Making and sharing photos has become a routine part of our lives. Where once photography was a technical skill we had to learn, now anyone with a phone can be a photographer. This hand's-on learning course is about becoming a better photographer. You’ll learn how to use photography to communicate ideas effectively and with greater impact in presentations, posters, theses, scientific reports, campaigns and other work, and you’ll develop and strengthen practical photography skills such as composition, exposure, digital image processing, photographic workflows, printing, sequencing and curation. The aim in this course isn't simply to teach you photography skills. Rather, it's to teach you the skills you need to be able to create a visual exploration of a challenging sustainability topic of your choice.

Is this course for you?

• This experiential learning course is available to ENV students who will be in their 3^rd or 4^th year in fall, 2022. With permission of the instructor, students in 2^nd year, and students from outside the Faculty of Environment, may be permitted to enroll. Enrollment is limited to 30 people.
• If you already have some skills and training in photography, then you'll have a head-start on the technical aspects -- but you definitely don't need to be an expert. Peer learning will be important, so if you already have advances skills, I'll ask you to share your skills with your colleagues during classes and labs.
• To participate in this course, you must own or have access to an appropriate digital camera. See below for details on the kind of camera you’ll need. As you’ll see, an older camera that has the right features will be just fine. You'll also be able to use your phone camera, but it can't be your only camera.
• The course is designed for self-starters. I will provide basic training in Adobe Lightroom during the lab session, and I'll teach core skills during class sessions and in online material. Nonetheless, you need to be able to learn and practice technical skills independently.
• There will be a $50 lab fee to cover printing expenses. The lab session takes place on Teams. You will need your own copy of Adobe Lightroom Classic. Currently the Adobe Suite (which includes Lightroom) is available for $90 per term through the W store.

How is the course going to be delivered in Fall 2022?

I'm using a hybrid model to give us the most flexibility during these unusual times. There will be some online components, but there are also mandatory in-person components. This is a course for people who are able to attend the University of Waterloo in-person during Fall, 2022.

• You must register for one of two in-person sections (see schedule on Quest). During these sessions, we'll meet in the Faculty of Environment Design Studio to conduct the hand's-on part of the learning experience.
• Each week where we have substantive lessons, I'll provide a pre-recorded overview of key concepts that you can watch any time prior to the week's in-person session. These overviews will be maximum 1 hour in length.
• A separate lab 2 hour lab session each week during the first half of the term will bring both sections together on Teams for training in image post processing (using Lightroom).

Assignments and deliverables

Several small assignments are used to build skills. The main assignment in the course focuses on the theme of “photography for sustainability”. To complete the assignment, you’ll develop a portfolio of images designed to communicate sustainability or unsustainability, and a supporting report. Your project can focus on any relevant theme, scale or topic. To support the major project, you'll write a short research paper on the underlying sustainability challenges and opportunities. For the major project, I will strongly encourage you to draw on interests and expertise you've developed already through courses, employment, and volunteer activities.

About me

I'm a Professor in the School of Environment, Resources and Sustainability. For most of my career I've studied and taught water policy and governance in Canada and around the world. I've also been a photographer during this time. Photography used to be what I did for myself. However, starting in 2020 I made photography the core of my research and teaching activities. I "retired" my water governance research and teaching program, and launched a new direction that focuses on how we can bring art and science together to create new awareness of how water works and why its important. My art is based on photography, primarily black and white, but I’m expanding into colour. You can see my work on my web site. In this new research program I'm collaborating with water management organizations that are interested in exploring how bringing art and science together through photography can help them engage key stakeholders more effectively.

Resources

• I’ve prepared detailed advice regarding the kind of camera equipment you’ll need. See What kind of camera will you need? to learn if the camera you have is good enough, and if it isn’t, the kind of camera you need to borrow or buy.
• If you don’t have a camera that meets the basic requirements, and you’re going to borrow one from someone, or buy your own used camera, see the advice here: Used camera buying/borrowing advice. An older used camera in good condition can be an inexpensive option.