Intro Photo Workshop - Manual Mode Discussion

<p>I am trying to set a up a 3 day introductory photo workshop for women in a shelter in Bhutan. I will donate 4 digital cameras and a laptop. I would like to teach the students to use both manual and automatic shooting mode. I have only funds for the Canon SX 150 that has both modes, (<$150 price range)<br>

My questions is, do you think that it is worth teaching the students how to shoot in the manual mode? Or do you think that it would be too advanced for them? Personally I can't imaging not knowing how to use manual controls. But for novices, i suspect they may not be interested. In which case, I could go with a slightly cheaper point and shoot.</p>

<p>To make any sort of reasoned response to your question, I would need to know a lot more about your students and their situation in this shelter. For example,</p>

<ul>

<li>Level of education / literacy,</li>

<li>Previous hands-on experience with photography / modern electronics,</li>

<li>What do they intend to do in photography immediately after your workshop,</li>

<li>What resources are available to them after your workshop (eg, supplies, contacts, further mentoring, income, ancillary equipment such as computers, software, printers, internet connectivity, etc.)</li>

<li>What are their long-term photographic / educational goals (ie, family photography vs want to make a career out of it),</li>

<li>etc. </li>

</ul>

<p>Tom M</p>