PHOTO
DESK.

1. Read the newsroom brief and the school shooting rules in Start: you are a Torch photographer and each lab is a job card from an editor.
2. Read the three Camera Licence levels. Level 3 lets you sign a camera out on your own for projects.
3. Download the templates ZIP and open lab-log.csv. Every job gets one row: prediction, settings, result, evidence.
4. Find your station group and rotation on the board your teacher posts. Cameras are shared; each person still shoots their own frames.
5. Create a folder PhotoDesk_YourName with subfolders job01 to job09.

Licence levels are skill badges: they are awarded in Student OS only after your teacher confirms the evidence.

1. Strap on before lifting; two hands at all times. Check battery and card; clean the lens only with a blower or microfibre.
2. Set up the tripod: legs wide, thickest sections first, every clamp locked, centre column low.
3. Click the camera plate into the head and flip the lock lever closed. Keep one hand on the camera until it is locked. Check the bubble level.
4. Show your teacher the full routine, including taking the camera off safely.
5. Record “Level 1 observed” and the date in your lab log once your teacher confirms it.

Predict first: before you shoot, write in your lab log what you think will change. After, prove it with your own photos.

1. Pick one scene with a person or object and a window.
2. Take one photo each in Auto (green), a Scene mode (Portrait or Sports) and P.
3. On playback press INFO until the settings show. Write down the f-number, shutter speed and ISO the camera chose for each.
4. Compare: which mode chose the widest aperture? The fastest shutter? Why?
5. Answer in your log: when would a photographer let the camera decide, and when not?

Predict first: before you shoot, write in your lab log what you think will change. After, prove it with your own photos.

1. Borrow one trophy, medal or award (ask the office or coach first), or use any object 5–20 cm tall. Stand it on a desk or stool by a window, with a ruler lying beside it from front to back.
2. On the tripod, shoot at f/4, f/8, f/13 and f/22. Focus on the front of the object each time.
3. Zoom in on the ruler in each photo. Record how many centimetres of the ruler are sharp at each f-stop.
4. Take one handheld shot at f/22 and note what happens to sharpness.
5. In your log: which f-stop does the museum need, and what did it cost (shutter speed)?

Predict first: before you shoot, write in your lab log what you think will change. After, prove it with your own photos.

1. Go where you have permission to move: the gym (ask the PE teacher), or a hallway with space. Turn the mode dial to Tv (Canon) or S (Nikon). Set 1/1000 s.
2. Set the drive mode to continuous (burst) with the drive button. Ask your partner to toss a ball in the air or jump; stand 3–4 m away.
3. Hold the shutter down through the whole action. Pick the frame with the peak moment.
4. Repeat at 1/60 s. Compare the ball and hands in both.
5. If 1/1000 s is too dark, raise ISO and record the value.

Predict first: before you shoot, write in your lab log what you think will change. After, prove it with your own photos.

1. Set up the tripod at a classroom sink (art or science room, with permission) or the hallway water fountain. Turn the tap to a steady stream. Frame the water with something still beside it: the tap, tiles or a cup.
2. Shoot at 1/400 s, 1/60 s, 1 s and 4 s. Use the 2-second self-timer. If the long shots are too bright, set ISO 100 and f/16–f/22.
3. Compare the water and the still objects in each photo.
4. Take one 2-second shot handheld and compare.
5. In your log: which shutter speed makes the water silky while the rest stays sharp, and why does the tripod matter?

1. Use a classroom or storage room where the lights can go off and the blinds close (ask your teacher). Put the camera on the tripod. Stand your partner 2–3 m away, shine a torch on them, focus, then switch the lens to MF.
2. Set M mode: 10 s, f/8, ISO 200.
3. Press the shutter (self-timer on). Your partner draws a shape, word or outline in the air with a phone torch while the shutter is open.
4. Check the result. Too faint? Open to f/5.6. Background too bright? Darken the room or use f/11.
5. Plan one image for the night-market poster: a word, a shape around an object, or a light “orb”.

Predict first: before you shoot, write in your lab log what you think will change. After, prove it with your own photos.

