Photographic Seeing

This is just a note to myself to capture the photographic subjects that were assigned many (MANY) years ago when I took an architectural “Photographic Seeing” course at the University of Utah back in the early 1990s.

  • Rule of Thirds, Point of View,  & Framing – artistic composition
  • Lines: Rectilinear/Curvilinear, Actual/Implied
  • Shallow vs. Deep Depth of Field (f-stops)
  • Short vs. Long Exposure (no flash – shutter speed)
  • Monotone & Chromatic
  • Light (no flash) – Front, Back, Side, Warm/Cold, Diffuse/Harsh
  • Texture (Smooth vs. Rough)
  • Flash Photography
  • Photo Essay consisting of 12 related photos (Final Project + your best work from the previous assignments)

If I remember right, each subject was presented to the weekly class via slide show by the professor consisting of some of the best (and worst) work from past students. Then you were required to shoot a whole roll of 20 slides that you thought best represented that week’s particular topic. Then you would bring in your top 2-4 slides, put them in the projector and everyone’s “best” work would then be presented to the class for discussion. You also had to turn in the rest of your slides on that subject to the professor in one of those clear plastic, 3-ring binder slide sheets that held 20 slides.  And she might pick a different slide that she considered to be your best shot from the group when the graded sheet was returned to you the following week.

I’m wanting to note this because I just got a new DSLR (Nikon D7000) and I’d like to use this class’ topics as a kind of guide to familiarize myself with the new camera.   I’d probably add a topic to the above list, since most DSLRs are capable of this now: HDR Photography (basically where multiple photos are layered to make a single photo).

Dunno if it will help you familiarize yourself with your camera or not, I’m hoping to post a picture or two from one of the above topics each week as I learn more about my camera, hopefully it won’t be as boring as watching uncle Fred’s vacation slide show!  Enjoy!


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.