Parents' Day

Today was it, the last session for the Photo Class of 2013. As we did last year, the students put on slideshows for their parents of the photos they took, and described what went into them. What a great reflection of how much they learned in just two weeks it was! After the slideshows, the students set up the lights quickly and then took a photo of their parents, then took the memory cards to the computers and explained step by step to their parents what needed to be done on the computer after a digital photo has been taken. That too was greatly impressive, as they are brilliant at everything from importing, keywording/tagging, processing and then exporting the final images. Certainly they know more about what to do with digital photos than the vast majority of adults out there. Here are the results.

Kailynne's photo of her dad. He really tested them on every step of the post processing and Kailynne and her sister Kerrianne had answers for every question.

Here' Kerriane's capture of her father. A little more saturation and an equally great photo.

Here's Annie's father. He is a photographer too and you can see how proud he is that Annie is following in his footsteps.

Lauren's mom looks great thanks to Lauren's skills.

Unfortunately, Jim's parents had work obligations and couldn't make it. Luckily for Jim, Teacher Sally was ready and he did a great job behind the camera.

Benjamin's parents also had to work and sadly, the only person around to pose for him was this lumpy looking guy. Even with a poor subject, Ben did a great job!

So, that's it for 2013. What a fun class it was and what great progress everyone made. We are already looking forward to 2014.

Both Sides of the Camera

Today, the students got to experiment a little with the basics of studio photography. Using strobes for lighting is an all new skill set and after a short amount of explanation and experimentation, they were off and running again. Today was also the day that they weren't just the photographers and retouchers, but they also acted as photographer's assistant and model too. Lots to learn, but they took to it like ducks to water.

We'll start out today with Kerrianne, who did a great job, first with Lauren and then a serious looking Jim in black and white.

Next up was Kailynne, who got a great smile from Ben and managed to catch Annie at one of the few moments she wasn't smiling.

Next up is Lauren who got great expressions from both Jim and Kerrianne.

Annie stepped up and did great jobs with both Kailynne and Benjamin.

Ben got to bring in his bigger camera today, making his teacher a little jealous. He did a great job with both Annie and Kailynne.

Jim brings a smile to the lips of Kerrianne while making Lauren look noble and probably more serious than she often is.

Hard to believe that tomorrow is day ten, which will wrap things up this summer. I have to say that all of the students greatly exceeded my expectations. I think it is likely that the next Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson or Annie Leibovitz will be emerging from this crop. Keep your eyes out for them.