Ohlone College Photography

This show is up through January 27

SFMOMA

Jan 3 - Feb 9

Katy Grannan : The Westerns

Fraenkel Gallery

If you’re enrolled in or thinking of enrolling in a photo class at Ohlone College you’ll find your instructor here! Lisa Levine, Alvin Thompson, and Lisa Gould have all joined the blog as contributors. We sincerely hope this proves an efficient vehicle for getting information and resources to you, the student. This is a place where all photo students can communicate, regardless of their course, about photo related stuff. On behalf of the photo faculty at Ohlone, I encourage you to use this space.

Hi Paul,
I’m interested in enrolling in one of the digital photography classes in the spring term, and wanted some clarification on the content. Reading the course descriptions makes me think that I’d want to sign up for the intermediate class, even if I’ve not taken the beginning class.

I’ve been taking photos for a long time (I’m in my late 30s) and would like to become more proficient. Back in the 20th century I shot film and did my own black and white darkroom work (though I’ve forgotten most of it). I want to be able to do touch-up work in PS, work on composition and understand the camera settings that are particular to digital.

The PS-only class might also be appropriate but I’d like to have photography assignments to challenge myself. Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks, and happy new year!
Greg

Hello Greg,
First, I’m happy you’re considering enrolling in the class. The Digital Photo (139) series is entering this new semester as a new creature. We’ve, as you know, created 2 series of courses where once there was one. One series (139) concentrates on primarily on photo projects and the creative process (with some technical advice (Photoshop basics, photography basics and a bit more); the other series (138) concentrates on Photoshop and the technical side of things (with some attention to projects and/or the creative process).

Art139A is a prerequisite for Art139B and I would advise you to follow that course. There is the possibility that a student can “convince” me with their work that 139B is a better fit, however, I see the one as an continuation of the other and have constructed the 2 with that in mind. I suspect and hope that my 139A will keep everyone challenged and interested.

I look forward to engaging with you in class.

Best,
Paul Mueller

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Hi Paul
I have two questions about the beginning photography class, firstly, is there going to be any lab hours that will need to be done at Ohlone? I did not see anything about needing to come to Ohlone for this class, but I do need to make sure, as I have a pending work schedule. Also, I couldn’t find the information on the website, and I do not have the printed catalog right now so I couldn’t check, is this class repeatable for credit for three times as most art classes are?Thanks,
Jenny

Hi Jenny,
To answer your first question: no, as long as you have access to a computer with Photoshop you will not be required to come to campus.

And, yes, the course is repeatable 3 times as you guessed. You should be able to access more info from my faculty page which lists and describes all photo courses offered for spring…. http://www2.ohlone.edu/people/pmueller/

Best,
Paul Mueller

Gimme cool classes now!

Photo by Ohlone student Justin Howell

Hi there. I’m the full-time photo instructor at Ohlone College. I’m starting this blog as a way to communicate photo-related information to students and potential students. I want to start out by answering a question I hear from students thinking about enrolling in our online digital photo class. The question goes something like this, “how does it work anyway?”.

First I want to say that it works really well; but that doesn’t address the “how” of it. We use an online client called WebCT or Blackboard - the two companies have merged. Let’s call it Blackboard. With this interface I can provide all the material I could in person and more. It’s possible to provide slide shows of artist work, demo movies for things Photoshop (Ohlone is working out the captioning bugs as I type this), links, comments, and discussions.

When students complete a creative assignment I quickly generate a slide show of all the images and put it on the site. Students then are able to look at the work of their peers and make comments in the discussion area - and this way they have time to think about what they want to say. I can generate my comments by creating a web page and, unlike in the classroom, I can include resources based on what the students have done. For instance, in the classroom I might tell a student that judging from their work I think they should look at the work of photographer Robert Frank; whether they actually take my advice is up to them. It may be inconvenient for them to go to the library or a bookstore. Online however, I can provide some images right with my comments. Given this possibility, I find the online environment to be richer than the traditional classroom.

The online digital class (art139) is a combination of technical activities and instruction and creative photographing activities. Students may use the image editing software of their preference as long as they are able to resize images and make a few minor image adjustments such as brightness.

Enough for now. I hope you’ll sign up for one of our Spring 2008 photo classes. There are several!

- Paul Mueller

over the break, you might want to check out this Ray Metzker exhibit at the Laurence Miller Gallery. A very versatile and thoughtful photographer showing his latest work of mostly cameraless images in the spirit of Man Ray.

If you’re one of us unlucky ones not going to New York over the break, the link below takes you to the gallery site where you can see pretty large versions of all the work in the show.

http://www.laurencemillergallery.com/