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AMERICA the beautiful
By PAULETTE LASH RITCHIE CITRUS SPRINGS -- Citrus County has an old courthouse, old houses and lampposts, churches and old train depots, McDonald's and Burger King. Americana. And it occurred to Citrus Springs Elementary School principal Lane Vick and fifth grade teacher Anne Schliep that it might be interesting to find out how 10 and 11-year-olds see America in their county through the lenses of cameras. So they began to plan and prepare the children. Vick, who is interested in photography and actually hopes to go into professional photography when she retires, spent time in the classroom giving a lesson on what makes a good picture. Vick said the school found a little bit of money for cameras and Ritz Camera gave the school a break in developing. Each child was armed with a one-time-use camera. Schliep talked with her students about what things make America. "For a long time I've wanted to do something with photography with my kids. I thought we could look at American images in their community," she said. She and her students brainstormed about what's American and considered things they thought were beautiful. "Then Ms. Vick came in and did a Photo 101 class," Schliep said. Finally on Sept. 12, 23 students climbed into a big yellow American icon, driver Judy Rutz's school bus, and traveled around the county, cameras snapping as they went. They headed to Crystal River and visited the old train depot. "They were fascinated with the old trains," Vick said. Next they went down Crystal Street to visit Crystal River Middle School and then turned to Heritage Village to see the old lamps, houses and the Baptist Church with red, white and blue bunting on it. They made their way to Hunter Springs. "They were just overcome," said Vick, "because there was a weed harvester at work." After that they went to Inverness to have lunch at Wallace Brooks Park. Sheriff Jeff Dawsy ran by on Rails to Trails. With the children busy playing or eating, Dawsy was spared being captured by a camera. The final stop was the old Citrus County Courthouse followed by the return trip to school. Bradley Easom, a 10-year-old photographer, said before the actual bus trip, he was thinking he would take pictures of "American animals, things native to America." He also said he thought he'd see buildings "like if you named it, it would pop in your mind, this is in America." Mason Davis, 10, said he expected to find Coca-Cola products, flowers, scenery, things that represent America and animals, "if I could get a shot of 'em." Robert Crosby, 10, said he thought of alligators, palm trees and beavers before the trip and Craig O'Brien, 11, said he thought of "courthouses, churches, old houses and stuff like that, some old trees, flags." What they actually found was "a bird nest," Bradley said. He wasn't sure what kind of bird it was, but figured "there are certain kinds that aren't found everywhere" so he could most likely consider them American. "I took pictures of the courthouse which I thought was patriotic, took pictures around the flag. I took the bell on top of the courthouse. They had flags. They had stones of people who died in wars and stuff and big banners," Bradley said. Mason said, "I took a few pictures of Crystal River Middle School, because school represents America." Robert found vines. He said he took photos of "blotches of vines growing up trees." He also took advantage of the stop in Inverness: "The flag, the courthouse, stones saying all the people who fought in World War I and II." Craig photographed trains and said, "I took a picture of an old, old school (CRMS)" and the courthouse. The lesson the boys really seemed to grasp was how to take photographs. According to all of them, they retained quite a few photography tips. "Stay at least 3.3 feet away," Bradley said, when using a camera without a special close-up lens. He said he did "a lot better than I would have" without Vick's suggestions. "You should hold the camera steadily," said Mason, "(and) make sure the background is uncluttered and sometimes take pictures off center so they're not boring." Robert picked up on that lesson, too. "When you use a camera, don't have it dead center in the middle because it looks plain," he said. Craig added another tip, "You can lay down, you can stand up, you can turn a camera sideways to get pictures." It was, the boys agreed, a fine day away from school. "It was a lot of fun, 'cause you were with your friends and you got to go around and take pictures of pretty much anything you saw," said Bradley. "I'm not usually interactive with the camera," said Mason. This trip, he said, gave him the opportunity to get better and he saw places he hadn't been to and saw the school he'll attend next year. And Robert said: "I expected it to be pretty cool, kind of boring riding the bus, but pretty cool. It was good."
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