Coaching a beginner photographer

I'm going to coach a beginning photographer who's a volunteer in the "communications team" of a local organisation that does social work. I'm a volunteer there too. For articles published each week, he visits locations together with an interviewer/textwriter. He takes the photos that are published with the articles. All have people in them. From what I've seen, all his photos are OK and a few are really good. There's some room for improvement, especially in PP in which he has no skills at all. According to his supervisor (who I know well), he's still not very confident and having a coach and a better 'grounding' in the basics will help him with this. He uses a borrowed camera and he's on a low budget, so he can't just go out and buy more/better gear. He's still learning the Dutch language so 1-1 coaching is a better option for him than skimming through (Dutch) books on photography.

 

I'm meeting with him for the first time in a few days so I don't yet know what his learning goals/questions are. The way I see it working is that we review photos together, including those taken by him and similar ones taken by more experienced photographers. For my own benefit, I thought I'd make a checklist of things to cover with him during reviews at some point in time. Just to be sure I've covered the bases. I'd be grateful for any feedback on things I've missed, priorities, etc. Just

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Mike

 

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The story

What “story” do you and your team want to tell? What’s the central message? What kind of photo(s) will best support or illustrate that?

 

The subject

What is the main subject of a photo? One person, a group, an activity, a location? If it's people, how important/interesting is it to include an activity or the work/home environment? Where and how can you best do this? What is the most suitable portrait format? (Head&shoulders/Half-portait/Full portrait)

Lighting

- working with Natural lighting (+ refectors/diffusers)

- working with Artifical or mixed lighting

- using a Flash (a separate topic)

The foreground and background

Choose your foreground and background deliberately. What do you want to include and exclude? To a certain extent, you can influence both with your Perspective, Framing and Depth of Field. You can move distracting objects. But sometimes it's better to move people (if possible) to somewhere else where the foreground/background is better.

 

Perspective

Given the subject, choose a perspective that’s both functional and interesting:

- angle (0 -275 degrees)

- height (face level, higher or lower)

 

Framing

In principle, whatever is part of the ‘subject’ largely determines your framing. In general, people and things that don’t contribute to the subject or wider story just distract the viewer. But people in the background can express a liveley social environment, a close family or a busy work environment. Make a conscious choice. You might want to crop in PP so allow enough space around the borders for this.

 

Basic camera settings (as they come up)

- Photo quality and file size (jpg, RAW is too advanced right now)

- The exposure triangle (intro)

- Automatic and semi-automatic exposure modes

- Automatic Focus modes, using manual focus

- WB settings

 

Depth of Field

- Choosing DOF (Aperture priority)

- Other factors (focal length, distance to subject/background, distance betweeen subject and background)

 

Composition

The very basics:

- lines/shapes

- off-centered unless consciously otherwise

- rule of thirds (to be aware of)

- the effect of different colors/contrasts (emotionally and as attention-grabbers)

 

If applicable: Flash photography

- when to use, when not

- camera/flash settings

- diffusing light and avoiding hard shadows (background)

 

Post Processing

Initially, just the basics:

- Cropping

- Adjusting vibrance/saturation, brightness, contrast, etc

- Correcting WB

(First steps using W10 "Photos" app, later stepping up to something like Adobe Lightroom, in the very long-term, perhaps even Photoshop/PSE

That's a very good and comprehensive list. Since he is already taking photos, I think I'd start by ensuring he is thoroughly familiar with the camera & lens/es he uses or has access to, and proceed from there with your checklist. Good luck...I'm sure he'll be very thankful for the assistance.

Oof, I am not very organized...

But just my two ct: First of all: Might there be free literature (or such, i.e. YouTube content) be floating around in your trainee's native language?

2nd: Keep things simple and when working across a language barrier almost gruntable.

 

IMHO post processing is the key for news / press work. - I don't mean photoshop wizardry I mean the simple things like converting a RAW to "pleasant". - I'd start there and provide the needed Software. - There are Picasa RAWtherapee, GIMP, Faststone.

 

The other huge issue with digital cameras is (unfortunately) "RTFM!" - Figure out which camera was borrowed, get a manual you understand and another in native language somewhere.

 

When you have post processing down. start with practical lessons. - Guidenumber math, flash bouncing, maybe DOF, sticking to sane ISO avaiding camera shake and such.

 

Stick away from arts theory; it is hard to lecture and live after hearing about it, even in fluent languages.

 

Bring lots of your own fixable mistakes into a digital darkroom session, to get the drill down.

You seem to have covered the lot - fancy teaching me as well ? Seriously, if I can think of anything else, I'll say.

