Advanced photography students were assigned to stage a professional photo shoot with a staff member chosen by teacher Joshua Etheridge. They were expected to  schedule a family photo shoot with their teacher as if they were real photographers with actual clients.

“Basically you will have to get their phone number and e-mail so you can contact them out of school,” senior Emily Kola said. “Then you figure out how many people are in the family, decide on a time, a place, the outfits they would wear, and then how they actually want the pictures to turn out.”

The students had to meet with teachers to discuss details about the photo shoot, and how it would run the day of. They were encouraged to treat it as a professional shoot to get a better understanding of the career path. Some staff members even paid students.

“It shows them the business end of photography,” Etheridge said, “as far as ordering print, meeting with the client, and discussing what their likes and dislikes are.”

Students describe their experience shooting with a whole family of people they don’t know as opposed to models they choose as. It got students to explore the idea of becoming a photographer, and what kind of work is put in besides just snapping the shot.

“The purpose was to get us to work with people we don’t usually work with,” junior Maria Chesnutt said, “because we usually get to pick our models and this was just kind of random, so it really got us out of our comfort zone.”

It was an opportunity for photo students to get a feel for the kind of work it takes to be a professional photographer. Students can choose whether they wanted to peruse the career or not.