1. Dim room: a classroom with the lights off and blinds down. Shoot the same object at ISO 800, 3200, 6400 and your camera’s highest ISO. Keep the aperture the same.
2. Bright room: a hallway by the windows. Shoot at ISO 100, 200, 800 and 6400.
3. Zoom to 100% on a dark area of each photo and compare the grain.
4. Now decide for the gym editor: a moving subject in the dim room at ISO 6400 and 1/500 s, or ISO 400 and 1/30 s. Shoot both.
5. In your log: which would you send to the editor, and why? Use the words noise and motion blur.

Predict first: before you shoot, write in your lab log what you think will change. After, prove it with your own photos.

1. Set M mode and ISO 400. Point the camera at a lit object. Look at the meter scale (−2…0…+2) in the viewfinder.
2. Choose f/4. Turn the shutter dial until the meter reads 0. Write down the shutter speed. Shoot.
3. Now choose f/8 (two stops smaller). Find the shutter speed that brings the meter back to 0. Shoot.
4. Compare the two photos: brightness should match; depth of field should not.
5. Explain in your log why f/8 needed a shutter speed four times longer.

1. Read the conditions: work alone, M mode, 20 minutes, no Coach. Your camera handling counts.
2. Your teacher gives you a challenge card, for example: “Sharp runner, dim gym, max ISO 3200” · “Silky water with sharp rocks” · “Whole object sharp, one lamp” · “Freeze a pour of water”.
3. Plan your settings on paper first: aperture, shutter, ISO and why.
4. Shoot, check the histogram and focus, and adjust. Keep your first attempt.
5. Write your settings and explanation in the boxes below.

Next: complete the Knowledge + Reflection Form. Open the Form ↗

1. In MENU › Image quality, choose RAW+L (RAW plus large JPEG).
2. In the library or a classroom, photograph an object (or a classmate who agrees) in front of a bright window. Expose for the subject so the window turns very bright.
3. Open the RAW file in Photoshop: it opens in Camera Raw. Pull Highlights to −100 and raise Shadows. Watch the window.
4. Open the JPEG and try the same with Filter › Camera Raw Filter.
5. In your log: how much of the window did each file recover, and why?

1. Read all eight briefs. Colour shows difficulty: green is straightforward, gold adds an interview, red needs extra care.
2. Choose two briefs. At least one should be gold or red if you are aiming for Extending.
3. For each brief, write in your log: the story in one sentence, where in the building it happens, and when.
4. List three possible shots per brief: one wide (the scene), one medium (the action), one detail (a telling object or hands).
5. Tell your teacher your two briefs before you start, so two students do not chase the same moment.

1. Ask the staff member in charge before shooting in their room (gym, library, office, cafeteria).
2. Explain the story to anyone you photograph and ask if they agree. Record their agreement in the consent log.
3. Give the list of identifiable people to your teacher, who checks the school photo-permission list before anything is published.
4. Plan privacy-safe alternatives: hands, backs, silhouettes, details, over-the-shoulder shots.
5. Check the frame for private information (screens, grades, names on lists) before you shoot.

1. Arrive before the moment happens and let people get used to you.
2. Shoot a wide, a medium and a detail for each brief. Use the job skill each needs (fast shutter for sport, high ISO for dim rooms, depth of field for details).
3. For action or reactions, use burst mode and wait for the peak: the decisive moment.
4. Check focus and the histogram as you go; reshoot problems on the spot.
5. Copy everything to your folder; never delete in camera.

1. Choose one best frame per brief. Open it in Camera Raw (a RAW file opens there directly; a JPEG via Filter › Camera Raw Filter).
2. Make only honest adjustments: crop, straighten, exposure, contrast, white balance, highlights, shadows, a little sharpening.
3. Record every adjustment in an edit log, as last year’s finished example did.
4. Choose Window › Content Credentials and Enable Content Credentials.
5. Export with File › Export › Export As, JPG, long edge 3000 px where possible, named Torch_Brief01_LastName.jpg.

1. Write a two-sentence caption for each photo: who, what, where, when in the first sentence; why it matters in the second.
2. Add the brief’s add-on: the short quote, two facts or context sentence.
3. Write one sentence of alt text for each photo.
4. Post both photos with captions, add-ons and alt text to the Student OS class gallery (share with class).
5. Hand in your consent log and edit log. The editor (your teacher) chooses photos for the next issue of The Torch.