activities & major assignments

Students are introduced to the following photographic techniques, processes, and materials through demonstrations, discussions, and hands-on practice:

Darkroom Developing and Printing:

        • Photograms

        • Pinhole Cameras

        • Black & White Film

Compositional Exercises:

        • Rule of Thirds

        • Centered/Vanishing Point

        • Point-of-view (1st person / 3rd person)

SLR Camera Basics:

        • Shutter Speed

        • F-stops

        • ISO

        • Lenses

Lighting Basics:

        • Multiple-point Lighting

        • Stroboscopic Photography

        • Studio Portraiture and Still-life photography

History of Photography:

        • Early Photographic Processes

        • Development of Cinema

        • History of Photojournalism

        • Portraiture

        • Conceptual and Manipulated Photography

Class assignments will apply these techniques to more personal and creative projects. These projects are designed to challenge students on technical, artistic, and communicative grounds.

Scavenger Hunt

In order to start seeing how anything can become an interesting and beautiful subject of a photograph, as well as the power of the artist's creative interpretation.

Historical Character Portrait

Students plan, stage, and shoot a portrait photograph that re-creates a portrait of a famous historical character.

Still Life Photography

As part of our unit on studio lighting for photography, students design and stage a still life photograph.

Book Cover Design

Students design a book cover that uses one of their own original photographs in the design. This assignment combines creative thinking with photography, layout and graphic design.

Informal Portraiture Photography

    • photographing people outside of the formal studio

    • approaching people, interviewing people, and getting permission to photograph them

    • study the work and interviews with Bruce Gilden, Garry Winogrand, Diane Arbus, and Brandon Stanton

Studio Portraiture

Students apply what they've learned about formal studio lighting and composition to the task of shooting professional headshots for the school's drama department.

Stroboscopic Photography

Students learn how to synch their camera, shutter speed, and a strobe light to take photographs of things in motion. In conjunction with this project, students will learn about the groundbreaking work of scientist, inventor and photographer Harold "Doc" Edgerton, who became famous for his stroboscopic projects at MIT.