SPRING TERM 2016-JOURNALISM 1140 PHOTOGRAPHY IN COMMUNICATIONS THE COURSE This course is JOURNALISM 1140, Photography in Communications. Classes are held from 9:30 to 10:50 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in 235 Blackington Hall computer lab. The course is intended to provide students with an understanding of the basics of visual journalism with an emphasis on still images but will also discuss multimedia visual journalism. Instruction will cover camera use as well as digital darkroom techniques, with emphasis on its application for publication and production. THE INSTRUCTOR Your instructor s name is Roger Kerekes. He worked as a daily newspaper photojournalist for over 21 years in addition to working for a portrait/commercial photography studio, community college audiovisual department and a television station. He now owns and operates Burns Photography by Roger Kerekes in Johnstown and specializes in school contract photography, high school senior and family portraiture and sports photography. Kerekes has a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Pittsburgh and has received various awards for his photography. The instructor is willing to meet with students following class and by appointment. You are encouraged to telephone the instructor if you need to make an appointment or talk about a course-related subject. PHONE NUMBERS: Home: (814) 288-6031 Cell: (814) 242-3233 Work: (814) 539-0334 Email: roger@burnsphoto.com Because of work demands in and out of the office, the most reliable way to contact the instructor is via the cell phone. The preferred email address is: roger@burnsphoto.com. However, a second email address is kerekes@pitt.edu. With either email, please make sure you receive a confirmed receipt reply. If you do not receive a reply to your email please assume the message was not received. In that case, you need to contact the instructor via the cell phone number. THE TEXT The text for this course is PHOTOJOURNALISM: THE PROFESSIONALS APPROACH, Sixth Edition, by Kenneth Kobr e. You will need to purchase this text and it should be available at the UPJ book center. Another good reference text is Kenneth Kobre s VIDEOJOURNALISM, Multimedia storytelling. The course will include some information from this text when discussing multimedia. GUIDE TO PHOTOJOURNALISM, Second Edition by Brian Horton is an Associated Press guide to good news photography and another reference book that was previously used as a text for this course. CAMERA AND EQUIPMENT Each student is required to have a digital camera for class assignments in addition to a flash drive (PC format) for archiving digital images for lab projects and the final project. For assignments, students may save
their work to CDs. However, for the final project where multiple lab sessions will have to be saved, a flash drive is mandatory. Cameras vary by design and operation so all students should bring their camera, and any instruction manual for the camera, to class to help answer any questions about a particular camera s operation. DIGITIAL IMAGING FOR ASSIGNMENTS Original assignment images must be presented in a universal digital format such as TIFF or JPEG format; do not save assignment images as a camera s RAW digital file format. Images saved in a camera s RAW file format may not be readable by the instructor and would not meet the assignment s deadline. All images must be saved as their original file name to a flash drive or CD to be submitted for grading by the instructor. Also, a contact sheet of all images shot for the assignment must be submitted with the digital image files. The contact sheet can be created using Photoshop or any other image-editing program. PHOTOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENTS For each photography assignment, the instructor must be able to identify which student made the images. This is done by the students adding their name to the images by photographing their name and by using a label on the recording media (CD or flash drive). Each unidentified assignment will be penalized for that assignment. After the images have been identified, the work will be graded and then penalized 2 grade points. For example, if after grading the work receives an A (4.0) the resulting grade recorded for that assignment will be a C (2.0). Students are expected to complete all assignments. Any assignment not submitted for grading will be considered incomplete. Assignments not submitted by the end of the course will result in an INCOMPLETE grade. The student must include the following with each assignment: 1) A contact sheet of all images from the assignment; 2) A typed paper that must include an introductory paragraph describing the subject covered for the assignment including any creative photographic techniques along with good captions. Good caption information must be included for the number of images from the shooting assignment as directed by the instructor, not all images created. The caption information should be in a format similar to captions that accompany photographs in magazines and newspapers and not a description of how the image was made. (See: Writing Clear Captions in Chapter 7: Photo Editing.) Be sure to include the image number with the caption. When photographing people, obtain their permission when necessary and advise them that there is a possibility that the photograph may be published, such as the Advocate or another publication. Students are encouraged to contribute to the Advocate or any other publication. If a student experiences problems, such as camera malfunction, in completing an assignment for deadline the instructor should be notified prior to the deadline. Also, if students share a camera due to one of their own camera s malfunction the instructor must be notified. YOUR ATTENDANCE You are expected to attend every class, unless you are given a photography assignment during class time. That may occur when working on the final project with approval from the instructor. If, for any reason, you are unable to attend class for an extended period you must notify the instructor as soon as possible. You may accumulate three unjustified absences; after the fourth absence your grade will be lowered by one full grade point. Excuses covering weeks or months after the fact are viewed with prejudice.
