Course Syllabus

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The Science And Art Of Digital Photography

Bruce Hemingway
Lectures: MWF 12:30-1:20 in CSE2 Gates Center G20 Amazon Auditorium
Sections: Tuesday or Thursday 2:30-4:20

Digital Photography is a unique technological activity that is totally dependent on its roots in digital sensing and computational imaging. It has many functions—scientific, artistic, documentary and social—and its historical development is a fascinating study in scientific innovation.  This course will give students the tools and technological understanding to make better pictures. We will concentrate on four areas: the history and development of photography; the science of optics and digital imaging; the elements of photographic composition and design; and the future of internet-enabled photography.

We will begin by examining the invention of photography in the 19th century, and consider the social implications of this revolutionary process. We’ll examine lens design and optics, the understanding of perspective, the rapid development of materials used in chemical photography, and the development and construction of the modern CCD and CMOS sensors. We will explore methods for combining optics and digital sensors with digital image processing techniques in the modern digital camera. Our tour will dive into the key aspects of the design of a photograph by the photographer—the use of design elements such as line, color, pattern, texture, and light to compose outstanding images. Our discussions will focus on the foundations of digital photography while still relating those foundations to the latest trends in the field. 

Goals and Objectives

This course is designed to provide you with the foundations necessary for designing and making better digital photographs.

At the conclusion of the course, you will be able to:

  • Identify the elements that make a good photographic composition, and apply those to your own work.
  • Improve your own digital photography by proper understanding and use of performance boundaries of the equipment.
  • Relate classic film photography issues to modern digital imaging techniques.
  • Show some proficiency in digital image post-processing software.
  • Understand the uses of Social Photography and web and cloud-based services such as Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr.
  • Select the right digital camera for your use.

Prerequisites:

  • Math 120 or equivalent.
  • You must have a digital camera with manual control over shutter speed and aperture. Need not be an SLR.
  • Web access for uploading images. A computer would help...
  • Programming experience is not required.
  • A Flickr account for the course. You'll be making one new album in this account for each assignment. If you already have a Yahoo login you can use that, or you can make a new one just for CSE131. Making a Flickr Photo album is fairly straightforward. The albums you make for this course should all be listed as "public" so TAs and fellow students can see the photos you've taken. Please see the 'How To/FAQ' tab for more information.

Instructor & TAs:

Bruce Hemingway - photos here and here. Office hours: CSE 464 MW 10am-11am and 2:00pm-3:00pm; other times by appointment, or informally any time I'm in my office.

Please note that communication in this course will primarily be via Email. Canvas messages will not be attended to.

TAs

Section

Email

Photos

Office Hours
Sunny (Xinyi) Cui
 AC xinyicui@uw.edu

By Appointment
Hongxiao (Daniel) Lyu AE lyuh@uw.edu Flickr Gallery
Nestor Qin AA qiny8@uw.edu
Zichun (Rex) Liu AB liuz37@uw.edu
Alexander Banh AH ajb9702@uw.edu Flickr
Georgina Maud Chandler AC chandg@uw.edu
Rebecca Cheng AF rlcheng@uw.edu
Emmi Frahler AG efrahler@uw.edu Flickr
Zichuan Han AD rick98@uw.edu Flickr
Zixiao Huang AG zixiao@uw.edu
Cindy Liang AE xinzhl@uw.edu
Junfeng Lin AB jflin@uw.edu
Andrew Liu AA liur26@uw.edu
Angela Sun AD asun2@uw.edu
Justin Wang AH jwang98@uw.edu
Tony Zhang AF tzhang22@uw.edu

Textbooks

Software

Flash applets on some technical aspects of photography

Top Final Projects- 2017

Top Final Projects- 2018

Top Final Projects- 2019

Mailing List

Class Mailing list information is here. Add your preferred email address.
To post a message to all the list members, send email to cse131a_sp19@uw.edu .