Great suggestions, @jochen, my thanks for these!

 

I hadn't thought of asking my coachee to look things up in his native language. So for me, this is a valuable 'out of my box'' tip! Applies to RTFM too.

 

I also really like your suggestion to bring my own 'missers" and PP before/after photos into the reviews.

 

Mike

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Oof, I am not very organized...

But just my two ct: First of all: Might there be free literature (or such, i.e. YouTube content) be floating around in your trainee's native language?

2nd: Keep things simple and when working across a language barrier almost gruntable.

 

IMHO post processing is the key for news / press work. - I don't mean photoshop wizardry I mean the simple things like converting a RAW to "pleasant". - I'd start there and provide the needed Software. - There are Picasa RAWtherapee, GIMP, Faststone.

 

The other huge issue with digital cameras is (unfortunately) "RTFM!" - Figure out which camera was borrowed, get a manual you understand and another in native language somewhere.

 

When you have post processing down. start with practical lessons. - Guidenumber math, flash bouncing, maybe DOF, sticking to sane ISO avaiding camera shake and such.

 

Stick away from arts theory; it is hard to lecture and live after hearing about it, even in fluent languages.

 

Bring lots of your own fixable mistakes into a digital darkroom session, to get the drill down.

I can't fault or add to your checklist. My first reaction however was WHOA! That's a syllabus for a year's photography course. I would hope that you will divide it into bite size chunks so that your beginner is not overwhelmed.

Some great suggestions above. Can I suggest, that If all the photos have people in, great communication and a relaxed and friendly attitude with those who are to be photographed is as important, if not more so, than any gear or processing. If he is nervous, some coaching in the art of dealing with people might pay dividends. Sounds like a great project to be involved in, best of luck!

Thanks for your vote of confidence, John! Much appreciated.

 

Yeah, you're absolutely right, John. I certainly don't intend to go into any detail on any of these points. They may come up during reviews or they may not. This is just a stop-gap confidence-building and 'awareness' coaching engagement until the next local photography 'beginners' course starts up again in September. I have no illusions of trying to substitute a couple of week's 'coaching ' for a year-long photography course. The checklist is really for me (things not to forget!)

 

The background is that this guy wants to learn and practice the Dutch language and this voluntary work (with a borrrowed camera and little experience) is his way of doing that. He works together with Dutch natives at various locations and he participates in editors meetings From what I've heard, he's highly motivated. The organisation fully supports him and I want to too.

 

As far as I'm concerned, coaching always starts from where the coachee is now and what he/she would like to be able to do better or differently. Most coaching engagements are about helping a coachee become more aware of their current "patterns of behaviour", possible alternatives and (together) evaluating whether and when these alternatives are more helpful. In terms of photography, taking each and every photo on "Fully Automatic" is a pattern of behaviour. An alternative might be to sometimes use 'Aperture priority" to vary the DOF.

 

I'll only know how many or how few 'tips' it's sensible to give when I get to know the guy.

 

 

Again, thanks.

 

Mike

I can't fault or add to your checklist. My first reaction however was WHOA! That's a syllabus for a year's photography course. I would hope that you will divide it into bite size chunks so that your beginner is not overwhelmed.

Many thanks Stuart, for your valuable advice. It's a highly relevant topic that I'd not previously thought about. Another valuable 'Out of my box' tip for me!

For any photopher is this genre, people/communication skills are important. I'll include these in my coaching.

QUOTE="stuart_pratt, post: 5733873, member: 398337"]Some great suggestions above. Can I suggest, that If all the photos have people in, great communication and a relaxed and friendly attitude with those who are to be photographed is as important, if not more so, than any gear or processing. If he is nervous, some coaching in the art of dealing with people might pay dividends. Sounds like a great project to be involved in, best of luck!

I'm going to coach a beginning photographer who's a volunteer in the "communications team" of a local organisation that does social work. I'm a volunteer there too. For articles published each week, he visits locations together with an interviewer/textwriter. He takes the photos that are published with the articles. All have people in them.

 

Your list of the PHOTOGRAPHIC technical aspects and practical skills is comprehensive.

 

Because these are interviews, then depending upon the skills and experience of the interviewer, it is likely that although there will be (should be) a planned line of questioning, other (unexpected) aspects and even unexpected topics will be disclosed during the interview.

 

If I correctly understand the PURPOSE of these images, then the primary skill set the Photographer will need to be centred around, firstly:

 

> understanding and appreciating the main hook and the outline of the (intended) content of the article, and secondly

> to be able to respond to any deviations from those intentions, as the interview proceeds.

