DPP Outline and Calendar

The box

My approach in my first OCA course was simply to go to Part One and start working on exercises. There were more than a few times along the way I wish I had previewed content, exercises and assignments. I might have saved myself some work if I had.

So this time around I sat down with the folder and the materials and gave them a thorough once over before beginning any photography or processing. And what I have found is that much of the course is similar to what came before in The Art of Photography.

Part One deals with workflow and is perhaps the one area that isn't covered at all in TOAP. Ironically, it is the one assignment that is not counted toward assessment.

Part Two covers white balance, noise, dynamic range – all covered to some degree in TAOP. The assignment for this part looks most challenging and possibly the most rewarding in terms of learning and outcomes, requiring shooting specific types of scenes in jpg with no post processing. The idea here is to think carefully about lighting and how the camera interprets light to maximize in-camera capture. There is a follow-up task requiring a reflection and reshoot.

Part Three continues with color and looks more interpretive. Switching back to RAW files, we work at tonal adjustments to create a variety of image types: color cast, high/low contrast, monochrome. The assignment calls for a thematically based collection of B&W images.

Part Four looks at more radical adjustments, such as deletions, additions, and blending. The final assignment looks to be almost identical to an exercise from TAOP in which we were asked to create a book cover.

Part Five has one small exercise on sharpening, followed by an optional web gallery project, and finishes with an open-ended assignment of 10-12 images.

Outside of Part Two, the course doesn't appear all that demanding, though I'm sure there is more to the journey than I am presently anticipating.

As for subjects or themes, it appears I may be able to concentrate most of my work around my street photography project. At least once a week I shoot in a two-block radius (or three metro station radius) of my flat on Sheikh Zayed Road. There are a few calls for portraits, which I'll either have to work around or find some willing subjects. Landscapes can, I assume, be streetscapes.

As for reading, three of the five “essential” texts are technical reference works, not books you sit to read and ponder. I'd very much like to read the other two. I've had Liz Wells' Critical Introduction at hand for weeks but have only flipped through it. I also have access to Caruana's Research in Photography and would like to finish this as well. I have included both in my outline below.

I have set tentative dates of completion and hope to have all this work finished and submitted for assessment before the 2014 summer break.

DPP materials

Part One: Workflow (end of October)
Exercise 1: workflow for a specific subject in a defined period: perhaps focus on a place or landmark at a particular time of day on SZR
Exercise 2: workflow for an open-ended project: report on my ongoing project; shoot with Exercise 3 and 4 in mind
Exercise 3: Use images from Exercise 2 (low, average, and high contrast) to analyze histogram
Exercise 4: use a set of 50+ images to demonstrate editing process (images from Ex 2, perhaps)
Assignment: Pick an SZR theme, devise a workflow, produce 6-12 images on the subtheme
Reading/Viewing: any published examples of street photography workflow
Wells: Chapter 1
Caruana: Chapter 1


Part Two: Digital Image Qualities (by mid-December)
Exercise 5: work with an existing image to modify gamma curves
Exercise 6: five images of one set-up, a high contrast scene to demonstrate clipping (could be on SZR)
Exercise 7: daylight indoors, tripod, series of shots in each ISO setting available, demonstrate noise
Exercise 8: high contrast scene with white card
Exercise 9: five differently lit scenes (could be on SZR)
Exercise 10: 3 outdoors scenes under sunlight, cloud, open shade (could be on SZR); a mixed indoor/outdoor scene at dusk (SZR from my flat)
Assignment: Scene types are specified, but all of them can be found on SZR; indoor scenes may be able to find at hotels or shops along SZR
Wells: Chapter 2
Caruana: Chapter 2


Part Three: Monochrome (end of January)
Exercise 11: shoot a scene in RAW and jpg to compare differences (could be on SZR)
Exercise 12: use existing photographs to make tonal and color adjustments
Exercise 13: use existing photographs to make color adjustments
Exercise 14: use existing photograph to make adjustments and produce three interpretive versions
Exercise 15: shoot and process one scene in B&W
Exercise 16: use two existing photos to produce high contrast and low/high key interpretations
Exercise 17: find or shoot an image with contrasting colors and produce two monochrome versions
Exercise 18: produce a landscape, portrait, or image of a garden, convert to B&W with specific attention to particular color channels (could be on SZR, either skyline-landscape or street portrait)
Assignment: 5-10 images on any theme shot for B&W
Assignment: Brief for the Final Assignment
Wells: Chapter 3
Caruana: Chapter 3


Part Four: Reality and intevention [sic] (end of February)
Exercise 19: existing photos with dust and flares; sample files available for downlaod
Exercise 20: use or take a portrait and make tonal adjustments to face
Exercise 21: make a portrait under specified conditions to modify globally and specifically (same model could be used for 20 and 21)
Exercise 22: one landscape/skyline w/ differing exposures
Exercise 23: existing or shot for use of an image from which an element must be removed
Assignment: Create a book cover
Wells: Chapter 4
Caruana: Chapter 4


Part Five: The Final Image (end of April)
Exercise 24: portrait processed to four versions, printed and compared
Optional Project: Web gallery
Assignment: 10-12 images on a theme demonstrating principles from the course
Wells: Chapter 5-7
Caruana: Chapter 5-6


Assessment: Materials ready by end of May for July assessment

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