Ashley DeFrank is a 12th-grader at Chiles High School. Every day, she leaves campus and travels to Lively Technical Center, where she is dually enrolled as a commercial photography student. “There were no more electives I wanted to take at my school and they told me about the program at Lively. There aren’t many people who know it’s an option.”

Though Lively’s commercial photography program was a boon for Ashley, her true creative calling is TV production. Because of a scheduling mishap at Chiles three years ago, she found herself in a class focused on image and graphics programs. She was hooked.

Using animation and motion graphics software, Ashley creates original content that she uses in her role as Chiles’ social media producer. “I like doing promos, almost commercial-like things,” Ashley said. “I took this class at Lively because I thought it could help me with framing a shot and being more creative. I’m really grateful that I’m able to be here.”

Since 1937, Lively Technical Center has provided workforce education. Lively is part of the Leon County School system and serves both teens and adults who are seeking vocational training and continuing education. A wide variety of programs are offered including culinary arts, digital design and multimedia design.

Darlene Almeda directs Lively’s commercial photography program and she has great respect for her students, many of whom have children and jobs. Her main goal for those who complete her program is employment. “I had four graduates last semester and all four were employed within three months, including a 62-year-old woman.”

“There’s not another commercial photography program around. The closest one I know of is in Orlando,” Almeda said. “Some students are specifically looking for commercial photography and there’s another group of students who don’t know what they want to do. This is offered as an option.”

As a first-year student, Chelsea Starling is taking full advantage of the two-year program. After graduating from high school in 2012, she enrolled at TCC but wasn’t able to focus or finish. Photography had always interested her, and she even had some semiprofessional experience. After enrolling in the commercial photography program she’s feeling “super confident.”

“Being here I’ve learned a lot about exposure, the f-stops. Before, I had no idea what aperture meant, what bokeh meant. Bokeh is that blur in the background that everyone loves,” Starling explained. “I’m doing shoots all the time now and I’m getting really good feedback. It makes me feel professional.”

Daisean Brown is a second-year student in the program and he has also learned about the complexities of the medium. “I have to make sure I have the technical part down. You can’t really be an artist unless you know the craft. You have to know how to create the picture. I create the art from the craft.”

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