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HONORS EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM
Complete this proposal prior to your project’s start date and upload it in the UHP Database
(https://webapps.uc.edu/uchonorsstudent). Create a project (“Add a new record”) in the “Tracking Project” tab and then
upload your proposal document as an attachment. The deadline for submitting proposals is on the 5th of each month.
While the quality of the proposal is most important, strong proposals are typically 3-4 pages in length (single-spaced).
Please maintain the proposal format.
Basic Information
Full Name: Irini Sfyris
UC Email: sfyrisii@mail.uc.edu
College: CEAS
Major: Biomedical engineering
Title of Project: A Study in Photography
Thematic Area (choose only one): Creative Arts
Expected Project Start Date: 11/17/2014
Expected Project End Date: 1/9/2015
Project Information
1. Provide a detailed abstract of your proposed honors experiential learning project.
Photography as an art form has always been of interest to me. In high school, I took a beginner photography class
which taught different techniques such as composition, lighting, and exposure. We used a black and white film camera
and learned how to take the photography process from conception to darkroom and development technique. It was a great
class that taught me how to appreciate the art. Since then, I’ve developed more and more of an enthusiasm for taking
pictures. In addition to my high school experience, this has been largely fueled by my annual travels abroad to beautiful
places that are very near and dear to my heart.
This winter, I will be traveling to England and Italy to spend time with family and friends for the holidays. While the
purpose of this trip is not academic in nature, it does give me the unique opportunity to leverage the beautiful scenery
around me and create a learning experience in the art of photography.
About one year ago, I saved up some money to buy a Nikon DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera so I could make
a serious effort at taking better pictures. Since then, I’ve brought it with me for a few trips and I’ve learned the basics of
how to use it, and have ended up with some nice photographs. Now I would like to take the next step and learn some
theory and camera techniques so I can take my pictures to the next level.
In order to do this, I plan to take a few online courses offered through Lynda.com. I browsed their library of
photography content and identified six initial courses that I think will give me the best foundation from which I can later
build. The details of these courses can be found in section three, part B, but in total they will require a time commitment
of 31 hours.
Once this foundation of basic photography theory has been set, I will use my skills to take pictures while on my trip. I
would like the final product of this experience to be a printed and bound photo book that highlights my work and the
places I’ve visited along the way. In addition to this final photo book, I will keep a blog and attempt to upload at least one
photo per day and include some reflection on the place visited as well as techniques used in capturing the photo. I believe
the time required to complete every aspect of this project will meet the 75-90 hour requirement for this experience. The
breakdown of the time requirement is shown in the table below:
Activity
Online courses
Taking pictures
Final picture selection and editing
Details
See section 3, part B for a full
breakdown of courses and time
commitment
Will include going on photo walks,
taking pictures around the house or at
family events, and day trips
Sorting through all photos taken
during each session and selecting 2-3
Time
31h
10h
17h15m
2
Blog post
Compiling photo book
to focus on and spend time editing
(estimating 45m per day during trip)
Uploading picture to blog and writing
quick reflective post (estimating 45m
per day during trip)
Sorting through all pictures taken to
finalize which ones to include in the
book, formatting and arranging
pictures appropriately, writing any
accompanying text to be included
17h15m
5h
Total time: 80h 30m
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)
Learning outcomes for the creative arts thematic area:
- Acquires or further develops competencies within a particular creative domain.
- Possesses ability to define the creative problem; ability to frame and develop a problem statement and appropriate
methodology
- Possess a well-developed awareness of theories and methods in the field.
Photography is both an art and a craft. It is a craft in the sense that it can be highly technical and require knowledge of
optics and mechanics of the camera, among many more complex things, and it’s an art in the sense that no two people will
take exactly the same photograph. It requires an “eye” for the subject at hand and every image reflects the creative process
of the person who captured it. To me, these three learning outcomes address the craft aspect of photography. They say you
have to walk before you can run, and I think the same idea is true for photography. You can’t truly begin to develop the
art until you’ve mastered the craft. Since this project does not cover a large period of time, I don’t feel I will have
developed my craft enough to fully accomplish learning objectives such as “Possesses ability to think innovatively” or
“Connects, synthesizes, and transforms ideas.” I will certainly begin to work on them through practicing, but I don’t feel I
can make enough progress in these areas to declare them as my primary learning objectives.
I chose these three particular learning outcomes because they all work hand-in-hand with each other to form a solid
foundation in the craft of photography. By possessing a well-developed awareness of theories and methods in the field
through study and practice, you give yourself the tools to be able to define the creative problem and develop a problem
statement and appropriate methodology to address it. Through further practice and reflection, this allows for continued
development of competencies within the domain of photography.
