Art and theater teachers bring new vision to Photography classes

   Posted Nov. 6, 2025

Noah Stewart

Cub Reporter

Photography class is helping students express themselves with their creativity and passion through the camera lens.

There are currently three teachers scattered across the schedule: Michael Givler, David Rosenbaum, and Katy Coughlin. The former Photography teacher taught it full-time but they left. Givler said that while principal Jennifer Buscher was compiling the schedules, she offered him and Rosenbaum to teach a study skills class for freshmen, but they chose to teach Photography instead.

Photography focuses on going over the camera basics, learning new techniques and skills, and using editing softwares such as Adobe Bridge and Adobe Photoshop. Rosenbaum said that they’ve talked about camera concepts, such as the rule of thirds, adjusting the shutter speed, or blurring the background to make a picture look better.

Photography can do many things for students, and Givler says that our culture has been so visual with social media and digital media generally, so the basics of photography, storytelling, and composition are huge things to get their brains around the culture. Givler said that students will be able to understand the deeper message from an artist’s photos or a marketing company using images to convey an emotion.

Students get to do little projects that explore their creative realm. For example, students get to go outside and take photos of what they find. So over time, students will develop their skills and tools. Rosenbaum mentioned that it’s like finding something about your world, and who you are.

“I’d say it’s pretty fun,” said sophomore Ryker Vanhagen. “You get to take pictures, go outside, and hang out with your friends.”

Rosenbaum said that any student can get something out of the class. If they’re ambitious and artistically thinking to have the freedom to go around and capture their world, they can learn how to compose a picture and learn more about the technology of photography.

"Photography is a way to find beauty in the stuff that you walk past every day and don't notice," said Rosenbaum, "or to find things that are interesting and a way to capture that.”