Accomplished Philadelphia Artist Turns Walking Tours Into Photography Lessons

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — There’s a new walking tour in Philadelphia that mixes the art of photography with history.

Balance, pattern, the “rule of thirds,” and color contrast are some of the things that Armond Scavo will teach about photograph composition on one of his three-hour walking tours in places that include the historic district, Rittenhouse Square, or the Italian market neighborhood.

Scavo says he has his students take their cameras off “automatic” mode, “and I explain the relationship between the shutter speed and the aperture.   My goal is to give them control over the camera, rather than the camera having control over their decisions.”

We went to Independence Hall, the Second Bank of the United States, and then to Carpenters Hall.  Along the way an historic building caught Scavo’s eye.

“I would probably shoot this in color, then go into black and white,” he mused.  “I would change the contrast — make the bricks a little darker, make the whites a little brighter — and then all of a sudden you don’t have a picture of a building anymore.  You have a study in shape and tone.”

Hear the expanded interview in this CBS Philly podcast (runs 3:34)…