Instructor: Erika Cespedes

Erika Cespedes

Erika is an award winning photographer and arts educator. Ever since she can remember art has been a part of her life, she participated in art festivals, competitions and afterschool art programs. She attended Art Universities in Fort Lauderdale, Chicago for her under-grad and obtained her MFA at the Academy of Art University in California. She has practiced commercial and fine art photography allowing her to publish several food photography books and exhibit work in Fine Art galleries throughout the United States. She is versatile in film and digital, including 35mm, medium and large format cameras. She also alternates her lessons with alternative photographic processes; which include cyanotypes, transfers, Brown-Vandykes, experimental photography, chlorophyll printing and much more. Other art areas include: mix media, collage, clay, installation and holistic-healing art. Her teaching approach is organic, allowing students to find themselves through the creation of art and encouraging self-discovery.

"Erika was amazing! I went into the class with basically no DSLR experience and very intimidated by manual mode. My confidence has sky rocketed! I love the hands on assignments she had us do to practice the triangle of f/stop, exposure, and ISO. She also was kind enough to go through our photos and explain what was great and what we could do to improve. She was so patient to answer questions...I recommended this class to all my friends and family with an interest in DSLR photography."-Melanie D.

"First off, I love the professor! She was super kind and made sure she answered all of our questions and left us all understanding more about the camera and the Manuel settings in a confident way! I love the activity we did when we went outside, I am definitely a hands on learner so that helped a lot. I also was able to become friends with the students who took this class as well! Over all, it was a very laid back/inviting space. I would recommend this class to anyone who is wanting to know how to properly use the their camera. Basic camera knowledge is important, even if you're not wanting to take photography to a professional level! After taking this class, I wanted to sign up for more courses like this in the future, which I will be doing! Thanks again" -Daniella R.

Erika Cespedes is currently teaching:

Class Title	Semester	Date(s)	Program

Erika Cespedes has previously taught:

• Discovering Digital Photography (Age 11-13)
• Child and Teen Portrait Photography
• Food Photography Bootcamp
• Digital Photography: Nuts and Bolts for DSLR