The World Online

ENVIRONMENTAL PHOTOJOURNALISM
Westminster College 2008
Jonathan Duncan, Instructor

This course will introduce the technical, aesthetic and practical aspects of professional environmental photojournalism. Combining in-class lectures, interactive student critics, and field work, the course will work to help students develop an understanding of how photography can be used as a means to communicate our experiences in the natural world and the challenges facing our environment

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

-To develop the technical skills and knowledge to create effective photographic images
-To develop a sense of photographic composition and a feel for what makes an evocative image
-To develop an awareness on how to utilize different types of natural light to achieve certain dramatic effects
-To develop an appreciation for the role of photography in the evolution of the environmental movement
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COURSE CALENDAR:

WEEK ONE:

Course objectives and structure—an introduction and review of the art and science of photography

The History of Photography—an overview of the technical and cultural evolution of the art form and its role in helping shape the environmental movement

Photographic Technique—uses of depth of field, shutter speed, manual exposure, light metering, lens selection, digital settings, camera care and maintenance

Photographic Composition—visual rules and when to break them, symmetry vs. asymmetry, the golden mean, the rule of thirds, the principle of visual harmonics

WEEK TWO:

Lighting—the effective uses of natural light, the nature of color, contrast, the magic hour, identifying good photographic lighting

Vision—the creative potential of communicating with photographs, photography as a tool of self expression, the window on the world

Telling Stories—an exploration of how professional photojournalists use images to convey complex subjects

WEEK THREE:

Field workshops-- and class critiques

WEEK FOUR:

Photoshop and photographic ethics—are photographs evidence of anything today, photography and audience perception, Susan Sontag’s “On Photography”

The Business of Photojournalism—editorial contacts, portfolio development, stock agencies, magazine assignments, collateral materials, equipment

Final project and portfolio development workshop

Final project review and critique