9047. Woodworking + Photography! Pinhole Camera with David Draper and Brian Rierson
Class - Wood | This class is completed
Merge two great art forms in this class that will take you from the wood studio to the dark room! First, you'll spend three weeks learning to safely and confidently use woodworking tools to build yourself a sleek and elegant pin hole camera with hard wood and brass hardware for a fine finish. Then you'll learn to capture long exposures with the dreamy artistic vibe associated with pinhole photography. Class will cover everything from table saws and wood finishes, to framing your shot and making a proper exposure. Lastly, you'll learn to process a quick positive print in the dark room. All skill levels are welcome.
Additional Information:
Class is open to students are 18+
Registration will close one week prior to the start of class.
A material fee of $120 will be added at check out to cover all materials and supplies
Students will need to bring a tripod to the later sessions of class. Please let your instructor know on the first day of class if you do not have a tripod.
- This class has a slightly different schedule than you might be used to at Sawtooth! The first three meetings of class will be lead by wood instructor David Draper, and take place on Monday evenings in the wood studio. The following two meetings will be lead by Photo instructor Bryan Rierson and will meet in the photography studio and dark room on two consecutive Saturdays. This will allow you to get maximum sunlight and shorten your exposure time. The schedule is as follows:
Session 1: Monday 9/30, 6 pm - 8:30 pm
Session 2: Monday 10/7, 6 pm - 8:30 pm
Session 3: Monday 10/14, 6 pm - 8:30 pm
Session 4: Saturday 10/19, 10 am - 1 pm
Session 5: Saturday 10/26, 10 am - 1 pm
David Draper
David has enjoyed woodworking for almost 60 years, having started as a small child working with his father on personal woodworking projects in military base hobby shops. He worked in a small residential cabinet shop in New Mexico as well as a custom carved gun cabinet shop in Montanna during his college days. Throughout a thirty-year accounting and corporate career, David continued his woodworking hobby out of his garage. In 2011, a major lifestyle change saw David leave the big business world and return to school to be a Middle Grades teacher focusing on science, engineering, and design, often using 3D printing and laser cutting tools with his school students. In 2023, while continuing as a middle school teacher, David returned to professional woodworking focusing on benches, cabinets, cutting boards, clocks, and other custom work for clients. Also at this time, he started teaching woodworking classes at Sawtooth on weekends and weeknights. On May 29, 2026, David retired from the WS/FCS system and on June 1, 2026, David took on the dream role of Director of Wood Programs at Sawtooth.
Bryan Rierson
Bryan is a full-time commercial photographer with over 25 years experience based in the Winston-Salem, NC area. A graduate of the Randolph Community College Photographic Technology program, he has produced work for national advertising agencies, corporations, and worldwide publications. He also has extensive experience photographing portraits and weddings both on film and digitally. He began teaching photography in 2011 with the Peace Camera workshop series in Raleigh, NC. Bryan's personal work is now focused on medium and large format film portraits and landscapes.