Paper Airplanes

As summer marches on, it was a big week in Missoula. Last Sunday marked the 6th annual Missoula Marathon, of which RMSP is a proud sponsor. We made our presence known to 5000+ racers during the Marathon Expo at Caras Park.

Week 6 is quickly coming to a close and the students have officially reached the midpoint of Summer Intensive. This is the point where they are critiqued one-on-one for the first time on their first major photographic project of the summer: their individual slideshows. This weeks culminates in a full-scale presentation of their unique vision in front of each other and the staff. This slideshow requires that they compile all of their technical learning, life-long experience and creativity into a simple slideshow of 20 to 30 images set to any piece music or song of their choice. Imagine a comprehensive mid-term exam in college, only in visual and auditory format. Simple, yet powerful, this project tends to bring out a story inside each photographer that otherwise may have never been told. Bravo to these brave folks for opening up, pushing through and getting it done!

Students working with ambient light in an interior courtyard of the historic Higgins Building in downtown Missoula; home of RMSP.

This week also included a great deal more studio lighting instruction in which the students learned the finer points and technical aspects of both artificial and ambient light, and how to the balance the two. The students were able to experiment with this knowledge during assisted lab time in and out of the studio. Week 6 also involved further learning of Adobe Photoshop in their Edit series of classes. They had lab time to work on their newly created images, and even more exploration of their artistic vision in Visual Studies classes too. With a huge amount of the technical instruction already under their belts, the students are now blossoming into their creative selves which helps them inform their individual expression and style – critical for any working photographer.

This is one heck of ride, and our students are rising to the challenge each day as it is presented to them. Week 7 will lead to more comprehensive instruction, application of their skills and further photographic magic. Stay tuned!

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