READINGS, EXAMS All assigned readings should be done before class. Class discussion and participation from the readings is an important part of the course. If, in the opinion of the instructor, students indicate an unwillingness to engage in classroom discussions or do not complete assigned readings, unannounced short quizzes will be given. Depending on the progress of students and lectures, there may be adjustments with reading assignments, exams or lab times as listed in the syllabus. Those changes will be announced in class. DEADLINES Deadlines are important for both photojournalists and journalists. If you miss a deadline for an assignment you will receive an F for that assignment. Late work will then be graded and that grade will be averaged with the F and the resulting grade will be recorded for that assignment. The best grade you could receive for a late assignment is a C. YOUR FINAL GRADE Your final grade will be an average of the written exam grades, the photography assignment grades, photo story project and the final exam. Written tests will be from material covered in the text and in-class lectures. Photography assignments will be graded by viewing your images combined with your typed description of the assignment and caption information. Other factors may be considered in your final grade including attendance, attentiveness in class, improvement and participation in class discussions. If you attend the scheduled classes, meet all deadlines, read all the materials, participate in class discussions and show improvement and ingenuity in your photography you should not have any problem receiving an extremely favorable grade. SPECIAL TESTING Students with disabilities who require academic accommodations or other classroom modifications should notify both the course instructor and the Director of Disability Resources (Kurt Bouman), no later than the first few weeks of the term. Students may be asked to provide the Learning Resource Center with appropriate documentation of their disability so that the LRC can determine the appropriate accommodations. To schedule an appointment at the LRC, students should call ext. 7109 or report to the LRC in 133 Biddle Hall. PHOTO STORY PROJECT You will be expected, as part of your final exam, to produce a photo story. The subject will be chosen through consultation with the instructor. The requirements will be detailed in class. The deadline for the final project is the final class on April 21, 2016. If you anticipate any problems with this deadline due to other projects, you may complete your project early and deliver it in class or by appointment. The deadline must be followed and there will be no exceptions. The deadline policy will apply to the final photo project. Be sure to follow the guidelines presented in class for the project. FINAL EXAM: TBA Your final exam will consist of all materials covered in the course, with most of the questions coming from earlier exams. The purpose is to test your understanding of photography as a communication media.
