This lesson focused on product photography, with students choosing what products they were interested in shooting by researching product categories, brand identities, and specifically how product photography is designed. Throughout this project, we engaged with the Colorado Visual Arts Standards, Invent and Discover to Create, and Relate and Connect to Transfer. The students stretched their understanding of photography by combining the principles of marketing and design, as well as developing proficiency in raw camera techniques and new software editing tools.

During the project, students determined what formats they were shooting their products with, which would correspond to their final intended use, e.g., billboards, print advertisements, or social media. Once they had made choices on both format and image design, students were instructed on how to edit their images in Photoshop, with the inclusion of text, logos, additional lighting, and backgrounds. They were then given demonstrations on how to embed those images into templates that they had designed them for, with more advanced skills, such as masking and perspective in both Photoshop and Google Slides.
Students were able to successfully research, shoot, and edit their product images, which engaged their new skills with editing techniques and a variety of software platforms. This process was designed to build on their previous knowledge and skill sets and the addititon of new techniques paired with new contexts for how to make use of them.