BERKELEY – You don’t have to wait until you get your yearbook for a chronicle of your school year because the Photography Club is documenting events at Central Regional High School.
As part of Central’s Digital Media Academy, Terri Wyman teaches most of the Adobe properties and photography.
The club’s first members were the overflow of seniors who couldn’t attend the photography class because it was full.
“The class is pretty popular and they couldn’t get in,” she said. So they asked her to start a club.
Ana Gamba, and Nolan Judge. (Photo courtesy Photography Club)
Now in its third year, there are 30-odd students in the club, although not everyone shows up every meeting. They use digital Canon Rebel DSLR cameras and there’s four complete studios in the classroom, Wyman said.
Club members get a lot of hands-on training. For example, the Paws and Claws Club raises money for animal organizations by having people bring their pets for pictures with Santa. The Photography Club is there to take the pictures. When the school plays are staged, the club members take headshots of the talent.
Sometimes, it’s about forming a personal connection. One project was to print out photos with inspirational quotes and hand them out.
The school had a new charter bus and the kids were tasked with making a brochure. This is the kind of skills they would use in the working world.
Sometimes, former students will return and talk about how they’re using their skills after graduation.
However, sometimes the professional cameras are set aside. This is when the club has had pop-up photo booths in the gym foyer, she said. If there’s a holiday, they’ll have the appropriate props and backgrounds. In this case, if a student wants to take part, it’s free, and the club member takes the pic with the student’s phone. That way, the students can come away with an image taken with the skill of a photographer.
