Sixth-graders from Kennedy School spent an afternoon with Lawrence High School students learning about photography. The class on Tuesday covered the techniques of photograms, pinhole cameras and working with photographs on a computer.

LHS senior Erin Eifler, left, shows Kennedy School students Jesse Bonham, center, and Sherry Stout some sample photograms.

There weren’t any clicks of the shutters and no one was told to “say cheese.”

Instead, Lawrence High School students taught Kennedy School sixth-graders how to do photography without a camera.

“We’re teaching them that you can do all of these different things with photography even if it’s not with your camera,” said LHS sophomore Emily Johnson.

The high school students taught the kids how to use pinhole photo boxes and create a photogram.

“We’re kicking it old school in the photo lab with all the chemicals and all the original photography stuff like when it first started,” said LHS senior Ben Wilson.

The only clicks heard Tuesday where those coming from the computer lab, where students got to manipulate their own pictures with photography software.

“That’s the newer stuff,” Wilson said.

The photo lesson made a big impression.

“We put the camera on the ground and we let it sit for 16 seconds,” said sixth-grader Alec Lockay of the pinhole camera, which is a dark box holding a piece of photo paper. Light comes through the pinhole to create an image on the paper. “We just went into the darkroom and developed it. I’ve never experienced playing with one of those cameras before.”

Sixth-grader Niko Gonzalez wasn’t exactly interested in photography before the field trip to LHS. But now he can’t wait to take the class.

“I think about doing the little pictures and when I would come here, hopefully I can do that with the same little kids so they can be interested,” Niko said.

And it’s just as much fun for the teenagers.

“Being creative is incredibly important to kids,” said Johnson. “When they can learn it at an earlier age, it’s easier to be creative in their own lives later on.”

The Lawrence High School photography class has only hosted two other classes, both from Centennial School when it was still open.