Wallkill Valley photography students learn to paint with light
Hardyston. Local artist and photographer Paul Michael Kane is helping digital photography students get ready for the annual expo on April 8.
Local artist and photographer Paul Michael Kane on Feb. 3 visited Wallkill Valley photography students, who learned how to use light in an alternative way to create light paintings.
Wallkill Valley teacher MaryRose Potanka said Kane drops in on her classes frequently to show off some of his professional equipment. His expertise is helping her digital photography classes prepare for the school’s annual Photo Expo Show, to be held on Friday, April 8, at 6 p.m.
“The light painting exercise is to help students get a better understanding of using the camera in a manual setting, where the photographers have the most control of how light enters through the lens,” Potanka said. “Students explore different light sources from a light beam or flashlight to a glow stick. The subject gets focused and locked in with the lights on, then the lights get shut off. Students will try out different exposure times to capture the light trails and be left with a painting of light. “
An image Wallkill Valley image captured everyone in her seventh-period class and the Ranger Nation photo is composed of her eighth-period students.
The Photo Expo is both a contest and exhibit of student photography.
“This is not only an opportunity to raise some funds for the program but also have the students create and share some wonderful images,” said Potanka. “Students are invited to submit one image each to the contest. It is an open themed competition, so images can include landscapes, wildlife, landscapes” and other topics.
At the door, patrons can purchase “ballots” with which to vote for the Best in Show image, she said. The winning photo is the image that collects the most ballots.
That lucky winner will also receive a photography-inspired gift pack, said Potanka.