of your image.

Subject: The only requirement here is that it be something that interests you. (If it does not interest you, it will probably not be interesting to anyone else either.)

Mechanics: Do not forget what we have been working on for the past three weeks, but this week your main tool will be your eyes.

Goal: The goal this week is to get you to take complete responsibility for the visual elements of your image.

Resources: Black framing cutout, the examples we looked at in class.