Eden Prairie Community Education

This course explains how eyesight and the brain work, how the language of visual art teaches us principles and rules that give us a dialect to bridge what we see and what it means. Why are we interested in one image and not another, why are we moved to emotion by lights and shadows, or why can an image speak to the masses, where words might fail to do so. If one understands eyesight, how we translate that information and understand the language, we can begin to understand the art and science of photography. Then we subsequently understand the difference between a casual snapshot and a good photograph.

• How We See, Compose, and Use the Elements of Art
  We will explore human vision and the interconnection of the brain, learning essentially why we see what we see. Then using the Elements of Art, we will study the language to discuss the basis of good composition, framing, and the point of interest. From here we begin to explore the recipes for creating a good photographic image using the Principles of Design
• Photography – Setting the Tone
  This session completes the concept of using the Principles of Design and introduces lighting and exposure to accentuate and create Visual Interest, Mood, and Expression. Understanding light and exposure, focus and clarity, depth of field, emphasis, perspective, and scale, not only allows one to see the image better, but also to create a better image.

*This class can be taken by itself, but it is a part of a 4-part series.