 

“good photojournalism” when its purpose is to accent the written word, does not necessarily need to be “excellent photography” to be successful.

 

Teaching this person to be a better Photographer is an admirable task and I suggest that you do that and in this regard you have a good curriculum outline for that particular job.

 

However, I suggest for the SPECIFIC TASK that this novice is charged to do, I think it is imperative that he initially needs to acquire skill, competence and confidence in the journalism aspects that I have outlined.

 

WW

Excellent points, William and highly relevant! I've learned from them so my thanks for these.

 

I thought I'd cover purpose/content under 'story' but you're right. The (photo)journalism skills are more important than the photography ones. I especially like your points about responding to deviations from the plan and photos accenting the text. The photojournalism aspect (text + photos) should be the starting point for reviews and not just photos. I'm on a mobile so I'll stop here. But your feedback has been very valuable!

Mike

 

Your list of the PHOTOGRAPHIC technical aspects and practical skills is comprehensive.

 

Because these are interviews, then depending upon the skills and experience of the interviewer, it is likely that although there will be (should be) a planned line of questioning, other (unexpected) aspects and even unexpected topics will be disclosed during the interview.

 

If I correctly understand the PURPOSE of these images, then the primary skill set the Photographer will need to be centred around, firstly:

 

> understanding and appreciating the main hook and the outline of the (intended) content of the article, and secondly

> to be able to respond to any deviations from those intentions, as the interview proceeds.

 

“good photojournalism” when its purpose is to accent the written word, does not necessarily need to be “excellent photography” to be successful.

 

Teaching this person to be a better Photographer is an admirable task and I suggest that you do that and in this regard you have a good curriculum outline for that particular job.

 

However, I suggest for the SPECIFIC TASK that this novice is charged to do, I think it is imperative that he initially needs to acquire skill, competence and confidence in the journalism aspects that I have outlined.

 

WW

May I add an observation of my own ? While the technical aspects have been covered in admirable depth, another suggestion is praise and encouragement, prior to suggestions for improvement.

 

Along the lines of 'That's very good - have you thought of this, which might make it better ?'

 

HTH

Great suggestion, Tony, thanks for this! I like the way you've formulated your example. From personal experience, I recognise how important this is.

 

I'll take care to praise, encourage and motivate before (togther) exploring possible alternative improvements. It's just as important for the coachee to know what the positive qualities of his photos are (and have these recognised) as exploring possible improvements.

 

You gave me the idea of starting any review by looking at what the good and strong points are in a set of photos. We can then the review the same set and consider possible alternatives and improvements.

 

Mike

 

 

May I add an observation of my own ? While the technical aspects have been covered in admirable depth, another suggestion is praise and encouragement, prior to suggestions for improvement.

 

Along the lines of 'That's very good - have you thought of this, which might make it better ?'

 

HTH

I just want to say huge thanks (again) for all the vauable feedback I've received so far (more feedback is still welcome:)) . Especially because many people (thankfully) went further than my original 'checklist'. You have really helped me expand and re-focus my preparations for this coaching. Native language learning materials, (photo)journalism skills, people/social skills, encouraging/motivational coaching, keeping things practical, etc were not explicitly on my checklist but are all more important than the 'technical skills' that were.

 

Just to give one example: I initially just looked at my coachee's recent photos. Photographically, there's some room for improvement. Based on @William Michael's suggestions, I've looked at them again in the context of the corresponding articles. This has been an eye-opener for me! I now see that some photos - while technically OK and sometimes good - don't really express/illustrate/accentuate the purpose/subject /content of an article. TBH, I expect that my coachee lets himself be 'directed' by the textwriter to take certain photos in a specific location. So more independence in choosing the location/setting of photos would be a step up for him. The locations/settings for photos could of course be different to where the interview takes place. Perhaps the interviews.photo's are more tightly coupled (out of habit) than need be.

 

Another interview is planned at the end of next week and my coachee can't make it. I've been asked (and agreed) to take the photo's. So now I get to showt what we discuss during the coaching. If my photo's turn out much worse than his, I just might resign as coach;).

 

Mike

Just to reprise William Michael's point - if you have access to the journalist your student works with, it might be helpful to find out which previous photos he or she liked, and also learn a bit about working methods. Another possibility would be to get a look at the way they interact. May not be possible, but potentially a lot of good info you might be able to use to focus your curriculum toward early results.

One further point has struck me - in the past, I have had friends and acquaintances ask me how to improve their own photography (as if I should know !).

 

One suggestion I always made was to look at as many images, photographic and otherwise, as they could, and decide how they would have treated the subject matter.

