What is STEAM A photojournalist roams the sideline at a football game and snaps a picture of the game-winning touchdown A cinematographer studies a movie set to determine the best angles for lighting the actors and the scene An engineer designs special lenses that produce breathtaking images of outer space 4
These people all have jobs that require knowledge of photography And each one learned the principles of photography with a STEAM education STEAM is a quick way to talk about the fields of science technology engineering art and mathematics Photography records light to create lasting images It applies all aspects of STEAM to make that possible STEAM Fast Fact Photography is the process of catching light It comes from the Greek words phos and photo which mean light and graphe which means drawing So when you take photographs you’re drawing with light 5
Take the Shot Flip through a magazine and take a close look at its photographs If you’re reading a nature or wildlife magazine you’ll find pictures of exotic animals and stunning landscapes If you’re looking through a sports magazine you’ll see photos of basketball players frozen in midair for a slam dunk or baseball outfielders stretching out their bodies to snag a ball Photojournalists travel to these locations to tell stories for readers Sometimes they take images that record history such as newly elected U S presidents taking an oath before they start work in the Oval Office Photojournalists capture events and scenery from all over the world and send them to magazines and websites for publication 6
Photojournalists know they only have a few seconds to take a picture of an important moment They quickly make calculations before even composing the shot Photographers adjust camera settings to account for several factors such as the aperture of their lens the speed of the camera’s shutter and the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor to light All three together determine exposure which ensures the photo is not too dark or too bright Today’s cameras have easy-to-read displays that show information like shutter speed and aperture to help photographers select the correct exposure 7
