By Fiona Lubold – 11th Grade, North Hills Senior High School

First there’s the click.  Then the flutter of the shutter.  Then the smile on the face of the photographer who has just captured a precious moment.

Photographers photograph photographers

Monday, July 13 was the first day of “Foundations of Photography” at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, located on the corner of Fifth and Shady Avenue.  The class is taught by Kelly Bogel for students ages 11-14.

The day started with an introduction to the various components of photography such as:  exposure, aperture, f-stops, shutter speed, ISO, film grain, digital noise, and the different parts of the cameras.  Before noon the students were out in the neighboring park taking pictures.

The Center for the Arts is located near a beautiful neighborhood park full of a vast array of flowers and trees.  Photographers took full advantage of this area as they practiced capturing the natural world and life around them.

A moment of life in the park

The class began by learning how to work with film cameras, and students will have the opportunity to process and develop the film themselves in the film lab on site.  The final step is to actually print their own pictures.

While many students want to learn “how to use cameras well” or “different techniques for photography,” some students hope to discover “how to have fun while taking pictures.”  One student dreams of “capturing each moment of life” through the camera lens.    The majority of the students had only ever worked with digital cameras and are excited to learn how to use film cameras as well.

Foundations of Photography students

The instructor, Ms Bogel, is hoping the students will learn “how to manipulate light and how to process and print photos.”

The class will move the students from the film process to digital photography.  The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts has both a film lab and a digital lab allowing students full creative range and exposure to a broad spectrum of techniques.

There’s certainly a lot of life’s moments to capture in Pittsburgh.

Fiona Lubold will be a junior at North Hills Senior High School in the fall.  She enjoys music, arts, acting, cooking, baking, reading, and writing. She hopes to gain more experience in media and journalism with Pittsburgh Youth Media.