One thing common when shooting high school photography is the many structures that use natural light. In southern California, the sun is an unavoidable perk of living and working in the region. The sun is also an ever-present source of heart and light. Many structures, like the Del Norte High School campus, make full use of the sun light as an effective way to heat and light the students and faculty staff.

The high school was designed by NTD Architecture, is located in 4S Ranch, a community of San Diego, California. The campus covers 210,093 square feet of land and has state-of-the-art facilities. The modern campus boasts some truly efficient and inviting features including five art labs, two music classrooms, and a drama classroom. Also included in the gorgeous campus are 11 career-technical education classrooms and a Performing Arts Center with a Fine Arts Village designed to blend traditional mediums of visual arts, drama and music.

One thing that struck me as remarkable about the Del Norte High School campus was the way the facilities looked more like those you would find on a small college campus. The auditorium is vast and has seating that brings to mind some of the professional performance halls in the area and beyond. The gymnasium, again utilizing the abundance of natural light that San Diego provides, could be well-placed on the campus of some of the nearby universities.

A San Diego architectural photographer can get used to seeing the array of structural artistry around the county, but when you come to a school like Del Norte, you are instantly reminded that there is nothing common or standard about the type of construction at work. Inside of the building and outside make up a creative use of space and environment and a place where students and staff can learn and perform at their very best.