Need advice please

JaneH

JaneH

Messages
57
Name
Jane
Edit My Images
No
I'm starting a camera club for our local women's group. We have about five people so far who want to come. These are all women "of a certain age" who basically just want to learn to improve their snapshots.... nothing too complicated. To give you an idea: At least one of them has only a little pocket camera. Another just got a camera last week and doesn't know how to get the pictures out. They're all enthusiastic, however, and really want to learn. I've taken a few photography courses (long ago) but am an "avid amateur" so will serve more as a guide than a teacher. We're having our first meeting next week, but I'm a little unsure of where to start.

I don't want to just start by overwhelming them with information, urges to buy more sophisticated equipment, etc. In other words, just the basics please. I thought about these:

- Composition, rule of thirds (in a general, not prescriptive manner), watching for items in the background, focusing on "a" subject instead of just snapping away at a scene.
- Talk about settings for low light, bright light, shadows, active subjects, etc.

Anyone have some ideas? I'm going to make up a little handout for each member as I know how it is to get a lot of information then get home and it's "gone"! I even thought about making a little chart to show how it starts with taking the picture, removing the memory card, transferring the images onto a computer, and so on. Are there any websites that might help? It's all got to be a "softly, softly" approach.

Thanks for any help, ideas, advice.
 
I've done a few one on one tutor sessions and all my plans and structure pretty much went by the wayside. Questions get asked you haven't planned for in that order, topics get off track, takes longer to cover a subject than you thought etc.

I'd go in with the mindset of an informal chat rather than a structured lesson, just take it as it comes. Handouts are ok for them to take home, but keep it relatively simple otherwise you'll probably generate more questions than answers.
 
It sounds like you have some good ideas already. Your idea for the chart giving the real basics for a total newcomer is very useful.

Simple tips can be the most useful - getting down to eye level when photographing, using open shade and not getting your subject to squint into the sun, using a white sheet or piece of card as a simple reflector. Have a few of these tips up your sleeve and if you go in with an open plan as Tom suggests you've a supply to drop into the conversation.


As a thought.. it's usually very easy to persuade the local library to host a small exhibition by a local group - might be a motivational goal?
 
It sounds to like maybe starting with the file management - getting images off the camera... storing, viewing etc may be useful for at least some of them. So start there... maybe something on backing up files... data security etc. Sounds dry, but if some of the members can't even get images off the camera, I think that needs sorting first.

After that... look at composition and light. I'd explain about shooting in the right light - that great images need great lighting. The amount of pure beginners that assume a sunny day with the sun over your shoulder is ideal lighting is probably very high. Talk about the golden hour... advantages of shooting on cloudy days to lower contrast in portraits... stuff like that.
 
Thanks everyone! Great advice from all of you. The most common problems, to me, are that beginners tend to be too far away from their subjects. For example, someone (call her Bertha) went to a lacemaking exhibition. She photographed the lacemaker from way across the room, so any detail was lost. And only one photo! I tried to show how the important thing is the lace and suggested a) closeup photo of the lacemaker's hands as she's weaving the threads back and forth, b) even closer of a finished piece of the lace itself, and c) a closeup of the lacemaker, from only her hands to the top of her head. If she's sitting near a window, how to use natural light. To me, it's about letting the photo "tell a story", learning to paint with light, "framing" the scene in a photo to make it interesting, and really trying to evoke a mood or a feeling with a photo.

Our first meeting WILL be very informal -- mostly coffee/tea and chatting about photographs. I want to show a few examples of really good photographs (mine or anyone else's) that they can do themselves with only basic equipment and a good understanding of photographic principles. Maybe some examples of good and bad (I have a few of those of my own!) photos and talk about why they're not so successful and what the photographer could have done to make it better.

I was hoping to find some websites with basic beginner instructions so I wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel............
 
When my wife takes photographs, it is usually framed around the subjects head or face for example when shooting friends or family. You then lose feet or a half of the 2nd person in the image :)

I would sugest teaching them to 'frame' the image just before pressing the go button.
 
Looking at and talking about photographs at the first meeting is a very good idea. Once you start thinking about what you like or dislike about a photograph it gets easier to think about how to improve your own photographs - especially where that relates to feelings or emotions as this aspect is frequently over-looked.

