if you had to teach photography in one lesson...

[occhicone]

<p>thanks for the advice you guys gave on my trip to kenya.<br>

besides a safari and other touristy stuff, i am visiting he Bosco Boys orphanage in Nairobi. It is run by the Salesian order of Catholic Priests, like where I went to high school in New Jersey. Together with my old school we raised money, items to donate.<br>

Also, we are doing a VERY abbreviated 'kids with cameras' type thing. I am bringing 100 disposable cameras to give to about 20-25 kids. they will have 2 weks to taake photos. I will be taking the film back to the US for development and we will auction the best prints at alumni dinners, etc back home to raise further money.<br>

So, I have 1 day to spend with the boys to get the going. I will have a laptop I am donating to the school so I can present some photos to them.<br>

I was thinking of starting by talking about what kinds of pictures they like / what they would like to take. talk to them about what they would show the boys in America if they could from their lives. Then, showing some pics taken by the kids with camera program, talking about what makes them interesting (or not). I think it will try and emphasize 2 main things 1-get close 2-look through your viewfinder - think about what you see - pause - push the button - then, demonstrate with my camera so they can see immediate results<br>

besides that, tell them to shoot mostly in the daylight and try a few inside and at night with the flash - but i am sure the flash on these things suck.</p>

<p>but what other kind of quick tips would you give them? i am interested to know what poeple think is the most important part of their picture taking experience. the 2 above are mine but obviously everyone thinks differently and approaches similar tasks from different viewpoints. <br>

to summarize, I want to keep the lesson simple and fun and enough to get them excited to go out shoot a few rolls.</p>

<p>we will also be putting the results on a website so the kids can see them and the orphanage can do its own fundraising oevr there with the materials - I can post the link here when its done</p>

<p>thanks</p>

<p> </p>

[mountainvisions]

<p>If shooting with settingless disposables, the biggest lesson would be composition and fill the frame.</p>

 

[rogerdaltx]

<p>I'll second Justin's composition comment. Fill the frame, rule of thirds, think tic-tac-toe board and moving the subject onto one of the points or lines. Remind them their subject does not have to always be in the center. Think foreground, non distracting background and something leading into the frame. That might be a bit much for the kids, but I think a composition lesson would be the quickest improvement a beginner can expect. And tell them to try to put the light over one of their shoulders so it's behind and to one side of the photographer</p>

[jack_fisher1]

<p>Another hint: Ask them to slow down. When I gave a young grandson a disposable camera for the first time, he shot the entire roll in about 30 seconds. It took him a while to understand what film is and what happens when you press the shutter button. Explain what a camera is before giving them to the students. The above hints on composition are good as well.</p>

[bobbuck19]

<p>gotta second the slow down advice, gave a friends nieces a couple disposables and they finished them off in about 3.5 seconds.</p>

[vilk_inc]

<p>the highest reward for a diligent student of "composition" is a comment of "wow, well composed..." on an internet forum, hardly a goal for photography :)<br /><br />you never know who you may meet there. don't kill the budding passion with rules<br /><br />tell them to photograph what they love. if they're too young to get it--what they like very much should do. throw in a few examples to get them started... to think of it, throw in a lot of examples. make them warm up, simmer and boil in anticipation of sharing--not sweat trying to remember the rules<br /><br />(perhaps handing out the cameras in daily/weekly batches might help the trigger-happy syndrome)</p>

[jpo3136b]

<p>I thought your two points that you brought up in the OP were right on. Pretty much any variation of that would be a good teaching goal for one day. Keep it simple, fun and entertaining; leave them wanting more.</p>

<p>Maybe a viewing card exercise with some cheap pre-cut mats would be a good way to talk about composition without using up supplies. Get an aspect ratio to match the film. The smaller; the cheaper.</p>

<p>"Okay, kids! Everybody look around. If you had to make a picture, what would you put in your frame? Point your picture frame at the world and show me the picture you are thinking about."</p>

<p>This way if someone is totally clueless, you'd see it right away in a group exercise. There'd be those three people not really looking through their viewing cards or something. Also would help you identify the ones who get it right away. This could smooth out group coaching. (I guess; I've never taught a group.)</p>

