Focus On Photography

Photography is a popular choice both at GCSE and A level here at KAS and you regularly see students out and about round the site honing their skills under the watchful eye of Department Head Cliff and assistant Sophie.

Last term saw the launch of the Department’s own Instagram account. Full of beautiful images from current and former pupils it’s also a fascinating look behind the scenes at the creative process.

Recent posts focused on Year 10 who are continuing to learn how to use the manual settings on their digital cameras. Cliff explained: “I wanted them to balance the exposure manually and practice using the shutter speed and aperture to create their desired image (rather than relying on what they can see on the digital screen.”

“To do this we blank out the screens on the digital cameras so that they have to trust in their cameras meters and wait to see their results, much more like the experience of shooting on film. They also had to consider how to control movement and depth of field (which is where the focus drops in an image).”

As you can see the results are impressive. Over half term students were challenged to replicate this challenge using film cameras for the first time. Cliff added: “It’s always nice to get through the mechanics and into the art of taking pictures. These students are on their way.”