On Jan 14, 2012, at 11:01 AM, Christine Nielsen wrote: > Hello all... > > ...and Happy New Year! > > Well, 2012 has gotten off to a busy start, and I haven't had much time > to cruise the list lately... I hope Santa was good to everyone! > > One of the things I've been doing is teaching some classes, sort of a > "Photography for Moms"/Beyond "Auto" kind of thing, and it's been > going pretty well. I've been asked several times if I do kids' > classes... and I think I'm going to put something together in that > vein. > > So... I'm doing some research & thinking about how that might work. > And soliciting input from anyone who might have it... > > Thus far, this is what I'm assuming: > > - Kids aged 9 & up... maybe even a 9-12 group, and a 13 & up? Go very light on technical stuff with the younger crowd. > - Mostly p & s cameras, esp with younger kids Agree > - Composition getting greater emphasis than ins & out of exposure - > we'll deal in Auto modes With the older ones, do bring in manual control issues (exposure, back-light vs. side-light, etc.), but only after they've done some of their own work in Auto mode. First they need to learn how to see, then they will be interested in learning how to better capture what they see. > - Teaching practical applications... finding "good" light, how to > photograph your friends, your pet, sports, landscapes, your vacation, > macro, etc... I might focus more on "why" then "how to." E.g., the difference between taking Mary's picture because you want to have a picture of her on your wall, vs. taking a picture of Mary because she wants to send a picture to her grandmother. > - Keep it fun... a photo scavenger hunt? a website they can post > pics/contribute to? "A day in the life", or other photo projects..? Let them self-nominate - what category (categories) do they want to shoot? Scenic, friends, strangers, pets, wild animals, babies, etc. Then their project is to bring back x shots in that category for the next class. BTW, I like the website idea! For older ones in particular, ask them to supplement the shots they take with weblinks to their favorite shots done by master photographers in that category. > - Maybe 4 - 6 classes, 90 mins each As others have said, shorter classes. But that depends, longer is ok as long as everyone is involved and doing something other than sitting and listening. > > What do you think? Anyone out there ever done this sort of thing, or > have any good resources to share? I'd be most grateful... One thought on an in-class project - gets a clothes dummy, at least the head and shoulders. And some lights. Show them a typical well-done 3/4 frontal portrait, and have them via trial by error figure out what lighting they need to reproduce the desired effect. > > :) > -c Have fun!
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