Lowell — A beautiful fall day on the Lowell High School grounds was the perfect setting for close-up photos of leaves, bugs, berries and whatever else struck students’ eyes.
With a Canon EOS Rebel digital SLR camera, senior Lily Ping zeroed in on ripe red crabapples hanging from a tree.
“I’ve always had a Pinterest eye, and I just like to take pictures,” Lily said about opting to take Digital Photography, a trimester elective class. “I just wanted to learn more about the cameras, and how to do it as a hobby to take pictures of my friends, or me or other stuff.”
She added: “One of my strengths is the close-up shots, so I am glad to know how to do that.”
In the days of ever-advancing AI-enhanced smart phones, photography is interwoven into the lives of many high-schoolers who are constantly snapping photos to capture moments and communicate.
In teacher Chris Phillips’ digital photography class, however, they are learning the “how-tos” of photography: settings, parts and techniques for becoming a good shutterbug, whether using an SLR camera, any other kind of camera or a phone.
On that fall morning, students searched for good close-up subjects with plans to turn in 10 edited shots for their class portfolios. To prepare, they learned about focus distance, macrolenses, close-up filters and extension lenses.
“I was never really into photography before I took this class, but this makes me take better pictures and it’s fun,” said senior Brayden Brubaker. “I’ve learned about aperture, making the background blurry and what should be in focus and what shouldn’t be, and about angles and that stuff.”
From Novelty to Almost a Relic
Phillips has been teaching digital photography for 18 years as the medium has evolved from an expensive hobby to a ubiquitous part of everyday life.
A longtime photography hobbyist, Phillips has photographed weddings, senior photos and other portraits. He specializes in landscape photography, using a Sony mirrorless camera on hikes and other outdoor adventures.
“It’s fun to work with kids in something you know and love,” he said. A popular class, he created the curricula for which, over this school year’s trimesters, he will teach five sections of Digital Photography 1 and two of Digital Photography 2.
Students learn composition, lightroom software for editing, aperture, shutter speed and themes like color, lines, textures and patterns, plus the history of digital photography. By the end of the trimester they have completed portfolios of their best work.
“It’s for sure evolved,” he said with a laugh. “When I started, most kids, if they had a digital camera it was little point and shoot, but very few of them had SLR cameras. It was a big deal to get on those things.”
Now, most people have those cameras sitting on shelves as they turn to the ease and capability of phones.
“Phones have taken over photography everywhere. Even professionals are getting into it with add-on lenses. I do a survey at the beginning of the class about what cameras have you used, and almost every kid is like ‘I’ve only used my phone, ever, for photography.’”
Still, similar rules apply to all types of photography when it comes to taking a good shot, and senior Ian Garner said he enjoys learning what they are.
“It really just makes the photos look a lot better. I learned about the rule of thirds in this class, and I always use that now.”
Phillips said he likes teaching a lifelong hobby, and often finds students with the potential to make photography even more than that.
“There will be a kid or two in each class that really has an eye for it. I have a couple that could be professionals right now. Their pictures always amaze me, and I look at them and am like, ‘Man, I wish I thought of that. That’s so cool.”
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