Composition with shapes

The first part of the photography course at Madison is wrapping up. All three of the fifth grade classes have taken their field trips to St. Cloud State and reviewed their images.

Next I'll be printing 5x7's of their favorite photographs and then they will learn how to matte these with Ms. Bunkowski in art class. As well the photographs will be assembled into books for the classes and the school library.

Here's another image to share - this is from Ms. Benson's class. We were working on a couple of ideas here, the rule of thirds as well as using lines and repeating shapes in a composition. I thought this photo captured these ideas quite well.

Madison course moving along

Today I started in Ms. Blommel's class. We've done some great photography with Ms. Cheeseman's and Ms. Benson-Moberg's classes, and this latest group seems well up to the challenge.

I particular today I was impressed with the excitement the students showed about each photograph I presented - how was that taken, what were the camera settings - no shortage of great questions.

After this course is finished I'll get to work putting together a book showcasing the student's work, as well as preparing the photos for the art show at St. Cloud State.

Here's another recent sample - in this one we were using long shutter speeds to create a sense of motion and one of the students discovered that with some camera movement the screensaver on my computer could be made to flow off of the screen.

Lots of curiosity and discovery - more to come.

Madison Elementary Photo course

Here's another submission from Ms. Benson's class at Madison. In this one the students were trying to use lines, shapes and the idea of symmetry in composition.

This particular image was taken on our field trip to St. Cloud State University. As well as giving the kids exposure to a wide range of architectural subjects, it also exposed them to a college campus and, hopefully, the idea of them being on a college campus sometime in the future.

Madison Elementary Photo Course

Yesterday I finished teaching the first of three photo courses at Madison Elementary here in St. Cloud.

The kids have been very enthusiastic, and as well have really approached photography with a "fresh" vision - seeing new things through the camera.

The course will run for about another 10 days. After this we'll set up the time and location for the final Photography Show.

Here's one child's exploration of using colors as a compositional element - more to come soon!