The New Year

Hi Folks:

I hope everyone had some quality personal time over the break (which, for me at least, always includes pressing the shutter release a few times).

So welcome back to the school and to the course.

I thought I might ask your opinion on a notion I had recently about the assignments for the course: some "special projects."  We can substitute these for other assignments so you have more choice.

One topic that I have enjoyed exploring is HDR photography.  Here are some HDR images, so you know what I'm talking about.  It can produce a very "painterly" look, is great fun to play with — and has the general reputation in the field for being overdone!

Another special topic you might want to pursue is macro photography.  I suspect most of you are familiar with that term — Here are some macro images for your viewing pleasure.  If you wish to work on macro as a substitute for an existing assignment, let me know.

A third idea that occurred to me was the topic of low-light photography, one of my own favorites.  The images linked are not particularly powerful, but will give you some ideas.

Finally — this might be harder to do:  I was wondering who might be interested in a virtual photographic field trip.  We would all agree to go out on one weekend and take photos to share on flickr, then comment on each others' work.

If you'd like to follow up on any of these, let me know — comments made right here in the blog would also help us to build our learning community!

Welcome back.