That being said, the content of this experience will certainly address each of the chosen learning outcomes
individually. By taking online courses and reading through books and websites, I will gain an awareness of the theories
and methods in the field. These online courses and other resources teach not only the technology being used, but the
potential problems you might encounter in your work and how to handle them (in other words, they address the creative
problems and give ideas and techniques for solutions to them). I will also have access to several reflective worksheets that
will help me start thinking about what questions I need to ask myself when taking a picture in the future, which will also
help me to develop a problem statement and appropriate methodology to solve things in the future. After the theoretical
learning has been done, I will be able to apply the knowledge in practice. Through practice based on proven technique, I
will inevitably further develop my competencies in the craft of photography, and hopefully, the art as well.
3. Connection to Goals and Academic Theories (include reference list, as appropriate)
A. As a biomedical engineering major, this experience probably will not directly impact my
development professionally. There is an argument to be made for learning the technical side of the
craft, such as optics and how aperture relates to the function of the human eye, but this development
opportunity is fairly limited. Academically, this experience will certainly help me become more wellrounded in my interests, and hopefully give me new perspectives I wouldn’t have considered before. I
truly believe it’s important to exercise both halves of the brain, and I always try to balance my
engineering-heavy course load with something less technical, such as French. Personally, this has
always been a goal of mine and I am very excited to grow my skills in that respect. Travel has always
been a huge part of my life and I’ve always wanted a way to capture my memories in a way that
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would do justice to the beauty and the sentimental value of the places I visit. Photography has become
one of my favorite art forms and it seemed like the perfect medium to do just this. And at the end of
the day, I am a bit of a perfectionist, so whatever hobby I undertake I always want to master.
B. In order to connect to relevant theories and methods in the art and craft of photography, I’ve found
several helpful resources to utilize. The first and most important one is a number of courses offered
through Lynda.com. I will use these courses to develop a strong foundation in photographic
technique, which will help me take better photographs when I do begin my trip and actually take my
camera out. These courses and their descriptions are listed below:
Course name and link
Description
Time
Foundations of Photography: Exposure Understand how shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings relate to
3h 24m
one another, and how these settings expand your artistic options with
any photograph.
Foundations of Photography: Lenses
Shows how to understand, choose, and properly use lenses.
2h 32m
Foundations of Photography:
A detailed exploration of the concepts of compositions, from basics
5h 29m
Composition
such as the rule of thirds and leading lines to more advanced topics
such as entry and exit points.
Foundations of Photography: Night
Describes the tools, creative options, and special considerations
4h 0m
and Low Light
involved in shooting with a DSLR camera at night or in low-light
conditions, such as sunset or candlelight.
Travel Photography: Seaside Road
Hit the road with photographer Mikkel Aaland to learn how to tell
45m 28s
Trip
the story of a road trip to a small seaside town.
Photoshop CS4 for Photographers
Demonstrates how the power of Photoshop can make photographers
14h 50m
more passionate about their work.
Total time: 31h 0m
In addition, I will also be utilizing various books and websites as resources. There is a website
entitled Capture Your 365 that I really like and I feel will be very helpful when creating my blog
(described in more detail in section 5). The author of this website has published an e-book which provides
prompts, instructions, and many photo examples to inspire creativity and challenge my photography. The
link to information about this e-book can be found here.
Another resource I will be utilizing is the Complete Guide to Digital Photography by Ian Farrell. I
picked up this book at the bookstore one day when it was on sale and it will serve as yet another reference
for photographic technique that I have available to me. This book works much in the same way as the
courses and the Inspired e-book from Capture Your 365. It provides explanations for photography basics
such as composition and exposure, as well as examples for photo scenarios including portraits and people,
still life, travel, architecture, landscape, and more. The citation for this book is listed below:
Farrell, Ian. Complete Guide to Digital Photography. London: Quercus, 2011. Print.
4. Initiative, Independence, and/or Creativity
This project was my own idea, with guidance by members of the honors department in how to structure it so that I
could truly make it an honors-worthy experience. I feel that I therefore have plenty of initiative because this goal of mine
is not going to happen unless I make it happen. The bulk of the work in planning, proposing, and completing the
experience will be entirely independently done. No one else will be participating in this experience with me as it is selfdesigned and self-taught. I have found several resources that allow me to work on my own to grow my skill set and create
the final product of the photo book. While I may consult my project adviser to measure my progress and get their input on
ways that I could improve, most of the experience will be independently done. In terms of creativity, that’s what this
whole project is all about! The format of the project may not be the most unique thing in the world, but the content is all
about developing creativity.
