Photography Project Ideas for High School in 2024

Are you going to try your hand at creating school photography project but have no idea what to start with? Then this article will come especially in handy since it includes 20 fantastic photography project ideas for high school.

Each concept listed below is easy to realize. If you properly follow these tips and use your artistic vision, you will definitely achieve “A”.

20 Great Ideas for High School Photography Project

Look though these photo essay examples that will help you to leave both your teacher and classmates in awe. The majority of them were picked in accordance with two aspects: accessible materials and development of your creativity.

1. FaceTime Photo Session

Those who stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak can do a virtual FaceTime photoshoot to have a great time with friends.

Ask them to take you on a guided tour around their house so that you can choose the most appropriate background. Next, your friends will need to take the flattering pose, look in the right direction, etc.

2. Portraits Employing Projector

Creative photographers can use a projector to organize an exciting photo session even at home. All you need is to pick an appealing picture, dim the lighting, and optimize the color saturation of your projector in order to achieve the balanced lighting cover.

Let your imagination run wild. You can play with various images, map the light on both a model and background, or only a model/background. Complement your work with some photo editing manipulations to bring your pictures to perfection.

3. Light Painting

Light Painting is one of the most exciting photography portfolio ideas for students. You can take fantastic photos just using your camera, light source, and your creativity.

When you release the shutter and keep it open in the dark room, the film or digital sensor acts like the canvas upon which photographers paint.

4. ‘Bokeh’ Lights

Bokeh photography effect is a special technique, which requires a fast lens. You need to use a lens with an aperture of at least f/2.8. However, to create a better bokeh effect, it is better to pick a lens with apertures of f/2, f/1.8 or f/1.4. Thus, you can produce not only out-of-focus background but go even further and use it as a main tool to create engaging compositions.

Photographers typically use this effect while shooting a night city full of lights or dark room illuminated with multiple light sources. Play with camera settings, use different lighting conditions, subjects, and locations to create an aesthetically pleasing bokeh effect.

5. A Day in Life

One of the shortest high school photography projects can be a “Day in Life” photo session. You will to choose the models and photograph them the entire day.

To specify the concept of your project, you can photograph the life of people engaging in different professions. Not only people can become subjects of your storytelling. You can depict the life of your pet or take a closer look at a tree ecosystem.

6. Forced Perspective

Forced perspective is one of the most creative photography techniques that uses optical illusion. The photographer can shoot the objects from an unusual angle so that they appear of different sizes or distances than they really are.

One of the most popular forced perspective photography ideas is when tourists pretend to prop the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy.

7. Silhouettes

Make usual photographs look different, or add extra meaning to them, by simply cutting out some silhouette on a sheet of paper and taking a shot through it.

You can choose harmonic combinations, like shooting nature through shapes of animals, or go for contrast and shoot some highly technogenic landscapes through shapes of trees.

8. 100 Strangers

The 100 Strangers is another cool idea for your photography series project. You need to find 100+ strangers and photograph each of them. For some people, it may seem a challenge to take photos of strangers in the street or park.

However, if you want to be a successful photographer, you should overcome your fear. This project may be a good starting point for you to become a more confident professional.

9. Phone Camera Photos

Currently, many high school students want to purchase the best DSLR camera before even trying to photograph something. And while it may seem that having a good camera is a must to practice photography, it's not really like that.

If you choose a smartphone as a main tool for your photo project, you will understand how to focus on perspectives, lighting, composition, and subject posing. Moreover, you can demonstrate your classmates that it’s not necessary to have an expensive camera gear to produce high-quality content.

10. 365 Project

People know it as the 365 Project or Photo a Day project. Whatever you call it, that doesn’t change the outcome – a picture for every day of a year. This is one of the long-lasting photography projects for high school that will enable you to explore your creative potential and improve your photography and image editing skills.

Also, 365 will come in handy for those, who are searching for some interesting photography ideas at home.

11. 52 Weeks

The 52 Weeks project resembles 365, but you should take a new picture each week of a year. To make your work even more dramatic, you can devote each new photo to a different topic.

