Barrhead Composite first school in Alberta to do their own grad photo sessions

BARRHEAD – Barrhead Composite High School is the first school in Alberta where the photography class facilitates grad photo shoots and grad picture packages for the school’s students.

“If it wasn't for the students work ethic this program just wouldn't exist. They really do put a huge amount of effort into the work,” remarked Bruce Tyrell, Comm Tech Teacher.

Tyrell and past principal Kerry McElroy originally discussed years ago how grad pictures were done by one of the companies who used to come to Barrhead and complete photos.

They felt that the vendor was just turning the kids through like cattle.

Tyrell and McElroy decided that they could take far better photos than what the vendor was doing and not be as disruptive to regular school learning.

With bringing the services in house they could give the kids a discount over what a vendor would charge and keep the money in the community.

They applied for grants, and we got some equipment through the World Skills Canada grant.

A local photographer helped Tyrell identify what to buy and they bought some equipment from eBay.

They started off with a single little studio starting the program and it was a big success.

Today there are a number of different studios, and the students learn how to use different lighting instruments.

Tyrell starts with teaching each student how to take a good picture with any type of camera at all and then works from there.

Every year there are between 17 and 19 students in the photography group. Each student is assigned clients.

A senior might get 10 clients where a junior might have five or six clients.

Sometimes a junior starts off as an assistant only helping out with the shoot until they see how the shoot works.

The students know the grads and they can easily make plans to create a grad photo specifically for that student with objects or animals that are special to them.

"We do a lot of grad photos with their cars,"commented Tyrell. Grads include their pets, their sports equipment, and the things that have importance to them.

Graduation shoots are completed from September until the beginning of December and then all of the processing of orders and printing of orders happens from there.

“This is all because of how hard the students work. There is a lot of work and students are in here until late at night working on the photo processing,” shared Tyrell.

“You'll see in the first semester the lights flashing in the lab until 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. at night when photo shoots go into the evening.”

The students learn how to take the professional quality photos, do the processing, and then set up the packages for the grad to choose from learning the business side of photography.

Printing is outsourced to a company in Edmonton.

The money from the portrait photography program goes back into the program.

Half the money is used to buy equipment for all of the kids to use and the other half of the money goes towards the photography kids going on a photography trip.

Each year the photography group goes to either Vancouver or New York to take photos.

While there they work with a professional photographer.

This year the class is going to Vancouver.

Next year the group is going to London, which they have done before.

They stay at a hostel which was once part of Saint Paul's Cathedral right next to the cathedral sealed choir school.