Arts and Culture

Local kids learn about photo editing at Summer Art Academy

LOCK HAVEN -- Eight eager and talented young "Shutterflies" spent their mornings at the Station Gallery last week, making photographs and learning to create works of photographic art, using an online Photoshop "clone" called Photopea.

The Shutterflies photo camp, sponsored by Woodlands Bank and the Clinton County Arts Council, is one of several fun, educational offerings of the arts council's Summer Art Academy for Youth. The basic Shutterflies photo camp, now known as "Shutterflies 1.0," was launched at the Gallery in 2015, with local artist and photographer William Crowell as the teacher. Over the years, a number of photographers from the area have led the camp, with Bruce Wallace leading for the past three years.

Also teaching and helping in this year's Shutterflies 2.0 were CCAC Board Members Rich Wykoff and Fred Bucheit, as well as former National Geographic photographer Jimmy Tarantella.

This year's offering, Shutterflies 2.0, put greater emphasis on post-processing (editing) photos that the students made in the field, in front of a green screen backdrop or in a tabletop "shooting tent."

Students' creations ranged from more-or-less straight photography, to selfies with dinosaurs, to more elaborate composite images using three or more separate photographs, blended into a single composition.

Wallace said, "Our young photographers had a no holds barred experience at this year's camp, and took every artistic advantage of the power of Photopea to help them create the photos their minds imagined. After only a few days working with the software, the creative output of these kids is sensational.”

At the end of the week's camp, parents are usually treated to a slideshow of their children's best art. Unfortunately, this year, a storm the night before knocked out electrical power to the gallery, and the slideshow had to be canceled. Nevertheless, all of the campers will receive a flash drive with all of their photographs from camp and a professionally printed photo book with the best of the campers' art.

Wallace added, "It's a very special privilege to share my love of photography with these young people. I'm encouraged that the Arts Council's vision for expanding educational offerings in the arts is growing.”