Dept of Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences
Instructional Support Group
For information on the Spring 2008 courses, click here
HELLO WORLDThis is the website for the EECS98/198 Digital Photography DeCal course, taught by 2nd-year EECS student Nathan Yan. Email him at nathanyan@berkeley.edu
Classes are every Thursday, 6:30-8:30pm at 310 Hearst Mining (on the northside of campus)
UPDATE - 2007 Dec 12
- I've updated a lot of information for the Spring 2008 courses. You can find the course info page here.
- Thanks to everyone who's come to class consistently - it's been a great first semester teaching and I've definitely learned a lot that I'll be applying to the class next semester. If any of you are interested, the class will be offered again in Spring, but the content and the style will be completely different from this semester.
- Sorry for the delay - Week 12 Assignment on depth of field is posted.
- Next week will be the last week of class. Currently I'm planning to show you guys some neat stuff you can do with software like Photoshop. However, if any of you have any ideas or suggestions (things you want to learn/talk about, or field trip?), send me an email.
- I've created a "supplemental assignment" for the class. There are a few students who aren't able to do the regular assignments due to camera problems, so I will be creating a few software-related assignments for those students (you will need Adobe Photoshop for them, however). These assignments will also cover some of the more interesting things software can do, that we won't have time to cover in class. Completing the supplemental assignments will count towards the 6 requirements needed to complete the class, so you can do these as an alternative, or more ideally, as a supplement. The first supplemental assignment is on converting your color images to black and white
- Just a reminder: No class next week because of Thanksgiving. Enjoy your break!
- Week 11 assignment has been posted. I also forgot to mention a really cool program called ExposurePlot - you can find it under the "resources" section on the assignment page.
- I'm actually going to be creating a couple of additional assignments for some students that have had camera difficulties and can't do the regular assignments. I'll post them up as "supplemental" assignments, but they may be a fun thing to try out (they'll be on topics we're not covering in class), and they'll count towards the 6 total assignments needed to pass the class. Check back in a day or two, hopefully.
- Week 10 assignment has been posted. There are three different assignments to choose from (you need to do 1).
- I'm starting to plan next semester's courses, for which there will be three seperate sections catering to different experience levels and interests. It'll actually be quite different form this semester's courses, so if you're interested you can take any of the sections again. The preliminary syllabi can be found at Advanced Photo, Basic Photo, and Photo for Engineers.
- Sorry for the delay - the Week 9 Assignment on Dynamic range is up. We didn't get to review last week's photos because bspace was downloading very slowly, so we'll look at both Week 8 and Week 9 photos next week.
- I've received some reports that the doors to Hearst Mining have beeen locked around the time class starts, so students can't actually get in (perhaps this is why students attendance has been so low...). I *think* that the backdoor doesn't get locked (go around Hearst Mining, to the pathway between Cory Hall and Hearst Mining - there is a door there). What I'm going to try to do next week is prop the front door open with a chair until maybe 6:45 or 7pm - hopefully I won't get yelled at by the janitors.
- There will eventually be 9 assignments for this class (including the Week 9 assignment, there are 6 so far). Previously I said doing 75% assignments will be a pass. I've now revised this to completing six (6) of the assignments.
- Week 8 Assignment on Flash is up. Keep in mind you can now upload directly to BSpace instead of emailing me the assignments.
- Week 7 Assignment on Noise Reduction is up. Keep in mind you can now upload directly to BSpace instead of emailing me the assignments.
- For next week, I'm going to dedicate the entire class to an in-class photo session (in addition to viewing photos from Week 6/7 assignments). We'll be exploring flash photography, something we've avoided all semester so far. For a preview of the class (and a explanation for why we've been learning low-light techniques first and are finally touching on flash now), see the preview page for Week 8.
- I've finally posted the aggregate results of everyone's stabilization technique tests from Week 2-3.
- Bspace is now online. The assignments are posted, so you can simply upload to bspace instead of emailing to me. Let me know if you have trouble logging in/posting assignments.
- I have filled out all grades according to my records. If you notice a discrepancy in the grading, send me an email.
