Course schedule

CS 178 - Digital Photography
Spring Quarter, 2011
Marc Levoy
Handout #2

Here is the current version of the course schedule. It is also available online at http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs178-11/schedule.html, and will be continuously updated as changes are made. In particular, lecture titles and assignment names will become clickable shortly after a lecture is given or an assignment made. Readings should be completed before the date on which they appear in the schedule, except for the first week. "London" and "Peterson" refer to your textbooks; "http" readings are online; all other readings are from your course reader.

Date Lectures (and links to slides) Readings and applets Coursework and section meeting

Week 1:
Tue Mar 29 Image formation
natural & linear perspective, pinholes and lenses,
aperture, shutter, motion blur, depth of field, ISO London (10th edition), chapter 2 - camera
Flash applet: Variables that affect exposure
Fill out survey for Photoshop,
camera, & section (by Wed 11:59pm)

Thu Mar 31 Choosing a camera
History of photography (part 1)
invention of photography, the age of portraits
Extreme photography London, chapter 18 - history of photography Assignment #1 - bad photos
(due Sunday, April 3, 11:59pm)

(No section meetings this week.)

How digital cameras work

Week 2:
Tue Apr 5 Optics I: Lenses and apertures
lensmaker's formulae, ray tracing, lenses & perspective transforms, aperture, depth of field formulae London, chapter 3 - lens,
Hecht, Optics, 5.1-5.2
Flash applets: Thin lens, Gaussian lens formula Assignment #2 - Sports & Action
(due Sunday, April 10, 11:59pm)

Thu Apr 7 Optics II: Practical photographic lenses
aberrations & distortion, glare & flare, vignetting, diffraction & sharpness, lens design, telephoto & zoom lenses Flash applets: Depth of Field, Telephoto zoom lenses Section meetings (in Gates B02):
get to know your camera, introduction to Photoshop,
look at pictures from assignment #1, What is a digital image?

Week 3:
Tue Apr 12 History of photography (part 2)
documenting the world, the beginning of photojournalism
Composing good photographs London, chapter 17 - seeing photographs, Bryan Peterson, Learning to See Creatively,
Ansel Adams, Making of 40 Photographs Assignment #3 - macro photography
(due Sunday, April 17, 11:59pm)

Thu Apr 14 Sampling and pixels
resolution and human perception, sampling and aliasing, filtering by convolution, sampling vrs quantization Moller, Real-Time Rendering, 5.6.1
Flash applet: Spatial convolution Section meetings (walkabout):
macro photography in the Stanford cactus garden

Automated camera subsystems

Week 4:
Tue Apr 19 Autofocus (AF)
viewfinders, view cameras, tilt-shift lenses, passive vrs active autofocusing, phase vrs contrast detection London, chapter 15 - view camera,
Goldberg, Dark Side of the Lens, 1.11-1.20
Flash applets: Autofocus using phase detection or contrast detection Assignment #4 - architecture/interiors
(due Sunday, April 24, 11:59pm)

Thu Apr 21 Exposure metering (AE)
the dynamic range problem, metering technology
Image stabilization (IS) avoiding camera shake, optical stabilization technologies London, chapter 16 - the zone system Section meetings (in Gates B02):
tutorial on image adjustments in Photoshop

Week 5:
Tue Apr 26 Photons and sensors
how digital sensors work, CCD versus CMOS, microlenses and antialiasing, color sensing technologies
Light field photography London, chapter 4 - exposure and sensors,
http://learn.hamamatsu.com/articles/digitalimagebasics.html,
http://learn.hamamatsu.com/articles/microscopyimaging.html no weekly assignment,
study for your midterm

Thu Apr 28 Noise and ISO
sources of noise, SNR, dynamic range, ISO, denoising
Night photography & astrophotography http://learn.hamamatsu.com/articles/ccdsnr.html Section meetings (in Gates B02):
look at photographs from last three weeks, review for midterm

Mon May 2 Midterm, 7-9pm, Hewlett 200 Review slides: What will be on the midterm?

Week 6:
Tue May 3 History of photography (part 3)
photography as art, genres, Naturalism, Pictorialism London, chapter 8 - digital darkroom,
London, chapter 9 - image editing
Assignment #5 - still life
(due Sunday, May 8, 11:59pm)

Thu May 5 In-camera image processing
demosaicing, gamma curves, tone mapping, HDR, denoising and sharpening, compression and file formats London, chapter 10 - digital printing,
London, chapter 11 - organizing and storing
Flash applet: Gamma correction (No section meetings this week.)