It is possible to shoot specific locations, subjects, or attend a photo walk. During such walking tours, you can explore new places and get inspired for new achievements.

12. Reproduce Famous Paintings

If you are into painting, you can employ it in your photography project by reproducing your favorite paintings.

It’s up to you, to choose the level of similarity with the original, the only rule is to keep it recognizable. You can start off by simply imitating poses and general composition of the painting and slowly get to adding all of the original props to the photo.

Another great option will be to change setting or elements of the photo that contrast with the original idea while keeping composition and signature details. It usually makes for a great comedic effect.

13. Shadows of Objects

Incorporate shadows in your project in a creative way.

You can use them to create shadows that appear like something different (as in example above). Another option would be to capture shadows without objects themselves in frame to create a type of “shadow composition”.

14. Funny Photoshop Collages

If you will learn how to make a collage in Photoshop or any other program it will allow you to create interesting photography projects even if you are stuck at home, or are limited in your resources and props.

Tripods are advised to make shooting easier. Otherwise you’ll be pretty limited with your shooting angles.

15. Juxtaposition Illusions

Juxtaposition illusion is a great subtype of forced perspective that employs collaging to create an interesting, usually funny effect of combining objects in unusual way. Be creative with objects that you put together, think about associations that objects in the original shot bring about in your mind.

16. Motion Blur

One of the most extraordinary photography portfolio ideas for students is taking a series of motion blur pictures. Thus, your subject appears still in the picture while surrounding objects are blurred, which creates an illusion of motion.

There are many ways to use this technique, but the most popular is to take a picture through a car window. There is no need to have in-depth photography knowledge to capture the motion.

17. Crystal Ball Photography

Use crystal ball to jazz up your photoshoot and amaze your viewers. Crystal ball photography allows you to use glass or crystal ball as an extra lens element to flip the image, experiment with lighting, achieve unusual abstractions and even a fish-eye effect. All you need is to get this optical tool and express your artistic talent.

18. Drawing Directly onto Photographs

If you are looking for photography series inspiration, you can use this unusual photography technique to hook your viewers with striking combination of drawn and photographed objects. You can think about this type of project as creating augmented reality in your photos.

You can do the drawing-over both by digital editing, or printing the photo and then using markers or pencils (depending on the type of printing paper you’ve used).

19. Shoot Self-Portrait in a Different Way

Self portrait photography allows you to combine different techniques in your project. Also, it is a way out for those, who can’t find a model or aren’t ready to work with strangers.

With a great variety of self-portrait ideas available on the net, finding the most suitable concept for your project will be a breeze.

Just experiment with various compositions and use unusual lighting and perspectives. Try cheap photography props to explore all the boundaries of your creativity.

20. Social Awareness Project

Most iconic photos always include a special message and social commentary on particular events. You can document some local protests (just take care of yourself and stick to the law).

Also, it is possible to face a series of environmental or social challenges, for example, alcoholism, water pollution, scarcity of drinking water, etc.)

Apart from developing your skills in photojournalism, you can do something really meaningful for people and society.

Freebies

If you want to enhance your photography projects for high school, you can use these photo editing freebies. These presets and actions will help you make your creative works shine even if you don’t have enough experience in image editing.

Double Exposure

The Double Exposure effect is a combination of two exposures in one image to produce a dreamy and surreal photo. You can achieve this effect just in several clicks by applying this Ps action. Thus, you will get a considerably enhanced picture and open up new photo editing opportunities for you.

Sunset

Improve your pictures and make them appear as if they were taken during the Golden Hour. Aside from facilitating your workflow, these Lightroom presets will add a special warm atmosphere to your photos while emphasizing orange, brown, and yellow tones.

Street Vibes

These Lightroom presets will help you bring your street photos to perfection. They are suitable both for images taken during the daytime and at night. You can also experiment with other photography genres and apply these presets to the shots that include the buildings in the background.

Tata Rossi

Hi there, I'm Tata Rossi - a professional blogger, read more