Syllabus

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"And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his (Adam) mighty heart. Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, 'It's pretty, but is it art?'" --RUDYARD KIPLING

ART 275 - Photo Imaging I: Photoshop

with Joe Angert -- Spring 2012, Wildwood Campus

This course is an investigation of processing of continuous tone image files. Software tools and adjustment controls will be learned. Students will investigate scanning, color and tonal management, image repair and compositing, and printing. A portfolio of prints will be created emphasizing the individual expressiveness of the student. Additional lab hours required. Prerequisite: ART:131, ART:107 (may be taken concurrently), or demonstration of proficiency by exam and Reading Proficiency.

NOTE:
  • Directly above is the college's official course description. I am required by the college to include it here as written. Otherwise I would correct the bad writing. Please don't assume that I write as poorly as that course description suggests.
  • Photoshop is a complex and multi-faceted program that has application in the photography, graphics and press industries. The time alloted in a three credit course is insufficient to develop a mastery of Photoshop in any one of the above specialities yet alone all three. This course will concentrate primarily on Photoshop's application to photography. This is an introductory course and, as such I assume you are new to the topic.
  • For this course I assume you are computer literate: that you can use the Internet and manage email, file downloads and uploads, and basic operating system tasks.
  • Because this course is taught online, the course requirements will differ from what is stated in the official description above. See the section below labeled course requirements.

READ THIS CAREFULLY!

You are responsible to submit your work on time.

30% of the students in this class last semester failed! They all failed for the same reason. They registered for the class, got started and then didn't follow through. These students didn't fail because they turned in poor work. These students didn't turn in any work!

Mary took this class last year. She was one of my better students. Mary was a travel agent who spent half the semester out of the country. I enjoyed getting her emails from various places like the one that came from an Irish castle. (Do you think they have wireless in there?) Mary's work and schedule prevent her from taking on campus classes. As such she is the ideal online student. Her work and schedule also make it hard for her to meet rigid deadlines like assignment due dates. Mary handled the class responsibly and completed all of the work during the term of the semester. She earned an A and she made a point of thanking me for being flexible with the assignments schedule.

At the college we have meeting after meeting and the journals we read are stuffed with articles all concerned with how to motivate online students: How to improve online retention rates, etc. Many of my colleagues believe the answer is to treat online college students like high school students. For example: Assignment 3 is due by 5:00 pm on Friday 3-16. You will lose 2 points for each day the assignment is late. If the assignment is more than 1 week late....blah, blah, blah. This might help the undisciplined but this is not what Mary needed. This course is costing you hundreds of dollars. If I give you an F on May 14th because you didn't do the work that'll be like throwing hundreds of dollars in the trash. How's that for motivation?

One of the best justifications for offering and taking online classes is accommodation of the adult student's busy life. To that end, when I post an assignment, that's your cue to start working on that assignment, complete it in reasonable time and turn it in so I can evaluate it. I am not going to treat you like high school students. That only makes the course more cumbersome for the responsible adult. It isn't fair to place an undue burden on the adult students because there may be people in this class who haven't grown up yet and can't manage their time. You have been warned.
SITE NAVIGATION: I regularly test this site with different browsers on both the MAC and WIN platforms but I can't get them all (I use FireFox on a WIN platform). If you're having trouble with the site please let me know ASAP. Please note that each lesson is broken into multiple chapters; don't miss anything. If you want to print the lessons use FireFox and they'll print well enough. They will not print from IE. If you see a typo, sentence fragment or just something stupid please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks.
GROUND RULES: This semester I'll be on campus at Wildwood on Thursday afternoons. I'll have office hours from 4:00 to 5:00. If you need me to come early or stay late, just let me know. Please stop by -- I'd be delighted to see you. I'll devote Monday through Thursday to this class and check email and the class forum during the day. I'm often out-of-town on the weekends and will be unreachable.

If you send me an email I will try and respond as soon as possible or at least acknowledge that I'm working on your question. If the matter is urgent then try and make the email topic reflect that. I have successfully removed all forms of Internet chat from every computer I use and I do not carry a cell phone. My email address is: jangert@stlcc.edu and I'm looking forward to working with you.

Course Requirements

  • Keep in touch. I want to hear from you on a weekly basis. The semester is basically 16 weeks long. If you write me one email a week for the entire semester that'll be 16 emails total -- a very minimum expectation I believe. This class officially ends 5-7-12. I will turn in grades on 5-14-12 and must have all of your work turned in by the end of the day on 5-11-12.
  • Please complete all the required assignments in a timely manner. I'm going to let you pace yourself, but that also means I'm going to let you hang yourself. When I post an assignment you should expect to start working on it at that time and complete it and turn it in within say 10 days. There will be 18 assignments total plus a 50 question test and final. I must have all of your completed work turned in by 5-11-12 -- I will meet my deadline to turn in grades on 5-14 and I reserve the right to have a couple days to finish grading.
  • Please keep up with the reading. Check the website frequently for newly posted lessons. I will post one or two new lessons per week through the first half of the semester. When I post a lesson it's time for you to read that lesson. Remember that each lesson has multiple chapters.
  • Because this course is offered online you are welcome to work at your own pace and complete the work early. I will finish posting all my notes and all required assignments for the course by mid April. The deadline for withdrawing from the course is Friday, April 13th (how appropriate!). If you chose to work ahead and finish early you are welcome to stay in touch and you may expect my continued support of your efforts should you wish to explore the topic further or become more proficient through practice.
  • Your grade for the semester will be a simple average of your accumulated grades for all 18 course assignments, midterm and final (each assignment/exam will have a straight point value). All of the course assignments will be posted under a single link on the home page: Assignments. If it's not there it's not an assignment. If it is there you're responsible to get it completed.
  • A note about plagiarism: I expect your work to be your own. This is a grey area and a difficult one to deal with. I do not object to student collaboration. Indeed I encourage you to help each other -- we're here to learn after all. If you have questions at all about this issue or concerns about work that you're doing, talk to me. I must reserve the right to fail a student for blatant plagiarism.
  • A note for students with a disability: St. Louis Community College is committed to providing appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities. If you have a disability that may interfere with your work in this class, please contact the ACCESS office on campus: 636-422-2000. I am available to assist you.

Course Objectives

  • In this course you will learn to use Adobe Photoshop software to process photographs.
  • You will learn to accomplish the following:
    • image acquisition
    • distortion adjustment
    • tone adjustment
    • color correction
    • spotting and retouching
    • sharpening
    • building composites
    • local adjustments
    • noise reduction
    • specific Photoshop tools
    • and a bunch of other stuff
  • You will be introduced to digital color management and you will understand the basic concepts of this topic.
  • You will have a great time.
DISCUSSION FORUM: The bottom link on the home page is to a discussion forum. Your participation is welcome and encouraged but will in no way effect your grade. The forum provides an opportunity for all students registered in the class to participate in group discussions (I don't have all the answers). This is a closed forum restricted to registered students. I will add you to the forum and send you the ID and password to access the forum when I get your preferred email address. To log on to the forum your user name will be your first name followed by your last initial. For example my user id would be JosephA. Your password will be your student ID number.