Teaching Photography to Casco Bay High School Juniors
Russell and Liz Caron, Maine wedding photographers, enjoyed a day teaching photography, along with classroom teacher Brooke Teller, to students in the junior class at Casco Bay High School, in Portland, Maine. The members of the junior class at BCHS take part in a one-week cross-cultural learning experience called the Junior Journey. The Junior Journey involves CBHS juniors in a cross-cultural learning experience. These week-long trips are designed to expand students’ sense of both their world and who they are through service and adventure learning.
Examples of past experiences have led the students to places like Biloxi, Mississippi, to participate in service projects and gather oral histories about the residents whose lives were turned upside down by Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill. In 2015 the students went to Staten Island, New York to document the lives and help rebuilt the destruction of the victims of Hurricane Sandy. There is a significant amount of fundraising that the juniors must complete so that all students can participate. This year’s class will be traveling to Detroit, Michigan. There they will hear the residents tell their stories about the how the economy has substantially declined. Working with a group called Blight Busters, they will help dismantle abandoned homes, while recycling as much of the material as possible.
A student concentrates on an image, above. Below, a first-thing-in-the-morning lesson of photographic art basics. 
We were suitably impressed with the creativity these students put forth in their images!
Above; the bus brings other teams of students, such as the writing team and the videography and sound team together for lunch at Monument Square. Below; some students already deeply into photography as a hobby (and even passion, in some cases) brought their own camera equipment. Most of the others used from the school resource pool of equipment. Even those using point-and-shoot school cameras found their creative voice just fine. 
Our role during this fun day, was in volunteering our services in teaching photography basics to the students. We based out of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, and used their board room as our headquarters. After a quick overview of the art of photography and composition, we went out into Monument Square where the students were asked to capture compositional elements. A quick 45 minutes later, we were back for the students to download their images, and present 1-3 favorites each. We were so impressed with the quality of the images! The students had a great grasp of composition, visual elements, and elements and principles of design. They displayed some truly wonderful photos!
After lunch there was another foray into Monument Square where the students took portraits of each other. Again, this group displayed beautiful artistry within their compositions and framing! This group of eager learners will do a remarkable job on their Junior Journey. We can’t wait to see their final project from Detroit!