BHS Photography Year 1:  Ms. Rudnick

What’s It All About?

Photography is a ‘technical’ art class, in other words, the camera and the computer become your tools to use to implement your creative vision. Understanding Composition through the Elements and Principles of Art and Design will be the focus, but these ideas will be taught in the contest of acquiring the technical skills needed to use a camera, computer for , and lighting equipment creatively.  Anyone can take snapshots with a phone, for example, but in this class, you will go far beyond the ‘point and shoot’ mentality to learn how to use a camera as a tool to express your feelings and ideas, and how to compose a photograph carefully so that it is meaningful to any viewer. Photography will encourage and challenge each student's talents, creativity, and critical thinking skills in their journey toward self-expression, personal awareness and self-esteem.

We are very fortunate here at BHS to not only have digital 35 mm SLR cameras for student use, we also have a unique and beautiful campus to photograph! It is great if you have your own camera, but it is NOT necessary!

In this class we will cover:

•     History of Photography
•     Pin-Hole camera experience in the wet darkroom (we are the only campus in the Kern High School District that still has a traditional, wet, darkroom!)
•     Digital camera technology and use
•     Use of Adobe Photoshop editing program for photo enhancement and manipulation
•     Compositional principles and elements of design
•     Use of ‘Light’ in photography
•     Careers in photography
•     Photographic evaluation (making informed judgments about photographs)

Photography is a very HANDS-ON experience, and if you are someone who like to express your creativity visually, then, class is for you!