I had my first (2,5 hour), meeting with my 'coachee' today and thanks to everyone's help, it went really well. Up until now, he's used a 'point and shoot' camera. He's recently been loaned an ancient DLSR and he had the idea that shooting in 'manual mode' would help him to get more 'professional photos.' I dissuaded him from this (not to experiment and learn in his free time but - for the time being - not to rely on for 'real assignments'). The risk is that he would me more pre-occupied with his 'manual camera settings' than with taking good photojournalsitic photos. Learning to use semi-automatic modes (Aperture/Shutter priority) is useful.

 

I soon turned the conversation around to 'photojournalism' and we together reviewed photos (taken by him and others) in the context of the articles in which they expressed/supported/accented 'the story/intentions' of the articles. For many of the 'stories', we together reviewed the supporting photos (including his own) and discussed the positive points and also possible alternatives (locations/activities/environments/frames/perspectives/composition/DOF) that might possibly have made the photos more varied and/or interesting. He got this but he'll need some time to experiment and apply the 'alternatives' in practice. An equally important factor is his personal expression/assertion (influenced by both his personaliy and his limited languge skills).

All in all, both he and I greatly benefited from your great feedback and suggestions! He was delighted with the first session and our 2nd session is in a week's time.

 

Mike

I had my first (2,5 hour), meeting with my 'coachee' today and thanks to everyone's help, it went really well. <snip> All in all, both he and I greatly benefited from your great feedback and suggestions! He was delighted with the first session and our 2nd session is in a week's time.

 

Mike

 

Glad it went so well - please keep us up to date.

 

Cheers

. . . All in all, both he and I greatly benefited from your great feedback and suggestions!

 

You probably learnt a lot from you being there and doing the 'coaching', too.

 

WW

You probably learnt a lot from you being there and doing the 'coaching', too.

 

WW

 

I am the photo mentor for the local high school yearbook class, and as you said, there are a lot of times when I am learning as much as the kids.

I did!

 

You probably learnt a lot from you being there and doing the 'coaching', too.

 

WW

Any chance of an update on progress, please ?

[uSER=10934754]@Tony Parsons[/uSER]: thanks for reminding me!

 

We've had 4 coaching sessions so far. On a personal basis, we get along well. His Dutch (and English) language skills are limited and this is sometimes a factor for us both in communication/understanding. But we manage quite well, using photos/drawings to illustrate specific points/questions. My coachee owns a 'point and click' camera and had been using this to take photos. At our first session, he'd just been lent an old DSLR (Canon 350D) for a month. He was keen to learn how to use a DSLR and (as do others) hoped that a bigger camera, bigger zoom lens and a lot more buttons, settings and options would enable him to take better photos than on his ‘point and click’.

 

After the initial ‘getting to know each’ and ‘agreeing the coaching process’, we reviewed 3 of his recently published (point and click) photos. They weren’t at all bad, but they were similar in that:

- in 2 out of the 3, people were sitting in the same place (a chair/sofa) as where they were interviewed

- all photos were 'posed' with the subject looking directly (expectantly) into the camera

- there was more 'background' than strictly necessary (so subjects were smaller than necessary) to show the environment or ‘tell the story’.

 

We discussed alternative (and perhaps more interesting) photos that might have supported the articles: photos of people actively doing something relevant to the article, moving the subject to a different location (room) than where the interview took place, moving around to use different perspectives, tighter framing of subjects with a bit less background, taking photos that are less obviously posed, etc. He picked this up quickly and all his later photos looked much more natural, active and less 'posed'. He was also interested in the DSLR so I explained the basic differences between the automatic, semi-automatic (AV/TV) and the manual(M) dial settings on the camera, based on the ‘exposure triangle’.

 

During the 2nd session, we reviewed focus and DOF in AV mode based on his 5 ‘candidate photos for that week. On the plus side, the photos showed two people (non-posed) actively working together as described in the article. He’d used AV-mode with a wide aperture (narrow DOF) and in some photos both people were sharply in focus, in others only one of the two and in one or two neither. To avoid getting to AF modes/focus areas, I kept it simple and explained DOF in relation to aperture. My tip for a narrow DOF was to make sure that both subjects are roughly equidistant from the camera.

 

During the 3rd session, we discussed ‘background, perspective, zoom, composition and drive modes. His 5 'candidate photos' for that week were taken in a bicycle repair workplace. In some of these, most of the background was a window with strong sunlight which drowned out the rest of the photo, in others a bicycle repairman’s face was half hidden by the bicycle he was working on. In only one was the face relatively unobstructed by the bicycle. It turned out that – even in the tight space - he could have zoomed out a bit more to show more of the bicycle. Without any guidance from me, he instinctively knew how his photos could have been better. At the time, I don’t think he checked. I showed him how to switch from ‘single shot’ to ‘burst’ drive mode. The chances of getting a ‘clean face shot’ (without half-closed eyes) in burst mode are greater than in single shot for a 'moving target'.