Evaluation and grading

40%  ------  Weekly photography assignments (8), graded on meeting assignment goals
10%  ------  Participation in class and section activities
10%  ------  Midterm Exam (on readings, lectures and applets) (closed book, closed electronics, 1 page (one side) of personal handwritten notes are allowed) Midterm is Wed May 8, 2019 in class

20%  ------  Final Exam (similar to Midterm, but longer)
20%  ------  Final Project

Grading of Photo Assignments

It's hard to judge artistic quality, so rather than grading the individual photos, we will assign grades based on whether you met the technical requirements of the assignment. For each requirement within an assignment, you'll be given a full points (2pt) for meeting the requirement, half (1pt) for not quite meeting the requirement, or 3pts if you do something spectacular that makes your grader's jaw drop. You should submit no more than 10 photographs for an assignment; points may be deducted for submitting extra photos.

We use the following rubric for grading for each of 5 requirements in each assignment:

 WARubric.PNG

Note: Jaw dropping photo that fulfills requirement (extra credit) =  (3 pts), Late assignments = -10% per day

  • Sample Assignment Grades:

2+2+2+2+2 = 10pts : Full points for the assignment
2+2+1+2+2 = 9pts : Half points for requirement 3
(2+2+2+2+2)*0.9 = 9pts : Late by 1 day (but met all requirements)
2+2+1+2+2 = 9pts : Commenting/Captions lacking for photo that meets requirement 3
2+0+0+1+2 = 5pts : No points for requirements 2 and 3, half for requirement 4

You can score a maximum of 15 points per assignment (3+3+3+3+3). 40% of your grade is from assignments, which would be 10x8 or 80 points.
Anything over 80 points is extra credit, so shoot some great photographs!

Lateness Policy for Assignments

Since the assignments come in rapid succession, it is important that each be completed on time. Replacing photos after the deadline is not allowed, and will be treated as academic misconduct. To allow for unforeseeable circumstances, you will be allowed up to two weekdays of grace for up to two of your assignments (four weekdays total). Beyond this, late assignments will be penalized by 10% of the grade for that assignment per weekday that they are late. Exceptions to this late policy will be made only in the case of a necessary (non-pleasure) trip approved in advance by the instructor, or severe illness. If you do not submit one of the assignments at all, you will fail the course, even if you are taking it pass/fail. In this case, or if you believe you are in danger of failing, it is your responsibility to come talk to us before the end of the course. Incompletes are given only in exceptional circumstances.

Up to two unused late days may be used for the final project.

Regrading

In addition to the policy on late assignments (see above), during the quarter you can add up to five photos to already completed assignments and request that they be re-graded. Photography includes a fair element of luck. This provision means that if you take a shot later on in the course that would have been perfect for an earlier assignment, you can still turn it in! It also means that if you didn't quite understand a requirement and did the wrong thing, you can submit a new photograph later. One regrade may be used to redo all of the captions in any one assignment. The deadline for regrade requests is the same as the final project available date, which is midnight on Thursday 11th, Jun, 2019 this quarter.

Originality, collaboration, and borrowing: 

Many of you have taken extraordinary photographs in your careers. Some of these photographs may perfectly and beautifully satisfy the requirements of a CSE 131 assignment. Nevertheless, in the interests of fairness and continued learning, we expect your submissions for each assignment to be photographs taken by you specifically for this course. You are encouraged to discuss assignments with friends, but you are expected to take your own photographs.

Participation Policy for Quiz Section

Attendance at the weekly quiz section is expected and forms a significant part of the weekly quiz grade. How participation is measured may vary week to week but will largely be based on attendence. To allow for unforeseeable circumstances, you will be allowed to miss up to two of your quiz sections. Exceptions to this attendance policy will be made only in the case of a necessary (non-pleasure) trip approved in advance by the instructor, or severe illness. An absence beyond the allotted two may result in a participation grade of zero for the week. If becomes an area of concern for you, it is your responsibility to come talk to us before the end of the course.

Due to changes in course and section registration, we will not be counting the first week in the final participation grade.

Academic Misconduct

Special thanks to Marc Levoy, Stanford University.

Tentative Schedule

Course Summary:

Date Details Due