JAN 7 Distribution of syllabus Familiarize class with Photoshop and lecture on the camera and its functions; exposure and relationship of shutter speeds to apertures; and creative application of exposure in relation to ASA/ISO. JAN 12 For next class read Ch. 8: CAMAERA BAG and Chapter. 9: STROBE. SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT: shoot images of the Mountain Cat statue on the UPJ mall AND another activity. Include good caption information for one image from each subject. Be sure to include NAME on image media and type good caption information (See: Writing Clear Captions in Chapter 7: Photo Editing). Contact sheet and caption information are due Jan. 21. JAN 14 Lecture on the camera and its functions as needed and lecture on CAMERA BAG and STROBE reading material. For next class read the Special Section: DIGITAL DARKROOM. JAN 19 Continue lecture on reading material STROBE and DIGITAL DARKROOM plus ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION lecture. JAN 21 DEADLINE for SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT. Review lecture on all reading material and ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION lecture in preparation for EXAM next class. JAN 26 EXAM on CAMERA BAG, STROBE, DIGITAL DARKROOM and ELEMENTS OF COMPOSITION. For next class read Chapter 1: ASSIGNMENT and Chapter 7: PHOTO EDITING. SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT (details to come) with contacts and information due Feb. 4. JAN 28 Lecture on Chapter 1: ASSIGNMENT and Chapter 7: PHOTO EDITING. For next class read Chapter 11: PHOTO STORY FEB 2 Continued lecture on Chapter 1: ASSIGNMENT and Chapter 7: PHOTO EDITING. FEB 4 SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT is due. Continued lecture on PHOTO EDITING and PHOTO STORY in preparation for Exam next class. FEB 9 EXAM on Chapter 1: ASSIGNMENT, Chapter 7: PHOTO EDITING and Chapter 11: PHOTO STORY. For next class read Chapter 12: MULTIMEDIA and Chapter 13: VIDEO. SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT: Cover a spot and/or general news event (not sports) with contact sheet(s) of images due Feb. 23. Identify the lighting and elements of composition along with captions for three images. FEB 11 Lecture on reading material in Chapter 12: MULTIMEDIA and Chapter 13: VIDEO.
FEB 16 Continued lecture on Chapter 12: MULTIMEDIA and Chapter 13: VIDEO and review for Exam next class FEB 18 EXAM on Chapter 12: MULTIMEDIA and Chapter 13: VIDEO. For next class read Chapter 2: SPOT NEWS and Chapter 3: GENERAL NEWS. FEB 23 SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT due including good caption information for three images along with identifying the type of lighting and element of composition for those three images. Lecture on reading material in Chapter 2: SPOT NEWS and Chapter 3: GENERAL NEWS. For next class read Chapter 4: FEATURES FEB 25 Continue lecture on SPOT NEWS and GENERAL NEWS and lecture on Chapter 4: FEATURES MAR 1 Lecture on FEATURES and review for Exam March 3 on SPOT NEWS, GENREAL NEWS and FEATURES. Discussion of PHOTO STORY PROPOSAL and subject selection for final project. SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT (details to come) with contacts and information due March 22. MAR 3 EXAM on Chapter 2: SPOT NEWS, Chapter 3: GENREAL NEWS and Chapter 4: FEATURES. For next class after spring break read Chapter 5: PORTRAITS and Chapter 6: SPORTS MAR 6-13 Spring Break MAR 15 Lecture on Chapter 5: PORTRAITS and Chapter 6: SPORTS MAR 17 Lecture on Chapter 5: PORTRAITS and Chapter 6: SPORTS. PHOTO STORY PROPOSAL and SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT due next class MAR 22 PHOTO STORY PROPOSAL and SHOOTING ASSIGNMENT due. Continue lecture on Chapter 5: PORTRAITS and Chapter 6: SPORTS for preparation for Exam next class. MAR 24 EXAM on Chapter 5: PORTRAITS and Chapter 6: SPORTS. For next class read Chapter 15: ETHICS and Chapter 16: THE LAW. First set of FINAL PHOTO STORY PROJECT images due April 5. MAR 29 Lecture on reading material Chapter 15: ETHICS and Chapter 16: THE LAW MAR 31 Continued lecture on Chapter 15: ETHICS and Chapter 16: THE LAW
APRIL 5 First set of FINAL PHOTO STORY PROJECT images due. Possible LAB and continued lecture on Chapter 15: ETHICS and Chapter 16: THE LAW in preparation for Exam next class on EHTICS and LAW APRIL 7 EXAM on Chapter 15: ETHICS and Chapter 16: THE LAW. Discussion of Chapter 14: ILLUSTRATION next class APRIL 12 Informational lecture on Chapter 14: ILLUSTRATION APRIL 14 LAB for Final Project APRIL 19 LAB for Final Project April 21 FINAL CLASS: Lab and Final Project due. FINAL EXAM: TBA PLEASE NOTE: Syllabus content and material is subject to change. Students will be notified in class of any change in class assignment.