J210 Introduction to Photojournalism

An exploration of journalistic photography as applied to newspaper, magazine, visual multimedia and the photo essay. The primary goal of the course will be to emphasize the technical aspects in journalistic photography such as composition, editing, and presentation and to support student’s exploration and growth as visual journalists. Students will be working on weekly assignments that will directly correlate with the material covered in class. Assignments include real time shooting experiences such as being credential to a Cal athletic event, working on news and feature photo stories, and a photo essay. This course will require students to work on assignments and to improve not only their conceptual understanding of the medium, but their technical, shooting and editing knowledge of photography with instructor support. Each student will choose a photo essay project that he/she will work on at the end of the semester and should exemplify the skills and concepts that were covered in class. A Photoshop tutorial will also be incorporated into class lectures. The sessions will cover the basic tools applicable to image manipulation, color correction, and output. The course and its content will be, of course, to a large extent determined by the questions raised by students, their levels of experience in the medium, as well as their final goals. Students at beginning and intermediate skill levels are encouraged to sign up for this class, and advanced digital cameras and lenses are available for loan throughout the semester.