Ed Wesly TIE 535 Final Project

 

I teach at Harrington College of Design in the Digital Photography Department. This lesson explores how different focal length lenses render perspective as part of a larger unit on the parameters of photographic lenses.

Summary of curricular and instructional context:

This unit is designed for the PHO 102 class, Introduction to Digital Photography and Workflow, a first semester studio class in the Associates’ and Bachelor’s Commercial Photography program.

 

Goals and objectives for the unit:

For this class the students become aware of what all the controls of their dSLR camera are capable of. There are 3 main systems of a camera, the sensor (previously film), the shutter, and the lens. The Benchmark assignment for TIE535 Fall 2010 focuses on a particular lesson as described below in what would be the Lens Unit of PHO 102.

At the end of the Lens Unit, the student will understand the parameters of the photographic lens, such as focal length, focus, depth of field, f/stops, plus the different types of lenses, which fall into 3 broad categories, wide angle, normal, and telephoto, how they got their names, and how they render perspective, and what they are used for.

NETS-S and Illinois Learning Standards to be met for the unit:

NETS-T Standard 2-II. PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND EXPERIENCES: Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.

This Lens Unit revolves around the meta-technology of the photographic lens, which in conjunction with the dSLR camera body comprise a computer. (It has all the parts that comprise a computer: input, processor, memory, programs and output.)

In addition ot the 19^th century-rooted photographic technology, various assignments within the Lens Unit will be turned in in the form of various 21st century technologies, namely e-mails sent to the teacher, uploads to a class web site, PowerPoint presentations in class, inkjet prints, and animated files.

 

A description of the pedagogical approaches to be used in the unit including strategies to address diverse student needs:

Since this is a unit to be used in the very first studio class in the digital photography curriculum, the students are diverse in their photographic skills, as the population ranges from those who have been taking pictures with film or digital cameras to those who have just received delivery of their first SLR the first week of class. The typical photo student is usually a non-verbal learner since they are attracted to this visual medium.

The literacy level is all over the place with CPS students, suburban high school graduates and GED’s, all in one group. It is highly unlikely that even the sharpest shooters have done all of the exercises in these topics.

To address this diversity, lessons in the unit are generally presented as a written handouts, illustrated with screen shots, and demonstrated in class, plus a possible PowerPoint presentation/demonstration available to them on the HCD Portal. A grading rubric will be provided in the form of a checklist.

 

The essential understandings and key questions for students that will guide the Lens Unit:

What does a lens do on a camera?

How does it control focus?

How does it influence exposure?

What is the f/stop and what does it do for the final photo?

What is depth of field and how is it controlled?

Why are there a variety of lenses available for cameras?

What do the different families of lenses do for angle of view?

What do the different families of lenses do for perspective?

How do you change the lenses on these types of cameras?

How are the lenses kept clean?

 

A description of what students will know and be able to do as a result of the unit:

Students will be able to identify the different types of lenses as they pertain to the cameras available to them on campus.

Students will be able to check out the different lenses for their cameras and learn what to look for in similarities and differences.

Students will be able to pick the right lens for the shooting assignments.

 

A description of any student produced products from the unit:

To prove that they have checked out the lenses and taken pictures with them to experience the parameters in general, they will present PowerPoints of their images and deliver their mounted and matted Final Five prints.

 

A table of proposed lesson plans for the unit including lesson goals, assessment strategies, and technology activities that may be integrated:

General lesson plans for the lens unit include images shot to experience the following, delivered as PowerPoints:

Images taken with the lens focused at its nearest and farthest settings.

A series of photographs of a deep scene taken through the full range of f/stops available on that lens.

Placing the camera on a stand or tripod in one spot and either switch lenses or zoom through from one extreme of focal length to another.

The “Vertigo” experience of perspective rendering detailed below.

 

A description of the relationships between the unit structure and the frameworks for technology integration introduced in this course (TPACK):

Under cogitation. Pleading running out of time, need to turn in this rough draft, this section is half-baked at the moment and will be perfected by the final turn in time.

 

The sample lesson plan includes:

A description of the context for the lesson within the unit:

The unit explores all the wonderful things lenses do for the photographic image. One of the parameters, the size of an object in a photographic frame can be set by moving closer or further away from it with a fixed focal length lens; it can also be set by zooming a variable focal length lens. But the focus of this particular lesson in the Lens Unit is how the relationship between near and far objects and the middle ground, perspective, is altered by the focal length of the lens. This concept would be the final assignment or capstone for the lens unit.

 

Goals and objectives for the lesson

This lesson in the Lens Unit focuses on the way the three categories of lenses render perspective, by making their own set of animated and printed comparison images with wide-angle, normal and telephoto lenses.

 

NETS-S and Illinois Learning Standards to be met for the lesson:

NETS-T Standard 2-II. PLANNING AND DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS AND EXPERIENCES: Teachers plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.

Not only are the students looking through their viewfinders to notice the change, the adjunct technology experience of making the animation forces them to concentrate on comprehending the distinctions between the perspectives.

 

A description of the pedagogical approaches to be used in the unit including strategies to address diverse student needs:

Since this is a unit to be used in the very first studio class in the digital photography curriculum, the students are diverse in their photographic skills, as the population ranges from those who have been taking pictures with film or digital cameras to those who have just received delivery of their first SLR the first week of class. The typical photo student is usually a non-verbal learner since they are attracted to this visual medium. The literacy level is all over the place with CPS students, suburban high school graduates and GED’s, all in one group. It is highly unlikely that even the sharpest shooters have done a similar exercise in this topic or fully understand it.

To address this diversity, the lesson will be presented as a written handout, a collection of lenses from the Checkout will be brought into class for them to attach to their camera and view standard objects in the classroom/studio, illustrated with screen shots, and demonstrated in class, plus a possible PowerPoint presentation/demonstration available to them on the HCD Portal. A grading rubric will be provided in the form of a checklist.

 

A description of what students will know and be able to do as a result of the lesson:

Students will be able to identify the different types of perspective renderings; normal, compressed, and fore-shortened.

Students will be able to identify which type of lens took the different types of perspective renderings.

Students will be able to identify when to use the different types of perspective renderings.

New technology that they will also learn to fulfill the in-class deliverable requirement is how to build images with Layers in Photoshop; to use Guides and Opacity to align these Layers; to Transform these layers for proper size alignment; to use the Animation Palette to “morph” between the views; to save the animation as a .gif or .mov.

 

A description of any student produced products from the lesson:

The final presentation of the project will be a ppt of the three lenses’ views, including the animation file, plus a print of the 3 views side by side on one sheet of photo paper.

 

A list of materials to be used in the lesson including paper, manipulative, classroom, and electronic resources:

Handouts on how to set up, turn in the images with a grading rubric.

Lenses of the appropriate to be checked out from the Cage

Virtual copies of handouts on Portal.

PowerPoint demonstration on Portal including finished example.

 

A description of the activities for the lesson including integrated technology activities:

Demonstration of how to set up the shots in classroom or studio.

Students shoot the same or similar set up in classroom or studio with their own cameras and the appropriate lenses checked out of the department’s stash.

Go to Mac Lab and to demonstrate the techniques to animate to make their own version using the Animation Palette in Photoshop.

Collaging the three views into one photographic print using the Epson Printers in the “Print Alley”.

 

A description of the assessment strategy and examples of associated rubrics or other assessment materials developed for the lesson:

Project the ppt’s and animations and see if the vertiginous effect is observed. Attention will be paid to the position of the reference point in the scene to make sure the 3 scenes line up properly for maximum effect. Rubric to follow (plead rough draft prerogative again.)