Students at one Conejo Valley school will have the opportunity to learn the fine art of capturing an image, while students at another campus will learn the art of selling it.

Starting in the fall, Newbury Park High School will expand its digital photography class offerings under a new curriculum that was recently approved by the Conejo Valley Unified School District board.

The board also approved a new class at Thousand Oaks High School called Sports and Entertainment Marketing.

Janet Cosaro, assistant superintendent of instruction, said both classes meld "academic pieces, while providing real world applications."

The district plans to submit both classes for course approval to the University of California and California State University, Cosaro said.

Under the new digital photography curriculum, Newbury Park students will learn the history of photography, fundamentals of composition and editing with Photoshop, said photography teacher Eric Lindroth. "Photography is by far one of the more popular classes in the school," he said.

"Digital photography is the way the medium is growing, and we want students to have the option to learn both digital and darkroom techniques."

Lindroth said digital photography students will also learn about photo manipulation and ethics.

The school currently has a Regional Occupational Program class in photography, where students have the opportunity to work with professionals, Lindroth said.

At Thousand Oaks High School, students will learn marketing concepts from the perspective of the multibillion dollar sports and entertainment industries.

They also will learn about various career opportunities related to the two fields, from sports branding to marketing research.

"A lot of people want to be that star athlete or superstar, but the reality is, a very few make it and actually make a living out of it," said Thousand Oaks High business teacher Rod Stillwell, who will be teaching the class in the fall.

"I want students to know that they have options and they can still earn a living in a field that they enjoy so much."

The yearlong marketing class will be open to juniors and seniors in the fall, Stillwell said.

Thousand Oaks students also will examine profiles of successful companies and their relationships with important sports and entertainment figures.

Stillwell wants to bring in guest speakers to share their experiences in navigating careers in sports and entertainment-related fields.

He also hopes the class will generate support from local entrepreneurs and develop local internships for students in the future.