Color and lighting

Week 7:
Tue May 10 Color I: trichromatic theory
color spectra, color sensitivity, color matching, 3D color spaces, additive versus subtractive color mixing London, chapter 7 - color,
Stone, A field guide to digital color, 1
Flash applets: Introduction to color theory, Color matching, Additive versus subtractive color mixing Assignment #6 - landscape and nature
(due Sunday, May 15, 11:59pm)

Thu May 12 Color II: applications in photography
cylindrical spaces, chromaticity diagrams, color temperature, white balancing, standardized RGB spaces, gamut mapping Minneart, Light and Color...Outdoors, 11 Flash applets: Chromaticity diagrams, Gamut mapping Section meetings (walkabout):
landscape photography at the Dish (and maybe animals?)

Week 8:
Tue May 17 Light and reflection
radiometry & photometry, measures of light, diffuse & specular reflection, BRDFs, Fresnel equations Reinhard, HDR Imaging, 2.1-2.2,
Dorsey, Modeling...Material Appearance, 3 Assignment #7 - night and color
(due Sunday, May 22, 11:59pm)

Thu May 19 Photographic lighting
lighting for portraiture, studio lighting, key & fill, flash photography, flash-noflash & multi-flash London, chapter 13 - lighting,
Hunter, Light Science and Magic, 7 Section meetings (in Gates B02):
look at landscape photographs, advanced editing in Photoshop

Bonus topics

Week 9:
Tue May 24 History of photography (part 4)
photography as a tool, technological improvements, industrial and scientific uses, provoking social reform, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, photographers of the FSA Assignment #8 - portraiture
(due Wednesday, June 1, 11:59pm)

Thu May 26 Take apart a camera !!
Animation of assembling a Canon 10D camera (Matthew Farrell, Michelle Pang, Michael Tom, UC Berkeley) Section meetings (in Gates B02):
studio portraits, lighting will be provided

Week 10:
Tue May 31 Panoramas
panoramic cameras, stitching, perspective vrs cylindrical
The Camera 2.0 Project
and the Stanford Frankencamera
History of photography (part 5)
the modern age, snapshot photojournalism, post-modernism Flash applet: Cylindrical panoramas no weekly assignment,
study for your final

Thu June 2 (no lecture) Section meetings (in Gates B02):
Tues-Thu only, optional, review for final exam

Fri June 3 Final exam, 3:30 - 6:30pm, Hewlett 201 Review slides: What will be on the final?

