photography by Joseph K Cowdell
Caring for another creature has improved my life. Our dog, Freya, was born nearly seventeen months ago and she has taught our children responsibility and nurturing. Freya brightens their day when she greets them at the door with her favorite toy. Get a pet you won’t regret it!
Due Thursday by 3:15 pm Points 100 Submitting a file upload File Types jpg New moon is Oct. 1st. That means you have a unique opportunity for a few days on either side of that date to photograph dark skies and stars. In the spirit of pre-visualizing, planning, and executing your photographs, your assignment is:
1. Find a landmark you’d like to photograph with stars and/or star trails behind it.
2. Download Stellarium from www.stellarium.org and use it to determine when you could photograph the milky way in the same composition as your chosen landmark.
3. Take your photographs (you’ll want to determine how to focus your lens to infinity in advance, so you don’t have to figure that out in the dark).
Your final deliverable will be two .jpg images. One should be exposed such that the stars are points in your photograph, as opposed to streaks. The second should be either a very long exposure to create star trails (probably at least a one hour exposure), or a series of star photos stacked to create star trails (this is usually the more pleasing approach. Again, you’d probably want the series exposed at regular intervals over the course of at least an hour).
Please be safe and don’t go anywhere dangerous or alone. Don’t trespass and don’t fail to bring adequate supplies for your comfort and safety (you’ll probably need a coat. . . what am I, your mother?).
Hint: You’ll probably need a remote shutter release for this assignment. These are available from online retailers such as Amazon for a few dollars.
Hint 2: You can check the clear night skies forecast here: http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/
Hint 3: Here is a list of common “correct” exposure settings for common apertures while taking night sky shots:
f/1.4, ISO800 = 30s
f/2.8, ISO3200 = 30s
f/4.0, ISO6400 = 30s
f/5.6, ISO12800 = 30s
Hint 4: Here are four tutorials that can help you:
http://petapixel.com/2013/03/18/how-to-photograph-star-trails-from-start-to-finish/
http://petapixel.com/2013/04/25/a-complete-guide-to-star-trailing/
http://petapixel.com/2014/01/29/picking-great-lens-milky-way-photography/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rydg7JGTAbw
Hint 5: Make sure your batteries are fully charged.
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 3040) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2016.
This is a warm-up. I believe that every human life is extraordinary if we have the patience to look. Further, among the key skills that a commercial photographer must have, is the ability to communicate and work with people. Your assignment is to take a portrait of a stranger. The final product is to include a caption with a quote from the subject that gives insight into their life and personality. The photo should also express the sentiments of the caption.
For reference, see http://www.humansofnewyork.com
As in every assignment, your images must be tack sharp unless there is a legitimate artistic reason for blurring. If your images are *almost* sharp. . . reshoot. This assignment should take several hours to complete at a minimum. Your final deliverable is just one photo, but you should have hundreds of candidates (probably of several different subjects) to choose from. Your best shot should be extraordinary. This is not just a picture of a person: this is an image of a human life. Treat it as sacred, precious, and worth your time. Make it interesting. This will be graded very strictly. On a more positive note, this has the potential to be one of the more enjoyable and rewarding assignments you’ll ever do. Have fun!
Final deliverable: One, full-res photo with an equal-sized caption underneath in PDF or Jpg format.
Disclaimer: Please be safe about this! Do not approach strangers alone or in isolated areas. Keep a buddy near you, or stay in safe, public locations.
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 3040) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2016.
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain.
Photo 1
Smartphone and tablet users rarely notice what is going on around them.
Photo 2
Work. Play. Learn. Communicate. Research. Consume. Sleep?
Photo 3
Smartphones have consumed conversation at the dinner table.
Photo 4
Minor distractions while driving can cause major problems.
Photo 5
Quality time spent together is healthy for any relationship, but a smartphone will disrupt that.
Photo 6
People who use smartphones to communicate have difficulties communicating with other people.
Photo 7
Playing games with the people you love will not be enjoyable for them if you use a tablet the whole time.
It’s time to focus on what our area offers in abundance: Landscape!
Your final product for this assignment will be four images shot to include the following compositional techniques:
All of these images should be shot in early morning, or sunset light. No middle-of-the-day shots. Shooting at another time will hurt your grade.
The individual images do not have to exclude the other compositional techniques but you should have at least one image showcasing each one of the techniques above. While this assignment focuses on composition, you will be graded on all of the elements of your photo including focus, exposure, effort, technique, presentation, etc.
