🙋‍♀️ In this weekly club students will improve their photography technique through weekly challenges, peer discussion, and teacher feedback. This class is geared toward elementary and middle school learners who are enthusiastic about photography, whether they are experienced shutterbugs or newly exploring photography. 

📸 I begin each class by welcoming students and giving brief feedback on all learner photos. I ask each learner to share how they tried to meet that week's challenge in each of their photos. In addition to the overview discussion, we carefully analyze at least one photo from each learner each week. We will used on-screen drawing tools to explain how each photo makes use of good photographic techniques and, when applicable, meets the week's theme or challenge. I guide the conversation and help learners develop both their photographic skills and understanding of photography terminology, but encourage learners to lead and participate in the discussion as much as possible. 

💡 Each week ends with a brief introduction to the next week's challenge. I post challenges, including detailed descriptions and photography tips, to the classroom shortly after class so all students have a week to work on the next challenge. 


👉 Anticipated Schedule of Class Topics 👈
June 
27 - Animals in Action

JULY
4  - Independence  
Wherever you live, this week we are looking for photos which celebrate being independent and doing things your own way. 

11 - Split Colors   
Can you keep your photo balanced and well composed while splitting the background into two colors?

18 - Literary Genres
Pick a mood or genre and take five photos which fit that genre perfectly. 
 
25 - Like a Pancake 
Flatten your subject with perspective and focus tricks. 

AUGUST
1  - The Dog Days 
It's getting hot out there this time of year. Celebrate, or survive, the summer heat with photos that make us feel the temperatures.

8  - Do it Wrong  
Pick a rule of photography... and then completely break it while still capturing compelling photos.

15 - On Paper    
Focus your camera on paper this week. We'll be capturing books, documents, and paper cutout projects.

22 - Zero Context
Take photos that captivate your audience, even though we can't tell what the subject is.


 📸 September  📸 
5 - Setting the Scene
Carefully pick every element of your photo to make the most perfect picture you can imagine.

12 - Open Spaces
Landscapes, parks, and parking lots. Celebrate wide expanses and narrow apertures. 

19 - Background Investigation
Explore how different backgrounds can change our perception of a subject.

26 - Portraits
Capturing emotions through photos of faces.

 📸 October 📸 
3 - Explore Exposure
Capture the extremes of light and dark as you explore your camera’s exposure settings.

10 - Change Your Perspective
Change how you feel about a scene by photographing it from an unexpected perspective. 

17 - Embrace Chaos
Tangled plants, messy spaces, industrial wrecks, and other complicated scenes.

24 - Imitation is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery
Choose a work of art and replicate it in photography. 

 📸 November  📸 
1 - Flash!
Learning when to use, or not use, a flash. 

7 - Forced Perspective Tricks
Walk up a wall, hold your pet in the palm of your hand, and shrink cars down to a tiny size. 

14 - Cooking Something Up
Style that plate, adjust your lights, and make your meals look amazing. 

(No meeting the week of Thanksgiving)

28 - High Contrast
In the eternal battle between light and dark, both sides shall claim victory. 

 📸 December 📸 
5 - In the Darkness
As we approach the darkest day of the year, we'll explore low-light photography. 

12 - Learn from Your Mistakes
Revisit photos you have taken which disappoint you. Share both the old version and a newly improved one. 

19 - Crystalize
Taking photos through (and of) crystals and glass. 

(Christmas Break)

 📸 January 📸 
2 - Cozy and Colorful
Warm colors and soft focus can create a comforting mood in the cold of wintertime. 

9 - Connections
Using expressions, eye-lines, and proximity to reveal the connections between people or places. 

16 - Creative Blur
Move your camera and use long exposures to make your subjects shine in an otherwise blurry photo. 

23 - In the Bleak Mid-Winter
Cold, high-contrast, sharp photos show off the bitter chill of January.  

30 - No Straight Lines
Put leading lines and straight paths aside to explore the way of organic shapes.