Brandon Schauers created a photobook showcasing his photography from his COMM 300 class. The book includes 20 photos from assignments on depth of field, macro photography, and a field trip. It also provides biographical information on Schauers, noting he grew up in California but now lives in Arizona, took the class as an elective but developed a passion for photography, and loves macro photography. The book was designed by Schauers to share his photography and passion.

1. BRANDON SCHAUERS
photobook

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
FEATURED ON THE COVER:
“BLOSSOM” TAKEN ON MAY 27,
2017 IN QUEEN CREEK ARIZONA
21
THE CALM BEFORE THE SHOW 3
LAYERS 6
RUSTIC MOSS 7
THE FLOWER WITHIN 10
HEAVENLY SPRING 11
THE DESCENT OF A COWBOY 14
SUNSET RAYS 15
WOODIES 18
SCHOOL’S IN SESSION 19
MEET BRANDON 21

3. I have always loved auditoriums. It may be because
I love public speaking. I feel free on a stage.
I am able to say what I need to for the
audience. So, when we were given the
first assignment to capture a photo with
depth of field, I knew I wanted to
go to the Kirkham Auditorium on
BYU-Idaho’s campus. The bright
red chairs create a pattern
when you take the photo from
an angle. I turned the F-Stop up,
set my camera on a piano bench,
that I found backstage, and allowed
the camera to work its magic. It created
beautiful depth to the photo allowing every
chair to be in focus.
the calm before
the show
3

4. layers
Every semester, Social Activities, one of the areas
inside of the Student Activities program at BYU-
Idaho, goes up to Victor, Idaho for an overnight
retreat at Sky Mountain Lodge. While there,
I had the opportunity to take photos
of the students at the retreat and
was able to get away and take
some of my own. At 7:15 in the
morning, I found these logs
next to a workshop that had a
bear, a snake, and a fish carved
into it. But what I loved the most
about this log was the beautiful browns
and reds that gave life to the ends of the
log. Even though the sun was shining right on
the end of the log, I was still able to capture
these stunning colors.
6

5. “You have 5 minutes to run around the cemetery and
take pictures. Best photo will get a prize!” This
was said as we left Bannack Ghost Town in
Montana during a class field trip. Once we
got to the cemetery, I hopped off the bus
and started finding unique things all
around the cemetery. I found this
headstone with this beautiful
orange, red, and black moss
around the base. I aligned
the photo, pressed down on the
shutter, captured the colors, and
they started honking the horn of the
bus saying it was time to get back on the
bus. I submitted this photo for the competition
without any editing, and ended up winning the
best photo at the cemetery.
rustic moss
7

6. the flower within
This semester, I was lucky enough to have a
roommate that was in a flower arranging class.
This meant that he brings flowers home often.
This was perfect timing when I was doing the
macro assignment. To get the waterdrops
on the flower petal, I took the flower
and put it upside down in the
sink. I turned on the sprayer
and allowed the waterdrops
to attach to the petal. Then,
I looked for the best angle to
capture the inside of the flower, since
waterdrops will always reflect the image
on the other side upside down. It created a
stunning view of something so small.
10

7. This photo may have been the hardest photo for me to
take, but it is my absolute favorite that I have taken.
During the macro assignment, I decided to go
outside to the trees right next to my apartment
to capture some pictures of the flowers that
had just bloomed. To my surprise, I was
greeted by bees that were collecting
pollen. I knew that I had to try to
capture a bee. But, of course,
they wouldn’t stop moving. I
was using macro tubes, which
meant my lens was about 3-5
inches away from the bees. Each
photo was turning out blurry, but I was
determined to capture the perfect bee.
I moved to the other side of the tree and
found a bee that was very photogenic and was
perfectly set up for me to capture its beauty. And,
thus, “Heavenly Spring” was created.
heavenly spring
11

8. the descent
of a cowboy
While we were at the Bannack Ghost Town in
Montana, we were given time to work with our
groups. One of my group members had this
idea to create a photo with a shadow but
no person. We had the model standing
there in front of the window to cast
the shadow onto the ground. We
then removed him from the
frame to take a separate
picture. The real magic
happened in the editing process.
I was able to use layer masks to
take the legs of the model out of the
picture creating a ghostly feel to the
picture. “The Descent of a Cowboy” is to
allow us to reflect on what we do in our lives
that will lead to our downfalls.
14

9. The great thing about May in Idaho is that it is
warm enough to go outside, but you still get tons
of clouds because the weather is deciding if
it wants to rain or not. My roommate has a
“secret spot” that he likes to go to but
would never bring us to. Finally, one
day he decided to bring us out
there. I grabbed my camera
and tripod and knew that
I wanted to a picture of the
sunset. Little did I know, I would
get some beautiful sunrays shining
through the clouds. I used bracketing
to get different exposures of the shot and
in Lightroom did a HDR merge to create this
sunset. Who knew Idaho could be green!
sunset rays
15

10. woodies
I have been lucky this semester to have
roommates that have been supportive
of me being in this course. Caleb
Gadberry, as shown in the picture,
loves his sunglasses. One day
while we were in Idaho Falls
at Friendship Park, I took this
picture of him. Caleb is such a
fun person to be around. I used a
reflector to get the right amount of
light on his face. In the editing process,
I brought out some colors and sharpened
the word on his sunglasses, “Woodies”.
18

11. During our fieldtrip to Bannack, Montana, we
participated in rotations where we got to
work with models that were dressed up
in old fashioned clothing, and learn
how to work with different types of
lighting. At the school house, we
worked with Emma Simkins.
She clearly knew what she was
doing and that is how I was able
to get this great of a picture of her!
We were using an Einstein Strobe and a
Large Reflector to capture the right amount
of light on her face.
SCHOOL’S IN
SESSION
19

12. BRITTS PHOTOGRAPHY
TAKEN ON MAY 27, 2017
IN QUEEN CREEK, ARIZONA
MICOLE DAYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
TAKEN ON MAY 20, 2017 IN
IDAHO FALLS, IDAHO
MEET BRANDON
21 22
Brandon Schauers is a student at Brigham Young University – Idaho, studying Communication
with an emphasis in Organizational Communication and Advocacy and Visual Communication
as his module. This is his sixth semester at BYU-Idaho. Schauers grew up in Murrieta, California,
and his family recently moved to Queen Creek, Arizona. At first, he took COMM 300 (Digital
Imaging) as a class to fulfill a requirement for his degree, but as he was taking the class,
photography became a passion of his. He loves being able to capture the beauty of a moment
in time. At the beginning of the semester, his favorite type of photography was landscape, but
after being exposed to many other types, he now loves macro. He loves being able to take
such a simple object and being able to find the small details to capture at large.
Schauers wrote an article entitled, “Turning your Passion into Purpose” where he said, “I have
been able to take my passion for visual media and create a purpose out of it. I have a few
things that I am very passionate about. Leadership is the main one. But just because you have
a passion about one thing doesn’t mean you can’t expand out and learn about something else.
That is how my passion has been created for visual media and now I am creating a purpose
within my passion.”
Schauers hopes that you have been able to enjoy his photography as much as he has. If you
want to see the rest of his photos visit designingbrandon.wordpress.com or follow him on
Instagram and Twitter at @DesigningBrandon or contact him at bkschauers@gmail.com
The design of this book and the photos within were all created and designed by Brandon Schauers.
CHAUERSPHOTOGRAPHY