Starting Photography Club for Kids, suggestions?

<p>Hi Everyone!<br>

We're starting a photography club at a local middle school and wanted to pose the question -<br>

"What gear would you buy if the club had 10-15 kids?"<br>

Has anyone out there already done this, and care to share your knowledge and experience?<br>

I'm a volunteer and the teacher who's hosting the club doesn't know the budget yet, but we’re trying to put together a list for the Principal the next few days.<br>

I’m thinking we’ll do a variety of shooting – Portraits (kids taking pictures of kids), Macro (flowers, other close-up stuff), School sporting events and/or pictures of Zoo animals (zoom, fast glass needed), Outdoor landscapes (wide angle), and general school event photography (wide to telephoto).<br>

I think the key is to not put too much money into a single component, but give the kids enough different tools to experiment and learn.<br>

From my perspective, as a Canon shooter – here’s what I’ve come up with so far – definitely open to your thoughts!<br>

CAMERAS & GLASS</p>

<ul>

<li>5 Canon Rebel SLR bodies – maybe 3 with kit lens (covers general school events) - which models?</li>

<li>2 Canon Speed light – 400 series?</li>

<li>1 Canon 50mm f2.5 Macro lens (macro)</li>

<li>1 Canon 85mm f1.8 (sharp, for portraits, can also demonstrate shallow depth of field)</li>

<li>1 Canon 70-200 f4.0L (for sports & portraits - cheaper and lighter than f2.8L) - most costly item</li>

<li>2x extender – maybe Tamron, for extra reach with 200 lens (200 X 1.6 X 2)???</li>

</ul>

<p>Accessories:</p>

<ul>

<li>5 camera bags with lens cleaning cloths</li>

<li>Lens filters for all glass</li>

<li>5 CF memory cards – we’ll probably be shooting JPG mostly, so 8GB or 16GB</li>

<li>3 extra batteries</li>

<li>Use Picasa for basic photo editing (free) (for the basic students)</li>

<li>1 copy of Lightroom 3.3 (for the more advanced students)</li>

<li>1 copy of Photoshop (for the more advanced students)</li>

<li>Canon photo printer 8 ½ x 11 largest size – with 2 extra sets of inks and paper (model suggestion?)</li>

<li>For larger printing, suggest we have printing budget at local Costco for kids (thinking this will probably be more cost effective in the long run and also give kids option for larger poster sized printing as well)</li>

<li>Maybe - Color meter to calibrate computer display (like X-Rite i1)????</li>

<li>2 tripods</li>

<li>2 collapsible bounce and diffuser all-in-one kits</li>

<li>Package of 100 DVD/CD media so kids can burn their images onto media and take home.</li>

<li>3 thumb drives.</li>

<li>Looking for a good book for beginner/intermediate, something age appropriate, not too boring for kids, a text we can teach from?</li>

</ul>

<p>I’m also open to Nikon, but I’m not familiar with the models – suggestions on how they stack up at the lower price range? What Nikon models and lens combination would you suggest?<br>

Any suggestions or recommendations are greatly appreciated,<br>

THANK YOU<br>

-David<br>

Ps. Someone at the school suggested we purchase a large format inkjet printer (say around the $3000 mark), does anyone have experience with these? Seems to me the supply costs, maintenance, and complexity in using (in addition to the initial purchase price) would be prohibitive? Ideas?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Looking at your list, I think the 85mm will be too much for portraits on your Rebel bodies; the kit zooms should be fine, or substitute a nifty fifty instead. I would also ditch the 70-200L. Pick up some 55-250 IS lenses instead. Cheaper, and safer in an oops! moment.</p>

<p>As far as bodies, maybe some used Rebel bodies? Or T1i, if buying new.</p>

<p>Also consider insurance, if the school's property insurance doesn't cover.</p>

<p>I think I would consider the 1.4X TC over the 2X, historically sharper.<br>

Would think 4 or 8GB Cards would be plenty. A card reader or two maybe necessary.<br>

Thumb drives are cheap, get more than 3.<br>

I agree with Jay on ditching the 70-200L and replacing with some 55-250 IS, and maybe a couple of nifty fifties.<br>

Plan some extra for QR plates for the two tripods, you'll probably need a plate for each camera body.</p>

<p>David,<br /> your list looks like it is good enough for at least 15 kids. I have a question before I can even think of suggesting more equipments for you. Do you have any film camera in your list? if not, you may like to consider ? They are at the right age to learn anything, so that film camera is a good starting point to learn basics of photography. Later on they can switch over to digital. In film cameras you have flexibility to open the camera and teach them the basics. You may ask them to have their film processed in a lab or they can even learn processing. At the end of your course, some of your student may like to pursue with film only while the remaining students go on with digital, who knows what they like, but I believe your kids must be exposed to both film and digital shooting. what do you think.<br /> - vishwanath</p>

<blockquote>

<p>film camera is a good starting point to learn basics of photography</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I won't say that they shouldn't use film - in fact they would see it as quite fun - but digital cameras are a much better way to teach <em>photography</em>. Film cameras are not better learning tools - in fact they can be quite frustrating. In the past you had no choice. Now, thanks to digital, we may not have better image quality (which has many variables) but we do have better learning tools.</p>

<p>Don't bother with textbooks too much. They are in some cases the bane of education (I mean textbooks as in 'Mathematics for Year 7' as opposed to texts like <em>1984</em>). If anything, get some back issues of National Geographic or Vogue etc or even stock catalogues. This will show the kids what can be done and what is being done - and might get them interested in reaching those heights and surpassing them one day. Try not to make it too intellectual. You'll kill the whole thing. Don't teach them photography - teach them how to learn it.</p>

<p>I personally would start with Pinhole cameras and have the students make them. You can use almost anything, paint cans, shoe boxes, Pringles cans, made card board boxes. If you use a matte type paper for the negative then you only need 2 chemicals, a developer and a fixer. They get to build the cameras, take the picture, develop their own negative and then their own print. It will require a room that can use as your darkroom. There are many resources on the internet that you can use for teaching.</p>

<p>Variety of kit camera and lenses off ebay or Craigslist used. Simple and straightforward compatibility. Variety of model and brand and not intended to last forever anyway making the price much easier to swallow when Johny decides to beat a charging grizzly bear with it. Really he swears that the squirrel burying a nut was a charging grizzly.<br>

Then you can have your special stuff in the safe controlled studio/class</p>

<p>I really appreciate everyone's input - wow, quite a range of ideas!<br>

I'll be sharing them with the group this week!<br>

THANK YOU!</p>

<p>-David</p>