https://courses.vccs.edu/courses/PHT164-IntroductiontoDigitalPhotography

Effective: 2025-05-01

Course Description

Introduces fundamental techniques of photography, including digital camera operation, postproduction, and printing. Includes technical and conceptual exercises, individual project development, and group critiques.
Lecture 2 hours. Laboratory 3 hours. Total 5 hours per week.
3 credits

The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.

General Course Purpose

This course provides students with a foundation in digital camera usage and with a fundamental understanding of the editing software.

Course Objectives

  • Hardware
    • Operate a fully adjustable digital camera.
  • Photographic Controls
    • Adjust exposure, tonal range, and color balance.
  • Critical Thinking
    • Solve technical, formal, and conceptual problems to develop an individual project.
  • Post-production
    • Use professional software to adjust and alter digital photographs, manage image files, and generate required outputs.
  • Output
    • Prepare images for color-managed photo-quality printing and digital display.
  • Critique
    • Use relevant vocabulary to evaluate and critique photographic works.

Major Topics to be Included

  • Camera operation
    • Manage settings for aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to obtain a desired result.
    • Control depth of field using aperture, focal length, and focal distance.
  • Framing and Focus
    • Make effective framing, focus, and vantage point decisions.
  • Exposure
    • Choose aperture, shutter speed, ISO, exposure value compensation, and read histograms to obtain a desired result.
  • Light
    • Identify the quality and direction of light sources.
    • Understand and control white balance.
  • Raw capture, image processing and manipulation
    • Understand the difference between RAW and processed files.
    • Control in-camera processing and post-production changes.
  • File and Color Management
    • Choose color profiles appropriate to print and other media.
    • Organize and manage multiple digital files.
    • Understand how to use metadata to organize digital files.
  • Print output
    • Operate a photo quality printer in a color-managed workflow.
    • Make informed decisions concerning paper type and scale.
  • Project Development
    • Complete individual creative projects using decision making and problem solving.
  • Critical Discourse
    • Discuss formal and conceptual aspects of images.
    • Analyze images using multiple theoretical approaches.
  • History and Theory
    • Respond to and learn from works by historical and contemporary photographers.
    • Recognize a variety of approaches to the medium.
  • Presentation of images
    • Prepare images for print and/or digital exhibition or publication.