Courses - DIGITAL PhotOgraphy and Video

POP 505: Digital Imaging  A comprehensive introduction to two of the tools you’ll need to bring your ideas to life: the digital camera and Adobe Photoshop. You’ll learn how to put this tag team to work for you.

POP 502: Experiments in Digital Photography  Sculpt light. Re-color the world. Magnify. Reduce. Blur. Sharpen. Capture. Release. Record a decisive moment or make one. This explores techniques in using the digital camera as a tool in visual experimentation.

POP 503: Idea Presentation  In the ancient history of advertising (a.k.a. a few years ago), ideas were presented first as “roughs,” quick marker sketches tacked or taped on a wall, then explained to the group so everyone could understand what the hell the sketches represented. Those days are pretty much gone. These days you will likely present a complete Photoshop comp digitally, or you’ll have a one-sentence statement of the idea written in an email or showcased in a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation. This will take you through a whole pile of presentation formats. At the same time you’ll get the fundamentals of InDesign and Keynote, as well as iWeb for basic web design.

Pop 504: Video Storytelling  An introduction to the camera (DSLR), software (Adobe Premiere & After Effects), and workflow of video production.   The student will produce short films of both the narrative and expository form and acquire a familiarity with common production techniques  (e.g., green screen, stop motion, keyframe animation).   Students are required to produce several projects which are suitable for submission to video contests, but exercise materials are provided to the students to guarantee  sufficient time is spent with the software so they gain the skill and confidence with the post production process.

POP 500: Giants of Photography  Review of the Masters of Photography, their work and their techniques.

POP 509: Light Stalkers  The fundamentals of studio lights: the use of trellises, reflectors, soft and hard lights.

POP 511: Type Journey  An introduction to the art of typography. You’ll get a solid foundation in the techniques of type design as well as the history behind the typefaces and the times that created them. This course is taught in conjunction with Vector Imaging POP 513.

POP 513: Vector Imaging  Adobe Illustrator, one of the three main programs of Adobe Creative Suite, is the primary application for illustrating, creating logos, designing with type, and creating layouts in media that range from the web to traditional media like billboards and print ads. Illustrator is a basic tool for every designer and art director, so it is essential to have skills in this program. As this will go further into vector imaging as it applies to the web, an introduction to Flash in this is required, as well.

POP 518: Digital Studio  Working in the highly digital photo studio. How to calibrate monitors, how to use the computer in a shoot, capture issues and address storage issues. Presentation considerations. Using digital capture in reflective and transparent surfaces. How to photograph food. Creating rawness--or not. Knowing when to use flash on the camera, when to bounce the light or when to forget the flash.

POP 533: Advanced Video  The objective of the course is to expose students to the current software tools and techniques used in creating the latest contemporary media. Exceptional, award-winning video work will be dissected, analyzed and discussed with the creators via face2face.  The primary emphasis will be on After Effects but a look at industry-standard 3D and compositing software will be surveyed.  Students will produce their own work but they’ll also acquire a “producer’s eye view” so they can assess a concept or project to understand the implications and requirements of executing a big idea.

POP 519: Visual Impact  Visual communication transcends language and cultural barriers like nothing else. Learn how to create symbols that interact powerfully with contradictory meanings. Create unforgettable visuals.

POP 510:  Intermediate Photoshop The mystery that is Photoshop reveals itself as you dig deeper into its capabilities and features.

POP 525: Location, Location, Location  Shooting in a variety of locations, indoors and outdoors. How to control light when you can't control light. Digital advantages and disadvantages. Intro to Architectural Photography.

POP 529: Digital Photography in Nature  Special digital concerns when shooting the natural environment. Using Photoshop for nature photographs. Understanding histograms. White balance in nature photography. Photographing elements to composite later. RAW considerations.

POP 542: Sound Bites  This  course teaches technical audio production skills: on-location recording, multi-track mixing and audio processing.  But the bigger goal of the class is to develop the student’s “ear”  so that they can produce tracks that deliver strong emotional content. The class takes a non-musician’s approach to music creation encouraging students to express  original musical ideas through loops and sampling technology.  The software used includes GarageBand, ProTools, Logic, and/or Adobe Audition.  A possible area of study is a survey and review of the music video form, song forms, and the production by the students of a music video.

POP 546: Environmental Portraits  The unique light of South Florida is a perfect setting for environmental portraits. Students will have the advantages of sea and seashore, poolside around elegant and sexy Miami architecture to the austere sawgrass environments of the Everglade swamplands as well as the totally opposite environment of Appalachian mountains and picturesque villages.

POP 597: Color Management and Workflow  Keeping color real.  Maintaining perfect white balance. Color calibration; from camera image to computer monitor to color printer. How to optimize detail in highlights, shadows and mid-tones. Analyzing proofs quickly for properly optimizing color all the way down to the final print.

POP 582: Documentary  Using the contrasting environments of sea, swamp and mountains, students will learn to tell a story through their photography.

POP 584: Fashion  This is an exciting quarter of sexy people, styling, make up, posing and propping. Students will learn to control strobe lights in the studio and on location.

POP 588: Libations & Gourmet Foods  An emphasis on shooting in the studio and mastering such difficult problems as glassware and reflective surfaces. Students will also focus on food styling and presentation

POP 598: Models, Actors, Characters and Their Faces  A pretty famous writer once said all the world is a stage- this is your chance to capture it in theatrical portraiture.

POP 599: Action!  From live action to stop motion to video and shooting for YouTube, this class will be an extensive exploration of all the various requirements of imaging moving objects.

POP 587: Travel Photography  In this quarter students are traveling in at least three European countries. They will have the opportunity to photograph the architecture, culture and cuisine as well as the people of the countries and put their photographs into a story-telling documentation.

POP 583: Architectural Photography  This class will discuss the special considerations of photographing buildings, both the exterior and interior. They will learn the solutions of location lighting, perspective control and exposure.

POP 585: Portraits  Students will study the unique approach to portraiture of the Dutch photographers in contrast to the German and Spanish photographers.

POP 589: Landscape  Students will photograph the villages of Germany, Holland, and Spain as well as the varieties of landscape in each of those countries.

POP 540: Portfolio  The total focus of this class is to finalize the student’s portfolio in several formats: an on-line printed book, a computer presentation in iPad format and a traditional printed portfolio. The Business of Photo/Video In depth review and analysis of the Photo/Video Business including best practices, organization and strategies for success.

POP 543: Final Exhibition  The student will develop a comprehensive exhibition of work;  find a suitable exhibition place; and have an exhibition opening.

POP 541: Self Promotion  A professional level web site is required of the student’s work as well as a social networking campaign. The student will also explore other forms of self promotion

INT 912: Internship  In some cases the student may have the opportunity for an internship in a professional photographic, video, or film promotion company.