Campers get new perspectives

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Paisley Passmin, 8, experiments with depth of field, angles and lighting techniques while photographing friends during Northeastern State University’s “Photography 101” summer camp for kids. Josh Newton
Children enrolled in the NSU “Photography 101” summer camp snap some photos of their friends while learning various aspects of photography at Norris Park. Josh Newton

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July 28, 2010

Looking through the lens of a camera, youngsters found that being creative can be a snap.

By JOSH NEWTON Staff Writer The Tahlequah Daily Press Wed Jul 28, 2010, 11:00 AM CDT

TAHLEQUAH — To the average person, climbing over rocks, crawling on the ground, and scaling playground equipment don’t sound like requirements for being a professional photographer.

But photography is so much more than the eye-level view, and junior photographers at the Northeastern State University “Photography 101” summer camp for kids are learning what it takes to get memorable snapshots.

They could be the next famous photographer, like Ansel Adams or Annie Leibovitz. Cassie Freise, an instructor of mass communications at NSU and leader of the photography camp, may even be training her future colleagues.

“This gives us an opportunity to teach the students not only technical aspects of photography, but also the more in-depth details of photography,” said Freise.

Freise and her assistants, Ashley James and Kendal Davis, are showing campers they don’t just have to shoot eye-level pictures, but by simply getting lower to the ground for a new perspective, or by seeking out a higher elevation, the photo can take on a whole new life.

“A lot of kids didn’t even know you can have a career out of this,” said James.

Freise said the goal isn’t to be too technical, “but to teach them enough that they can improve their pictures.”

In just a day, she said, the young photographers had already greatly improved their photographs by incorporating new lighting techniques, new angles, or depth-of-field.

Children have had the opportunity to work with point-and-shoot digital cameras, along with the more advanced digital SLR cameras.

“What’s interesting is that they are actually more interested in the photos they are taking than the ones of themselves [in the photo],” said Freise, who said that’s a positive sign the campers will grow up and have an interest in professional photography.

Clayton Simmons, 12, a fan of photos focused on nature, captured a picture of clouds and trees early in the week, which he says is his favorite picture.

“I just like how you can capture stuff in a still moment that you can look at forever,” said Clayton.

He already has owns a couple of cameras: one Kodak, and one loaded Canon that would make even some professional of photographers jealous.

“I want to have my own photography [gallery] where other people show their pictures,” said Clayton.

Britni Rohyng, 12, is participating in the photography camp for the second year in a row. Her favorite aspect of the camp has been strolling around campus and taking pictures of various ongoing activities, and of her friends.

“I like how you can take continuous-motion pictures,” said Britni.

Learning about depth-of-field - a range of distance where a subject is clear, or “sharp” - has been her favorite technical lesson at camp.

Freise hopes the camp is able to place photography prints taken by the students in a gallery format so parents can see the young professionals’ works. They’ll also be able to take home a CD of all photos taken during the camp by all students, and on Friday, they’ll travel with another ongoing camp to the Oklahoma Aquarium and visit the Riverwalk Crossing in Jenks to experiment with other photos.

“This is a great opportunity to take a younger audience and show them what NSU has to offer, and that NSU has a very high community involvement,” said Freise. “It shows we’re not just interested in high-schoolers, but in all generations that will be here in the future. We hope they’ll grow up and remember, ‘Hey, when I was 8 years old, I went to photography camp at NSU!’”

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