 

During the 4th session we discussed (strong) differences in light intensity, ‘average exposure metering’, clipping and diffusion. He’d taken some photo’s which were fine except for a strong beam of sunlight from a window that cast a clipped white stripe across the faces and clothes of the subjects sitting on a sofa. The easiest way this could have been avoided was a) just to notice it and b) partially pull a curtain to ‘diffuse’ the strong sunlight. Alternatively, he could have moved the subjects to somewhere where there was half-shadow.

 

In retrospect, I think that the old DSLR he was lent was more of an 'interesting distraction' than that it helped him take better photos. It certainly helped him learn some photography fundamentals and it helped his motivation to learn. On the other hand he had a lot on his plate: better (journalistic) photography, using a DSLR and using the 350D specfically. A complicating factor was that he had no knowledge or experience in PP. During our last session, I installed the (free) 'Photoshop Express' App on his Laptop and we went through what he could do with this: crop, correct/enhance color, brightness, contrast, etc. So instead of delivering whatever came out of the camera, he at least would be able to correct/enhance his photos in PP.

 

We'll pick up the coaching again in April. My understanding is that he'll also get the chance to 'assist' more experienced (amateur) photographers and pick up some tips from them. I really do believe that, as a beginner, he does his best to learn. Having said that, he's still got a lot to learn and especially put into practice. His skills/experience are still way below the level of a good amateur photographer who's done some courses, reads magazines, has a couple of years experience and is perhap a member of a local photography club. I was not involved in his selection as a 'volunteer photographer'.He was already in the job. If I had been, I would have first asked him to take some 'demo photos' of similar situations. To be honest, I probably would have tried to recruit a more knoweldgeable/experienced 'volunteer amateur photographer'.

 

So the bottom line is: yes, his photos have improved but they are still below the standard that the organization expects. As we all know, taking good photos in 'good conditions' (light, space, etc.) is relatively easily. Taking good photos in worse conditions requires greater skills. My suggestion to the organization is that my coachee be assigned to photos in relatively 'good conditions'.

 

Mike

Sounds as if you are doing a brilliant job in a less than ideal situation, and I'm sure with your tuition he'll improve, maybe more rapidly than you or he expect, as he has the most important ingredient - enthusiasm !

 

Keep it up.

 

Tony

Another quick update on this topic for those who are still interested:

- it's been a couple of months since my last 'coaching session': my coachee had a lot of things going on w.r.t. study/work and he suggested taking a break until he had more time. He's the 'driver' of the coaching sessions so I agreed that he'd contact me when/if he felt the need and had more time.

- I've seen some recently submitted photos by him and I'm delighted to see how much he's developed! His recent photos have had better composition and are spontaneous, active and dynamic. They show real people actively engaged with something 'ín the moment,' with corresponding facial expressions, gestures, etc. In short: his photos have become much more interesting! His recent photos are a far cry from the static, posed photos of people looking into the camera of a few months ago. So - with your valuable help - he's come a long way in a couple of months.

- the one major area of improvement for him is whether, when and how best to use a flash. From what I see, he often uses a 'hard flash' a lot. His photos have hard shadows and there's a big difference in exposure between people within the flash's range (overexposed) and those farther away (underexposed). So far (at the the request of the editorial team) I 've reduced these differences in Photoshop. I've now given him (via e-mail) some feedback on this with a few links on how to 'soften a flash exposure and an offer to discuss his most recent photos.

- The organisation's main (volunteer) photographer decided to quit and I was asked to (temporarily) step in to fill in the gap. So now I also practice what I preach:). It's been an interesting experience! Not only in learning (in conversation) what the topics are but also in deciding (shooting/selection/PP) which photos best express the article and its subjects.

- my main 'photographic friend' has (unsurprisingly) been 'burst mode: of some 50-80 'burst photos during a 1-hour interview (and sometimes at other locations)', I usually usually select 3-5 photos that to my mind are technically OK, express the topic and subjects and present the subjects in an attractive way.

- I've gotten into the habit of sending my pre-selection of 3-5 photo's to my subjects before I submit them to the editorial team. If they preferences, I submit these to the editoria; team too.

 

For me, it's been a useful learning experience to 'practice what you preach'!

 

Mike