[vrankin]

<p>I've seen some Eastern U.S. inner city school kids' work in this vein, and it was so spontaneous as to break the rules and still be good. -Seems it would be best not to inhibit them too much.</p>

[s_brown2]

<p>I would seriously consider buying some cheap-ass digital cameras off amazon or ebay for $10-20 each. Even if you only buy, say 25 digital cameras, you could use them for teaching and to get the kids enthused. There's nothing like seeing a picture immediately after taking a photo, and it will stop them becoming bored and forgetting about the camera because they don't get to see any pictures from it.</p>

<p>You could also arrange to let them take turns at having a digital camera for the day, before passing it on to the next kid in their group.</p>

<p>There are obviously issues with charging digital cameras, memory etc etc so it's not necessarily the best stand-alone solution unless you are able to buy a bunch of identical cameras. But I don't think it has to be "either/or". Some digitals would really be great for hands-on teaching.</p>

<p>One other thing you could do is ask people you know to donate you their old digital cameras from 5+ years ago. I suspect many people have a 2-3MP point and shoot sitting around that they will never use again, who would gladly donate it to a cause such as this.</p>

<p>If you're concerned about batteries, memory cards, and usability, maybe buy as few as 5 digital cameras... get identical ones, set them up in auto mode (maybe even tape over some of the dials), and buy a bunch of small memory cards (at 3MP per pic you won't need big ones!). Kids who have never held cameras will be amazed, and will happily share one between 5 of them I should think, particularly if you set up some ground rules.</p>

<p>Cheers, S</p>

[s_brown2]

<p>Here's an example of what you could get. $20 on ebay, 4 of them available and "buy it now". They even take AA batteries! You could use the "make an offer" feature and probably get a good discount.</p>

<p>http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-PhotoSmart-M307-3-2MP-1-8-16MB-15x-Sound-Video-HLP_W0QQitemZ370211415037QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDigital_Cameras?hash=item563251e3fd&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1199|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50</p>

<p>It's a great thing to do by the way. Well done! I might think about doing something similar next time I am travelling through Asia.</p>

[s_brown2]

<p>ps. I bet some members of this forum could probably help find a bunch of cheap digital cameras on ebay. And some folks here may have an old point and shoot they would be willing to donate.</p>

[s_brown2]

<p>Just had another idea... it would be awesome to demonstrate a pin-hole camera. Very simple... you just need a cardboard box and some photographic paper. You can find instructions on google.</p>

<p>A pinhole camera is a great way to explain how images are made. And it really is amazing to see... even for a western kid who is used to seeing cameras all the time.</p>

[tomadakis]

<p>Depends on their age. But if you manage to teach them to take photos of subjects they have emotions about, they will succeed.</p>

[johnmarsden]

<p>This is a great idea. Do the maths though. Get some digital cameras -<br>

If you get 4 - 6 megapixel you will be able to print easy A4 or more for your auction. (PS interpolation will get you even bigger)<br>

The processing costs alone on 100 films is gonna hit you. Say film camera and processing $15. So you're at $1500. Balanced with 10 cameras at 40 - 50 dollars (would be nice ones at this price and you have instant feedback.) Loan out for a couple of days per 2 kids, then give to the next lot. Batteries will be the main challenge.<br>

If you have internet connections you could down load on site on your laptop, burn to CD and email the shots to yourself before you have chance to lose the pictures from your computer on the rest of your travels or have any film nuked by airport x-ray.<br>

With regard to the rules of photography etc - the real appeal of any images created will be that they do not apply any rules. These are kids with wild imaginations - light blue touch paper and stand well back... Great idea - go for it.<br>

If you already have the film cameras - your post implies this - then see if you can get sponsorship for the D&P - before you go, etc etc.</p>

[andrew_c2]

<p>Hi, great idea; I hope it works well for everyone involved!<br /> <br /> Just a quick point agreeing with what most have said: fill the frame and be mindful of what you're shooting; what do you want to show people in this picture? Bringing pictures that you think are good photography are important too, in order to give them examples of what to look for. <br>

But the #1 rule is to have fun! Next, fill that frame!</p>