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2015.
Now it’s time to make your first self-portraits. In some ways, this will be easier than your previous portraiture assignment, and in some, it will be harder. Part of the challenge will come into play as you attempt to assess what will express your own personality to others. It’s time to think outside of your own perceptions and be candid with yourself about what makes you tick and how you come across to others – especially how to express that visually to complete strangers who may view the photograph. Again, as with your previous portraiture assignment, this process may be augmented through clothing, props, surroundings, lighting, posing, expression, etc., but at its core, these should be portraits of your true, inner self as you believe that should best be expressed. The final product should be five different portraits taken on five different days (The portraits should have different lighting, setting, prop, wardrobe, etc. Don’t just move from one room to the next. You’ll be graded on your effort as well as your image and presentation).
Tip: Dare to be vulnerable. Tell us something about you that we don’t know.
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2015.
I took a photography course from Alex Chamberlain at Dixie State University in the Fall of 2015. This was my first “real” experience with night photography. Luckily, the city of Pine Valley, Utah has some of the darkest skies near my hometown of St. George, Utah. It is the perfect spot for me to practice my night photography. Night photography gives me an excuse to get away from it all and just listen to nature. Sometimes being alone with just a camera can be frightening, so I usually bring a friend.
Your assignment is to shoot 10 long exposures, ranging from 1 second to at least 10 minutes in length. Subject matter should include all of the following:
This does not mean that all three elements must be in each image. Rather, you need images of all three of these things within the set you turn in.
Exposure lengths should be:
These should not be “drafts” or experiments. They should be finished, portfolio-quality pieces. The finished assignment calls for 10 images. You will probably need to take much more than that in the course of creating your images.
In order to expose longer than 30 seconds, most cameras must be in “bulb” mode, which means you press the shutter button to open the shutter and release it to close. Obviously, this can introduce some hand-transferred camera shake, so you will probably want to pick up a remote shutter release for your camera. These can be purchased from amazon.com for about $5-$10.
Note: October 13th is the new moon (the moon is not visible in the sky). That will be the best star-shooting day during the course of the assignment, but you should be able to find good shooting conditions within four days before or after that date.
Please don’t trespass or go anywhere crazy alone at night.
Your moving light shots cannot be taken around the Dixie Rock area.
Hint: You can check the clear night skies forecast here: http://www.cleardarksky.com/csk/
Hint 2: Here is a list of common “correct” exposure settings for common apertures while taking night sky shots:
Hint 3: Make sure your batteries are fully charged.
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2015.
The young woman in this set is my cousin, Melanie House, and she recently found out she has breast cancer. She just had chemotherapy and got herself a new wig. My wife helped her with makeup for this photo shoot.
Update 2017: Melanie is in remission, cancer free, and happy to be alive!
1. You are to shoot a portrait of a friend or family member that explains and/or highlights an aspect of their personality that you find interesting. This can be shown via a prop, clothing, facial expression, surroundings, lighting, posing, or any other way you can creatively pull it off.
2. You are also to shoot a portrait of a pet or animal (wild or domestic, your choice, but be safe). The portrait should tell about the animal through imagery rather than just showing the animal. (I.E. including some surroundings or a food source could tell you about a wild animal’s habits)
Lighting for the human must be artificial. It is a major part of your grade for this assignment, so make sure it’s well-executed and done on purpose. Also, don’t do anything with your lights that will spook a dangerous animal (I.E. using flash bulbs close to a horse. . . seriously.)
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2015.
After our composition discussion, you should be able to filter the content of your images more effectively and arrange things to be more pleasing and emphasize your choices. Further, our exposure discussion should give you the tools you’ll need to grade your images effectively to emphasize the subjects of your choosing.
For this assignment, you’ll need to choose an interesting or unusual outdoor subject such as an old car, a barn, or anything that can stand out in its environment. It can be anything, as long as you can isolate it in a pleasing compositional manner.
Take 5 images with poor composition and good exposure. Take 5 more images with good composition and good exposure. Be prepared to explain why the poor composition is poor and why you consider the good compositions to be good. Don’t take the easy way out. Find a subject you can frame and compose well.
This assignment is for Digital Photography course (ART 2060) at Dixie State University in St. George, Utah taught by Alex Chamberlain in the Fall of 2015.
