Gateway to Honors Mock Proposal

Basic Information
Full Name: Colin Fralick
UC Email: fraliccn@mail.uc.edu
College: CEAS
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Title of Project: Explorations of Photography
Thematic Area (choose only one): Creative Arts
Expected Project Start Date: April 4, 2015
Expected Project End Date: June 6, 2015
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
I have always enjoyed photography. My pictures usually depict the things around me,
which, for most of my life until coming to UC, consisted of landscapes and nature. Urban
photography and cityscapes have always intrigued me, but I have never really had the
motivation to go out and photograph the city. This project would give me a reason to go and do
so while also furthering my understanding of the basics of composition, something I have never
really put much thought into.
For this project, I will need to research photography techniques and composition
techniques. There are many online resources for this that I will utilize. I will practice these
techniques (research a technique before going out and specifically using that technique in order
to understand how it works and affects the end result). Photos will be shared on a page on my
learning portfolio as well as with the project advisor in order to gather feedback.
For each session of picture taking:
1. 1 hour spent researching a technique or style beforehand.
2. At least 2 hours going out and practicing the researched technique.
3. 1-2 hours afterwards gathering and reflecting on feedback.
I plan on doing this at least twice a week (for 8-10 hours a week) for at least 9 weeks
beginning in the spring.

Clearly and thoroughly address how each of the following elements will be exhibited in your
work:
2. Connection to Learning Outcomes within the Honors Thematic Area (identified above)

Acquires or further develops competencies within a particular creative domain.

I currently do not have a complete understanding of how to fully utilize my camera to its
fullest extent. Research and practice conducted for this project will give me the resources
and motivation to develop my basic skillset into an advanced one. Examples of areas I will
develop competencies in are:
-using aperture to affect to photo
-understanding f-stop, ISO, shutter speed
- advanced compositional techniques. As of now, I really only know of the rule of thirds.

Possess a well-developed awareness of theories and methods in the field.

Researching techniques and methods of composition will increase my awareness of
various and theories and methods. By practicing them and analyzing the results, I will
develop a greater understanding of how these techniques and methods work together and
relate to each other. By seeing how different techniques relate to each other, I will be able
to understand why some things work and others dont.

3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate)

A. I enjoy photography, and I have a nice camera and an understanding of the
basics of it, but never really seem to get around to going out and taking
pictures. I keep meaning to learn more about techniques and composition,
but never get around to it. So, this project will help me further my personal
goal of becoming better at photography.

B. I plan on using mainly free internet resources for my learning resources.

http://photo.net/learn/photography-technique/
I chose this as one of my main resources because it they cover a lot of
styles and techniques from basic to more advanced. Also, the way the site is
laid out is easy to read. I wont have to read through long paragraphs;
everything is said simply. There are also a lot of examples, which will help me
understand things much more quickly as I am a visual learner.
http://digital-photography-school.com/
This site has a lot of guides to using different mode and settings on a
camera effectively. They also have tutorials on techniques ranging from basic
to very advanced.
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/
This site is one of the larger photography sites. They have a lot of
resources and articles dedicated to learning techniques and composition.
They post these as articles, and are an active site with frequent updates and
news. The biggest reason I chose to include this resource is the large quantity
of high quality articles and reviews on an extremely wide range of techniques
and styles.

4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity

My contribution to this project is that I already possess cameras, lenses, all the
equipment I will need for this project. Also, I already know the basics of
photography; I wont need to waste time learning the basic fundamentals and

can get right into learning advanced techniques. I can understand most all
photography concepts, I just need to discover them and practice them.
I have demonstrated initiative for this project because I already have this
head start; I have spent enough time with photography that I know I enjoy it and
want to do more with it.

5. Reflection
I think that reflecting will be a vital part of this project, as it will force me to sit back and
think about what I have done and what I learned from it. Because each foray out into
the world to photograph it will be based on the practice/utilization of a particular
technique or method, I will make an entry into the journal for each set of pictures
before I move on to the next technique. I will sit down and go over the pictures and
write about said technique and the trip. Specific questions to answer in each entry
would be:
-How did it go?
-Was it easy?
-Did I understand it?
-Did I do it well?
-If not, where did I go wrong, and can I fix the issue for next time?
-Describe the technique or method in my own words.
Doing this will help me keep a record of what I have learned from the project, making
the final reflection easier. Also, it will be easier to plan ahead for the next week if I know
what I have already learned and what I need to work on.

6. Dissemination
The photos taken/created during this project will be posted to my learning portfolio
website on their own page. Each photo will have a description of the techniques and/or
methods that were being practiced when the photo was taken.
By posting the photos to my website, they will be shared with people looking to
learn more about me, as well as making it easier for me to share them with people I
know. Choosing this audience (people looking for me/people I know) is relevant to the
project because this project is about my growth as an individual, and as such it belongs
with other things related to my growth, which will be posted to that site as well, albeit
on a different page.

7. Project Advisor(s)
Dave Sanderson
Professional Photography Expert
dave.sanderson.expert@email.com

8. Budget (if applicable)