One idea that's only just struck me is that it might be easier to talk about the shadows than to talk about the light - after all, when we control the light the effect we're achieving is to alter the appearance of the shadows.
 
Something you might try, after you've had a few weeks together, is to sk them to bring photos they like and talk them through what might be involved in shooting something similar - obviously basics rather than in minute technical detail.
 
Speaking as woman "of a certain age" myself, I think this is a great idea. Once you've covered the basics, how about setting little photographic challenges for the ladies ahead of each meeting in order to give a theme to the events. Could be something like taking pictures of pets, kids/grand kids/gardens, or more abstract topics such as "lines" or "shadows" .... ... anything which gets them thinking creatively around a subject. You could then get together afterwards to do a spot of group "critique" of each image to give everyone a feel for how they can make things better next time. You could also organise outings to local parks/gardens/places of interest ... again to get them thinking about technique. It doesn't matter what kind of camera they're using. I do have good DSLRs, but equally love my little compact and have taken some great shots with it.

Good luck with your new venture (where are you ...I might come along ...?)(y)
 
Thanks, Quicksnapper. Our minds must run together, perhaps because I am also "of a certain age", but those are exactly my plans for future. I don't think we'll be too interested in amassing lots of expensive equipment or in having serious competitions like most photo clubs like, but fun assignments are definitely in the plan. Our little group will have some challenges, such as mobility. We won't be able to climb trees or get down on our bellies to take interesting photos, but I hope we'll learn to capture the soul of a photograph. And most importantly, enjoy ourselves as we do it!
 
The first thing I do with beginners, and even those that they think they aren't ;) is make sure everyone knows how to focus properly with the camera they have. You can have lovely light and great composition, but a blurry image can kill it stone dead. As I always say, you can have an arty out of focus pics, but you have to decide before you take the pic. ;) :LOL: You need to focus on the point you want, rather than the camera focusing where it wants. ;)

If some people have loads of pics they need downloading, then go through that, and get them safe and backed up off the memory card(s). I've had people in the past have hundreds of very important family pics only on the memory card that is in the camera. :eek:

For those with compact cameras the scene modes are the only way to optimise the camera to the scene in front of the lens as you may not have any control over apertures or shutters. So maybe go through what the scene modes do, and explain what settings the camera changes to get an effect, and then anyone with a more advanced camera (and maybe a bit more experience) can begin to think about starting to forsake the scene modes to take more control if they are not already. It amazes me how few know what the exposure compensation does, as an example on how something very simple can quickly improve a pic.

Whilst you can always make comments on composition until you decide to go into more detail, I think the basics on using the camera can make the biggest improvement quickly imho. Get everyone to a similar level technically (as much as you can) and then you can start to build on that as a group.

All the ideas you have in advance must be fluid though and at least partially led by what individuals want to get from the get together's if there is a consensus that you are all going in the same direction. And of course is dependent on the person leading the groups knowledge and experience. ;) Once you start broadening peoples photographic horizons, both technical and artistic, the imaginative can start to see the potential of what can be done with the camera, rather than a camera in Auto mode with Auto Focus which they may have been using. The most common phrase from beginners is 'I didn't know I could do that with my camera'. :)

It is not a camera class though so enjoyment will be the main factor to keep the group together and learn stuff as quickly, or slowly, as the group dynamic will let you.
 
Very good advice (y)
 
All the ideas are good. We've had our first meeting and they ALL have only compact cameras (Nikon Coolpix, etc.) and no DSLRs. That's fine.... a couple of them just didn't know how to get the SD card out of their camera or how to get the photos from the camera to the computer (or where to take the card/photos to get them printed). That's all fine..... we're just starting with baby steps here. We went on a day-out trip to London (toured Eltham Palace and took a boat trip on the Thames from Greenwich to Westminster). Unfortunately the weather was dire (dark, cool wind, spitting rain occasionally) but they perservered. One of the ladies seems to have a good eye for composition, but we all had fun and compared photos, talked about what could be better, talked about what kinds of shots would be interesting, etc. It was a good day, all in all. We'll meet again next month.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top