Week One of the Photography Summer Program

In week one of the summer program we met with the K-club (ages 11 and up) and SEAS Youth (ages 15-17) who would be participating in the photography workshop for the next 7 weeks. We did introductions and learned about their knowledge and experience with photography. We then introduced the course and discussed the final project we would be working towards. We talked about what different kinds of photography there are and learned more specifically about photojournalism and documentary photography. We looked at some news pages on the net and talked about what kind of still images you see in the news. Each youth was assigned to go onto flikr.com and look through some photos, picking their favourites and showing the rest of the group. We then looked through everyone’s choices and talked about what we liked about each of them.

As a group we looked through some multimedia projects, photo essays and slideshows on mediastorm.org and a couple other internet sites. The youth looked through some National Geographics choosing their favourite images and explaining why they're good photos. We also talked about composition, subject and lighting relating to each of the photos.

We then introduced the cameras we would be using over the course of the next few weeks. The youth went through some photographic skills and the basics of how to use a camera. We talked about turning on the camera, conserving energy, safety protocols, auto mode, lighting conditions, zoom, and briefly about shutter speed and aperture. Lastly, we did a goal setting activity where the youth went out and shot something that represented Regent Park to them. When we came back we talked about the activity and the importance of setting goals in the completion of any project. Finally, we looked through some of the photos that the youth had taken in Regent Park.