THE SMART CENTER - Workshop #10111 - More Than A Snapshot

More Than A Snapshot

The Art and Process of Selecting Powerful Images worth Photographing

Workshop Brief

With the emergence of digital technology and expanded visual storage devices, cameras of all sizes, kinds and quality have become commonplace for virtually everyone from children, amateur photographers and professional photographers to business professionals and artists of all kinds. Many using this full range of cameras have not been trained in art, photography or design but desire the knowledge and ability to “see” great images worth photographing and create beautiful photographs that are well lighted and composed. Unfortunately, few people using digital cameras have received any training in the art of visually composing great images and developing an eye for composition, lighting and cropping.

Additionally, more and more people are interested in using their own images for business purposes or in posting millions of their images on Flicker and other sites. They would like the ability to present images that come closer to a level of aesthetic quality as those that are seen on many sites and in galleries.

Ideal Workshop Candidate

This workshop is designed for the amateur or developing artist-photographer or those interested in taking more than an ordinary snapshot. Participants without a basic knowledge of photographic composition, natural lighting, atmospheric perspective and image editing are the ideal candidite. Workshop participants will be exposed to basic design, photographic composition, lighting and editing AND will participate in a wide range of field trips and photographic composition exercises that will improve the quality of the images. This is NOT a highly technical photographic workshop and will not cover the mechanics of the camera or computer applications such as photoshop. It will focus primarily on the composition, design, lighting, editing and selection of good images. Those seeking a technical knowledge of photography will be better served taking a traditional photography workshop. This class is a class on visual observation and basic image composition.

Instructor

Jack Sprague

Professor, University of North Texas

Education Director, The Smart Center

sprague@unt.edu

Instructor Bio

With a bachelor’s degree in Art and Design Education and a master’s degree in Communication Design, Jack Sprague has 35 years as a practicing artist, designer, art director and educator. He served as the Coordinator of Visual Communications at the Art Institute of Dallas from 1979-1988 and has been Professor of Communication Design at the University of North Texas since 1990 where he served as the area coordinator for fourteen years.

In addition to teaching, Sprague has worked as a graphic designer and art director in both Dallas and NYC and has had his own design business since 1985 working for a diverse array of clients from real estate, architecture firms, corporate branding and communications, banking, fashion and retail to service, social and charitable organizations.

In 2008 Sprague received the Golden Orchard Award for Lifetime Achievement in Design Education from the Dallas Society of Visual Communications, America’s largest professional organization of art directors, designers, commercial photographers, illustrators, copywriters and information designers.