Digital Photo I Curriculum

Week 1

In your first class, you'll learn about the program, hear the first of three lectures on proper exposure, and get your first shooting assignment. This class is free to all prospective students. It allows someone to evaluate whether they have the time and financial resources to continue with the class. We'll give you the list of supplies, including costs, as well as the names and addresses of local photography stores. You’ll use some of these supplies in the second class so it’s important to purchase your supplies before then. Many of our classes, including the first class, run to about 10 PM.

Week 2

Payment is due at the beginning of the second class – checks or money orders, payable to Chicago Photography Center. If you would like to pay by credit card, please go to Paypal and choose to send money to paypal@chicagophoto.org. Please use the Notes section of the payment to identify your payment as Digital Photo I tuition. You'll also schedule your six darkroom sessions (see below), so bring your personal calendar.

In this class, you'll hear the second of three lectures on exposure. We'll emphasize shutter speeds and you’ll be given an assignment that focuses on shutter speeds. You’ll also go up to the computer lab to learn about using “camera RAW” file format for images and about saving your images to disk.

How to sign up for Digital Photo I Lab time:

When you come to class, please be prepared with three lab time choices. There will be weekday evening and weekend choices. Lab sessions last for about three hours.

Week 3

You’ll hear the third lecture on exposure, with emphasis on depth of field, and be given an assignment that focuses on depth of field.

Week 4

This session explores the subtleties of exposure meters and photo composition and includes our first critique session. You’ll also receive your assignment for the week.

Week 5

We'll have a photo critique and then you'll hear the first of three lectures on the psychological relationship between photographer and subject. The shooting assignment this week creates interdependence among class members; you’ll work with two of your fellow students to complete it.

Week 6

When this class begins, you’ll turn in your digital negative files of the photos you took for the Week 5 assignment. You'll learn more about the psychological relationship between the photographer and subject and we'll have a critique session and you’ll receive your shooting assignment. While you’re in class, our volunteer instructors will make two sets of contact sheets for you from your files. When you get your files and contact sheets back at the end of the evening, you’ll also get your darkroom assignment for the week.

Week 7

This class is devoted to an extensive critique of the photographs you took of another student and the ones that were taken of you. You’ll also hear the final lecture on the psychological relationship between the photographer and subject. The success of this session depends on each student fully completing the assignment and coming to class ready to participate in the critique. You’ll also receive your final class assignment. This class could run until 11 PM or later.

Week 8

This class is informal and starts with a dinner at CPC. We’d like to hear what you think, what you liked and how we might do a better job for our next group of students. We'll also talk about the next class: Film Photo II. And we’ll make time to critique the last assignment together.

Some additional thoughts

The curriculum described above is just that – a curriculum. It can't begin to talk to you about what really happens as you move through the eight week session. You'll learn to understand your camera better – all of the buttons, knobs and attachments that seemed so intimidating when you signed up for Photo I will make sense to you. You'll have a collection of digital files that you'll know how to turn into finished images to show and share with others. You'll learn about technique and you'll begin to understand who you want to be as a photographer. As Richard Stromberg, one of our founders, says: learning will occur.

What’s next?

Digital Photo II, of course.