- Week 6 bonus (optional) assignment is posted up.
- BSpace *should* be up by tomorrow. You'll get an email about it.
- Week 5 assignment is posted up.
- I hope to have a bspace site up sometime this week. You'll get an email when it happens, and then you can submit files through the bspace uploader, instead of emailing them to me.
- I've decided to change the grading policy from attending class to doing the assignments. The primary motivation behind this is that some students have already missed significant amounts of class (beyond the 3 missed lessons I originally specified), and in any case I haven't been keeping track of attendance. The new criteria is to complete 3/4 of the mandatory assignments. When the bspace site is up, I will update whether or not you have completed the assignment there. Assignments are always accepted late. If you have any issues or concerns with this, email me.
- I've posted up a sort of write-up, detailing the image realignment stabilization I demoed in class.
- Week 4 Assignment updated with step-by-step guide. After playing around with GIMPShop, I've realized that the user interface isn't as easy to learn as I thought. I've tested out and posted another free image editing tool - Paint.NET, although it is only available to Windows users.
- I've added a non-course-related blog about the digital photography industry, that takes a look at trends in technology and the market. I'm writing it mostly out of my own personal interest, although it may be interesting for those of you want to get more in-depth into digital camera systems. See the blog here.
- Week 4 Assignment posted. See Week 4 assignment. Check back later for a tutorial on Photoshop.
- Week 3 assignment is the same as Week 2, but is required. If you did this assignment already, I have that on record, although for fun you might want to try one of the other methods - it's all about exploring the different techniques you can use to make your pictures better. See Week 2/3 Assignment.
- Bonus Assignment: Just for fun, here's a little bonus assignment for all of you. Strictly optional, but here's a chance to be a little creative, and at the same time get an even better grasp of how/why blur occurs. See Week 3 Bonus Assignment.
UPDATE - 2007 Sept 13
- Enrollment procedure: If you do not have the CCN yet, email me. You should be able to either enroll in the course or sign up for the waitlist. If not, email me, and I'll be keeping track of a list manually.
- Week 2 assignment has been posted. This is non-mandatory, but will be a *huge* learning experience (like all assignments in this class). See Week 2 Assignment.
- Things got a bit out of hand time-wise and subject-wise today. I'll send out an email over the weekend, but expect some changes next week.
UPDATE - 2007 Sept 12
- The class has been expanded to 50 students, but because of room restrictions, cannot be expanded any further. CCN have been sent out to students who have completed the survey and attended the first class on Sept. 6. If seats are still available, the CCN will be given out in class on the Sept. 13 class. Despite the official class size, all students are welcome to take the course (you just won't get the 2 units).
UPDATE - 2007 Sept 8
- There is an assignment I planned to give out, but most students left and we didn't cover all material anyway. I've now posted the assignment, but it will be non-mandatory. See Week 1 Assignment.
- The lesson notes and powerpoint presentation from Week 1 have been posted. See the lessons page.
- STATUS for class enrollment
Currently there are 60 students who have emailed me about joining the class. I will be putting in a request with the course scheduler to expand the class size on Monday, and once that is done I will give out the CCN. If for some reason (units, scheduling, etc.) you absolutely NEED the CCN now, send me an email and we can address that. - Basic Photography Session, before class on Thursday, Sept 13, 5-6:30pm
While we went very in-depth into the workings of the camera system in Week 1, I got the sense that many students didn't even know the basics concepts of photography, such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO sensitivity, and an exposure "stop". Most of these concepts are essential for what we'll be learning later on in the course, so to that end I'm going to hold a session to explain the basic photography concepts. Depending on interest, I may try to explain integrals, electricity, and photons in that time span as well. Should be a fun and laid back session (It will be much more "hands on" and not a lecture), so if you're reading this and don't plan on enrolling, you might want to still come. This basic photography session is completely OPTIONAL, although I'd encourage everyone who can make it to come. Bring your cameras!
See the Course Info page for more information about the class. If you want to enroll in the class, see link below.
Course syllabus/lesson plan
Email to obtain CCN
