Questions on Teaching a class

[monique_evette]

Hey everyone! I have a question...
I have been sitting on this thought of teaching a very BASIC photography class directed towards amateur photographers here in my local area. The class would be for people with any camera that has a manual setting and I would just go over the very basic techniques to get better pictures (i.e f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, how to read your view finder, etc). Has anyone done anything like this before and if so do you have any suggestions on how to go about doing this or if it was a success or not.

I am not a pro, but I feel I know more than the average scrapbooker, meaning I feel comfortable enough to teach the basics. Even though I would charge, it would just be enough to cover any cost. I just love photography and love to talk about it and I know a lot of people who ask about it, so I just thought this would be something cool to do and experience.

Any thoughts?

[brad]

I have taught a class like this in the DFW area... had pretty good response to it. I broke it out over three weeks.. first week talking about all the basics, what ISO/Shutter Speed/f-stop mean and how images are captured... second week talking purely about DOF and how to control it... third week covering all the rest of the basic topics including composition and accessories.

Send me an email and I will share the "syllabus" with you that is basically an outline of the various topics I cover.

[lucian]

I was asked to do a basic course in fundamentals. I taught a course in the mid-70's while in Japan.

In the next few weeks I'll be drawing up an outline as to what I'll be covering. If you want a copy of it when done just send me a PM.

I'll be stressing the fundamentals, working predominately in manual mode and some work with on camera flash.

Recently I took a PhotoShop course. Three people had recently purchased new dSLRs. One person wanted to know what those "little numbers" were for. It's gonna be fun!

[CaptainTom]

I think it's great that you are willing to help budding photographers out like this.
I worked in a camera store with an attached studio, and taught weekly classes to new camera buyers. ( so long ago !!) It can be very rewarding to open the eyes of those who want to take good photos.
With today cameras capable of doing everything, it is harder to get people to be interested in the nuts and bolts of exposure, etc.

It will be frustrating at times, but can be a lot of fun as well.

[kenw]

actually, in a basic beginners class, with the wide spread of cameras they will bring, it would be better to work on the ARTISTIC side: composition, lighting, angles, etc with only a brief technical foreward. Seriously, most of them will glaze over and not come back if you spend too much time on technical stuff up front. They aren't ready for it.

Many of the students will have cameras that won't be able to adjust anything other than scene modes. To limit the class to those with fully manual-capable cameras is missing the vast bulk of the market.

Let them experience what they CAN do with their cameras, as basic as they may be, and they will truly enjoy the growth and experience. If the first thing you tell them is that their cameras are somehow inadequate, you'll snuff their fires.

However, if you allow them to grow and understand the composition and artistic sides, the things they CAN do with their cameras, you'll spark new fires and encourage the ones who will to go on to the next level, seeking hardware that will allow them to express their new-found creative side. And trust me, a LOT of creative learning can happen with a full auto camera.

They will eventually start asking questions like "why can't I get that waterfall to blur?" or "Why does my flash always fire?", then they'll be able to understand a bit more depth on shutter speeds, apertures, ISO, etc.

It will also build a follow-up class for intermediate photography.....;)

This is exactly the method I've used several times in informal teaching and I've had several go on to very great things. None have turned pro yet, but a few could.

[MyKey]

I have a great powepoint presentation on this sort of thing which I used to show when I taught photography to Police Officer's around the US. Almost all basic stuff, with ISO charts, balance between Shutter Speed and f/stop, etc.

If you want it let me know and we can meet up for lunch somewhere!

Let me know if you need help I will be glad to help you out!

[xseption]

Originally Posted by kenw

actually, in a basic beginners class, with the wide spread of cameras they will bring, it would be better to work on the ARTISTIC side: composition, lighting, angles, etc with only a brief technical foreward. Seriously, most of them will glaze over and not come back if you spend too much time on technical stuff up front. They aren't ready for it.

I agree ... I have used this non-camera photography book to show a beginner how to shoot great photos of people (read family) fairly quickly

[monique_evette]

Thanks for all your input.

Ken, I get what you are saying about teaching the artistic side first, although I wish people had the attention span to learn the technical stuff first, although I can't talk. I always just wanted to shoot something and not sit through the lectures on how my camera worked.

Mkey, long time no see! Yeah, I would love to see how you set things up as a power point presentation. That would help to give me some ideas an a understanding on how to go about things.

Xseption, thanks for the link, I will check into it.


Question: When you gave the class, how many classes did you offer and for how many hours?

Also, how did you get the word out?

I already know a few, but I was thinking that the local paper would be a good start, however I didn't know if you all had some other ideas.

[xseption]

Originally Posted by monique_evette

Xseption, thanks for the link, I will check into it.


Question: When you gave the class, how many classes did you offer and for how many hours?

Also, how did you get the word out?

I already know a few, but I was thinking that the local paper would be a good start, however I didn't know if you all had some other ideas.

With the book, all I needed was two hours ... they buy and keep the book for reference. I hit the highlights and then we practice with each other, especially since the advent of the digital P&S.

For getting the word out, I started at church and then word of mouth, especially when others saw the "improved" photos of the students.

[boomerd35]

Originally Posted by xseption

I agree ... I have used this non-camera photography book to show a beginner how to shoot great photos of people (read family) fairly quickly

Yeah, the Kelsh books are pretty good. The main problem teaching beginners, is the same as the problem I had as a beginner - lack of patience. In today's world, we want instant gratificiation, and it takes time to really learn and understand the fundamentals. On the other hand, I wish I would have known about a class like the ones discussed here. Would have made things much easier. Of course, any beginner should have this photo forum at the top of their favorites list!

Troy T.

[brad]

I'm sure you could have a bigger market share if you taught a class for point and shoot cameras with only the "scene" modes (auto modes) on them... personally, I have absolutely no interest in teaching such a class because I don't want to have to explain over and over again why their little P&S won't produce images with creamy backgrounds like they see in the books.

My class is limited to people with cameras with a manual mode and we do cover the technicals at the beginning... but cover it in a simple way that doesn't get bogged down in the mathematics. I think understanding aperture, shutter speed, and ISO and their interdependence is an important place to start.