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Photography

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Take your shot!

Express your creativity and hone your observational and visual design skills while exploring a wide range of photographic methods.

Courses

  • Photo 1 (Year-long)

    This introductory class uses both digital SLR cameras and smartphones to teach students the basics of photography. Students explore classic photographic project themes, like light, darkness, still life, landscape, portraiture, and others with each weekly project. Students are encouraged to experiment, and given the freedom to interpret and discover their own personal interests and styles. Open to all grades. Students provide their own smartphone and apps. (This is a year-long course.) Watch a video overview of this course here.

  • Photo 2 (Year-long or 1S or 2S)

    This class is for students who want to learn more advanced photographic techniques and editing processes in both analogue and digital photography. Students learn to use manual controls in both film and digital cameras to experiment with focus, depth of field and exposure. While learning the analogue process emphasis is placed on image and print quality using the dark room. While learning the digital process students learn advanced photo editing software to edit and manipulate images. With each project, students explore classic photographic themes; light, darkness, color, still life, landscape, portraiture, composition, abstraction, texture, reflections, patterns, and many others. Students are encouraged to experiment, and are given the freedom to pursue their own personal interests and styles.  Students are provided with in-class use of DSLR camera, lenses and software tools.

    Pre-requisite: Photo 1

  • Photo 3: Independent Projects (Year-long or 1S or 2S)

    This class is for experienced photography students who want to develop and improve their personal artistic practice by doing monthly projects of their own design. Students choose their own media, equipment, subjects and methods. Emphasis is placed on improving existing skills or developing new ones, exploring new and creative methods, and using alternative processes and imaging systems. With each monthly project, students are encouraged to produce creative, ambitious, innovative and high quality personal photo projects. Students are provided with technical support and in-class use of equipment.

    Pre-requisite: Photo 1

Additional Programs

Photo Club – Weekly, classroom time providing community, inspiration and technical support for all interested students.
Summer Enrichment – A weeklong summer class which provides an introduction to photography for younger students.
Menlo School photo students learning to use cameras and tripods. Photo by Pete Zivkov.

Amanda Kyed

Amanda believes that photography and animation are at the intersection of art and technology.  After receiving her master’s degree in visual and media arts from Emerson College in Boston, she returned to her former high school to work as a technology specialist where she discovered a love for teaching and assisting both students and teachers in all things tech. She spent seven years teaching media arts, film, animation, and sound design at the Windward School in Los Angeles. She came north to the Bay Area a year ago and took on the role of technology coordinator at St. Cecilia School, but found her way to Menlo as she missed teaching and forming meaningful relationships with students.