5. Reflection
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The reflection portion of this project will be completed in two ways: through a daily photo blog that I will maintain to
the best of my ability, and through the process of producing my final product of a finished photo book. In this daily photo
blog, I intend to go through all the photos I have taken for the day, select one or two that I want to focus on, provide some
context for the photo (where I was, what I was doing there, why it’s personally meaningful, etc.), as well as what
particular photographic techniques I used and what could be improved for the next day. In order to supply the photos for a
daily post, I will be using the resources available on Capture Your 365. Each month, they publish a list of photo
challenges, one for every day of the month. I will use these photo lists as a source of inspiration. I will also use the
Inspired e-book published through the same website to try and challenge myself using their photo prompts. Each of the
prompts includes things like “how-to” steps and tips for settings that will be useful for me as I begin to take pictures. The
photo examples all describe their settings, set up, and techniques. Not only will these help me take better pictures, they
will also help guide my reflective process after the fact as an example of what format the blog post should take and what
types of things to write about.
Some more reflection will be done throughout the process of selecting photos to include in the photo book and in
thinking of what kind of captions or thoughts to include in writing in the book as well. When you take pictures with an
artistic goal in mind, you inevitably end up taking several pictures of the same thing, which can end up in hundreds, even
thousands, of pictures over the course of a few weeks. Having to sort through this entire gallery and select maybe twenty
or thirty pictures at most will not be an easy feat to accomplish, and will inherently require reflection to make those
selections.
One of the significant benefits of creating a photo book is that it should show my growth and skill development over
the course of the entire experience. The blog will be a nice detailed supplement to this book, with explanations for many
of the pictures, but the book makes it very easy to quickly go through the pictures and see how the first one differs from
the last. With this in mind, would like to photograph the same object or scene for before and after the experience to see
how the knowledge I will have gained affects how I see the subject of the image. This would be the best way to frame a
reflective essay around the changes I’ve undergone throughout the process because the two images would be directly
comparable.
In terms of my personal reflection and growth, I hope to use this opportunity as motivation to indulge a hobby of
mine. Being in an intense academic program such as engineering (not to mention picking up a French minor and holding a
leadership position in two student organizations) leaves me little time to grow personally and do the things that I love. By
allowing myself time to develop my hobbies, I will hopefully learn more about myself and the things that I enjoy doing,
which may one day translate into finding a fulfilling career path.
6. Dissemination
The way this experience is set up, there are several ways I can disseminate my project. The first and most obvious
choice is through the blog. By choosing a blog as my reflective platform, I enable myself to easily share the information
and what I’ve learned throughout this process. The website that hosts my honors portfolio, Weebly, has a very easy-to-use
blog feature so I plan to keep it there.
The second mode of dissemination will be through the photo book. This will offer a way to visually present my work
and demonstrate all the techniques and skills I developed during the project. Since I will have this professionally printed,
it should be very sturdy and last for some time. I will be able to bring this to show anyone who is interested about what
I’ve done and explain to them the whole learning experience through this book. This would be a great tool to use if I am
asked to speak in front of a class or other group about my honors experiences, as I have been asked to do in the past. In
addition, I will use it to speak to one of my student organizations to show them my self-guided learning experience and
how I’ve taken initiative to fulfill a personal goal of mine and hopefully it will inspire them to take action in their own
lives. As the leadership in our organization gets closer to graduation, we are continually looking for newer members to
step up and take responsibility. I think sharing this experience with them might help them move towards their own
leadership goals. As we also have a few students in the Honors program, this could help them envision their own selfdesigned honors experience as well.
The third and final dissemination method will be through social media. Photography lends itself to being uploaded to
websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. While I will definitely share my blog through social media platforms such
as Facebook for people to read, having the ability to share individual photos or albums will allow me to share my
experiences with friends and family. In addition to these standard social media venues, I will upload a few photos from
the daily photo challenge to the Capture Your 365 website where they host a public gallery. In this way, I can share my
work with other photography enthusiasts and share what I’ve learned with them.
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7. Project Advisor(s)
Holly Smith
Holly.emmeline.smith@gmail.com
(513) 739-7339
Holly graduated from DAAP in 2014 and is a photography enthusiast. She is very familiar with photographic
techniques and basic editing processes and software, but more importantly she will be traveling with me this winter and
will be available for me to speak with her in person about my progress and offer guidance and suggestions.
8. Budget (if applicable)
Item name and link
Inspired E-book
(Capture Your 365)
11x14 Premier Lay-flat
Photo Book
(Snapfish)
Description of purpose
Includes photography prompts and guides to technique, setup, settings, etc. Will serve as inspiration, instruction, and
example for photos and blog posts.
Final product of photography project that will display my
work and facilitate discussion of experience.
Price
$9.00
$89.99
Total: $98.99