Photography workshop provides interactive learning experience

The Graphic Arts Club hosted Shoot From The Pit in the Bicknell Family Center For The Arts on Friday, Oct. 25 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The concert event allowed students the opportunity to practice photographing live concerts.  

“So, we wanted to create an authentic environment and really just create an actual concert so that people have an opportunity to shoot in that environment because it’s pretty rare that you could just be able to walk into a concert with a camera..,” said Danielle Duke, sophomore in graphic communication.  “… So, we wanted to give students the opportunity to shoot in that environment and get used to the lighting because it’s different than regular photography and this time was a little different because we did bring in a live band because we’ve never done that before. We wanted the authentic experience.”  

The Graphic Arts Club brought Casey Steinmiller, a PSU alum and professional photographer, to help out at the event. Steinmiller taught students and community members who attended techniques on how to photograph concerts.  

“Just having his knowledge and expertise was like really invaluable because he’s actually been a part of doing the workshop before so he kind of knew the direction we were headed so that was really great..,” Duke said. “… He’s worked with tons of bands before, so he was just really on it as far as what to do and what to talk about and that kind of thing, and he was just really knowledgeable of all the questions we had.”  

Students not only got to hear Steinmiller speak and learn techniques from him firsthand, but also got the opportunity to practice on a live band. The club brought in All For More, a band from Tulsa to perform during the workshop.  

“It was super out of the box,” said lead singer of All For More Paul Mooney. “I mean, we’ve never done anything like this before, like we’ve done live recorded performances, but we’ve never had just an audience of photographers and students all clicking away on their cameras.”   

Not only were there students from the GIT department, but there were also students from other departments who were interested in photography that attended. There were also community members in attendance. Some people traveled from Tulsa just to attend the workshop.  

“I thought it was very instructive and very productive because a lot of times you have a workshop and a lot of people show up and don’t take anything away from it,” said junior in graphic communication Jalen Dostale. “But I feel like I learned a lot and it’s a lot harder than it looks to shoot concerts and yeah, it was a lot of fun.” 

Those in attendance were given the opportunity to upload the photos they took onto a Flickr page. From that page, All For More can access the photos to use to promote their band and will have information to credit those who took the pictures.