Date	Lectures (and links to slides)	Readings and applets	Coursework and section meeting
Week 1: Tue Mar 29	Image formation natural & linear perspective, pinholes and lenses, aperture, shutter, motion blur, depth of field, ISO	London (10th edition), chapter 2 - camera Flash applet: Variables that affect exposure	Fill out survey for Photoshop, camera, & section (by Wed 11:59pm)
Thu Mar 31	Choosing a camera History of photography (part 1) invention of photography, the age of portraits Extreme photography	London, chapter 18 - history of photography	Assignment #1 - bad photos (due Sunday, April 3, 11:59pm) (No section meetings this week.)
How digital cameras work
Week 2: Tue Apr 5	Optics I: Lenses and apertures lensmaker's formulae, ray tracing, lenses & perspective transforms, aperture, depth of field formulae	London, chapter 3 - lens, Hecht, Optics, 5.1-5.2 Flash applets: Thin lens, Gaussian lens formula	Assignment #2 - Sports & Action (due Sunday, April 10, 11:59pm)
Thu Apr 7	Optics II: Practical photographic lenses aberrations & distortion, glare & flare, vignetting, diffraction & sharpness, lens design, telephoto & zoom lenses	Flash applets: Depth of Field, Telephoto zoom lenses	Section meetings (in Gates B02): get to know your camera, introduction to Photoshop, look at pictures from assignment #1, What is a digital image?
Week 3: Tue Apr 12	History of photography (part 2) documenting the world, the beginning of photojournalism Composing good photographs	London, chapter 17 - seeing photographs, Bryan Peterson, Learning to See Creatively, Ansel Adams, Making of 40 Photographs	Assignment #3 - macro photography (due Sunday, April 17, 11:59pm)
Thu Apr 14	Sampling and pixels resolution and human perception, sampling and aliasing, filtering by convolution, sampling vrs quantization	Moller, Real-Time Rendering, 5.6.1 Flash applet: Spatial convolution	Section meetings (walkabout): macro photography in the Stanford cactus garden
Automated camera subsystems
Week 4: Tue Apr 19	Autofocus (AF) viewfinders, view cameras, tilt-shift lenses, passive vrs active autofocusing, phase vrs contrast detection	London, chapter 15 - view camera, Goldberg, Dark Side of the Lens, 1.11-1.20 Flash applets: Autofocus using phase detection or contrast detection	Assignment #4 - architecture/interiors (due Sunday, April 24, 11:59pm)
Thu Apr 21	Exposure metering (AE) the dynamic range problem, metering technology Image stabilization (IS) avoiding camera shake, optical stabilization technologies	London, chapter 16 - the zone system	Section meetings (in Gates B02): tutorial on image adjustments in Photoshop
Week 5: Tue Apr 26	Photons and sensors how digital sensors work, CCD versus CMOS, microlenses and antialiasing, color sensing technologies Light field photography	London, chapter 4 - exposure and sensors, http://learn.hamamatsu.com/articles/digitalimagebasics.html, http://learn.hamamatsu.com/articles/microscopyimaging.html	no weekly assignment, study for your midterm
Thu Apr 28	Noise and ISO sources of noise, SNR, dynamic range, ISO, denoising Night photography & astrophotography	http://learn.hamamatsu.com/articles/ccdsnr.html	Section meetings (in Gates B02): look at photographs from last three weeks, review for midterm
Mon May 2	Midterm, 7-9pm, Hewlett 200	Review slides: What will be on the midterm?
Week 6: Tue May 3	History of photography (part 3) photography as art, genres, Naturalism, Pictorialism	London, chapter 8 - digital darkroom, London, chapter 9 - image editing	Assignment #5 - still life (due Sunday, May 8, 11:59pm)
Thu May 5	In-camera image processing demosaicing, gamma curves, tone mapping, HDR, denoising and sharpening, compression and file formats	London, chapter 10 - digital printing, London, chapter 11 - organizing and storing Flash applet: Gamma correction	(No section meetings this week.)
Color and lighting
Week 7: Tue May 10	Color I: trichromatic theory color spectra, color sensitivity, color matching, 3D color spaces, additive versus subtractive color mixing	London, chapter 7 - color, Stone, A field guide to digital color, 1 Flash applets: Introduction to color theory, Color matching, Additive versus subtractive color mixing	Assignment #6 - landscape and nature (due Sunday, May 15, 11:59pm)
Thu May 12	Color II: applications in photography cylindrical spaces, chromaticity diagrams, color temperature, white balancing, standardized RGB spaces, gamut mapping	Minneart, Light and Color...Outdoors, 11 Flash applets: Chromaticity diagrams, Gamut mapping	Section meetings (walkabout): landscape photography at the Dish (and maybe animals?)
Week 8: Tue May 17	Light and reflection radiometry & photometry, measures of light, diffuse & specular reflection, BRDFs, Fresnel equations	Reinhard, HDR Imaging, 2.1-2.2, Dorsey, Modeling...Material Appearance, 3	Assignment #7 - night and color (due Sunday, May 22, 11:59pm)
Thu May 19	Photographic lighting lighting for portraiture, studio lighting, key & fill, flash photography, flash-noflash & multi-flash	London, chapter 13 - lighting, Hunter, Light Science and Magic, 7	Section meetings (in Gates B02): look at landscape photographs, advanced editing in Photoshop
Bonus topics
Week 9: Tue May 24	History of photography (part 4) photography as a tool, technological improvements, industrial and scientific uses, provoking social reform, the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, photographers of the FSA		Assignment #8 - portraiture (due Wednesday, June 1, 11:59pm)
Thu May 26	Take apart a camera !!	Animation of assembling a Canon 10D camera (Matthew Farrell, Michelle Pang, Michael Tom, UC Berkeley)	Section meetings (in Gates B02): studio portraits, lighting will be provided
Week 10: Tue May 31	Panoramas panoramic cameras, stitching, perspective vrs cylindrical The Camera 2.0 Project and the Stanford Frankencamera History of photography (part 5) the modern age, snapshot photojournalism, post-modernism	Flash applet: Cylindrical panoramas	no weekly assignment, study for your final
Thu June 2	(no lecture)		Section meetings (in Gates B02): Tues-Thu only, optional, review for final exam
Fri June 3	Final exam, 3:30 - 6:30pm, Hewlett 201	Review slides: What will be on the final?

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