Asked to teach

[westernminnguy]

Please allow me a few lines to explain my thoughts.....

On several occassions, recently, I have been asked to teach a 'how to' photography class.

People are seeing my images in the local newspaper and a few regional magazines and are interested in photography.....which is great..that they are interested in photography...that is.

I would like to encourage that photographic talent. Here's the rub. Most folks, who would like me to teach, are using point and shoot cameras.

Not one of the shots that I have ever gotten published or was worth a hoot has been taken with a point and shoot camera. I haven't shot with a point and shoot camera since the the Kodak days of the 1960's and I'm over 60....so you figure the math.

Now, I know that there are two things crucial to a good image: (1) light, (2) photographic skills and this is what I tell anyone interested in photography.

But, I also know that point and shoot cameras, to get a good image in tougher situations, are very dependent on light and the skills of the photographer.

In other words, the best shots I've seen taken, under tough circumstances, with a point and shoot camera, were taken by very experienced photographers.

Truth is, if a person is at all seriously interested in photography...the very best thing they can do is spend the extra $50 - $100 to buy a DSLR + lens.

So....

For better or worse, what do you all think?

Is it possible to teach good photography to folks using a point and shoot camera? This is not a snob issue. It has a lot more to do with using the right tools for the right job.


:)

[Wilt]

The photographer makes the picture, the camera makes it possible.

Which is the shot taken with a dSLR vs with a P&S?...(no cheating with EXIF readers!)

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i63/wiltonw/portrait.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i63/wiltonw/101-0132_IMG.jpg

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i63/wiltonw/IMG_1832b-01.jpg


The primary difficulty comes with teaching photography to someone who only owns a Green Box control camera, with no control of shutter speed or f/stop.

[JeffreyG]

You can teach some important basics with P&S cameras-

- proper exposure
- composition
- dealing with limitations of dynamic range
- Creative subjects

Where I find P&S fall short for me are in a couple areas:
- Inability to perform in low light conditions
- Inability create thin DOF
-Speedy response and handling
- I also find it very difficult to work composing with an LCD, but this is not a problem for some people


Some types of photography work acceptably well with P&S, but if these are not the things you shoot or that your students want to shoot then there will be problems.

[tonydee]

I think it's all a continuum... compacts, micro four-thirds, 1.6x crops, full frame, medium format, large format. A DSLR is hardly the end of the line. A guy with a 8x10" might worry about teaching 1DsIII users, with so many of the lenses not even having any tilt-and-shift adjustments... it's all relative. Pros and cons. Compacts can be ok in bright light, and their naturally large DOF - and close minimum focal distances / maximum magnification - can be an advantage sometimes. There's no huge conceptual jump from one to the other, though I agree it's unnerving composing on an LCD "at first" (and arguably never entirely satisfactory).

So, I think you should do it... get them out in the sun shooting stuff that will work... teach composition, exposure. Once they understand the aperture/shutter/ISO triangle, they'll know if and why they need a DSLR, or - for that matter - a field camera.

Cheers, Tony

[birdfromboat]

minimum requirements, an 'AV' mode, ISO control, and hopefully shutterspeed control even if it is in a full manual mode only. I have taken a few classes where these minimums werent clearly expressed, and those that could not control ap and speed and ISO were left behind quickly.
best classes required the owners manual be brought along, hopefully read cover to cover first.
Good luck- I dream of teaching photography someday, to young people with fresh ideas and no inhibitions about appearing geaky and weird because they have a camera in their hands. I remember the first time I got positive reactions to my work, I want to dole that out to students someday.

[westernminnguy]

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts.

Good stuff.

:)

[skygod44]

The photographer makes the picture, the camera makes it possible. Which is the shot taken with a dSLR vs with a P&S?...(no cheating with EXIF readers!) The primary difficulty comes with teaching photography to someone who only owns a Green Box control camera, with no control of shutter speed or f/stop.

Well, I checked my answers, but I was 100% right Wilt!

On a computer screen, and being a tad "into" photography, for me it was pretty easy to spot the dSLR shot.

But this is perhaps an important message to the OP regarding his question.....
Most people who own and shoot digital pictures are, IMHO, not exactly dedicated to the hobby.

They are recording an event - often with drunken friends - in terrible lighting conditions and will most likely delete what they get, or post it on Facebook or the like.

So I feel that teaching anyone how to compose and shoot pictures that convey more than, "here's my best friend...he's having a great time dancing like an idiot" would do mankind a massive service (if you get what I mean!)

[bahelmer]

I took a photography class when I had only a point-and-shoot 35mm film camera and a compact digital camera.

The 35mm film camera was truly point-and-shoot: the only "manual" controls involved the choice of film installed (ISO number, etc), one of two focal lengths (a wide-angle or telephoto setting), and an option to induce the on-camera flash.

The compact digital camera offered more "manual" controls (focal lengths from 7mm to 21mm, aperture, shutter speed), but the ranges were limited. The ergonomics were also less-than-optimal. It was possible to use full-manual control, but in practice the buttons and screen menus were designed to use the green-box or macro modes. As mentioned above, the ability to control DoF was limited. Low-light conditions were a real challenge. And sports/action photography was difficult with the delay between pressing the shutter button and actually recording the image.

But it was still a very helpful class. An understanding of the general photography topics: exposure time effects, aperture size effects, focal length effects, film sensitivity and ISO, white balance, film development, printing, composition, history and art of photography, different types of cameras, etc.

And the class helped me appreciate much better the technical limitations of my point-and-shoot and compact cameras. When I went to buy a DSLR, I had a much better idea of what I wanted, and I felt that I could make a much more informed choice.

[asysin2leads]

I agree with teaching the basics. Here's a P&S shot in lowlight.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/2969/img1573t.jpg

[neumanns]

My wife has a little P&S kodak somthing or other and we let the kids play with it as well. I LOVE watching them take photo's! They try framing and poseing ocasionally watching there backgrounds...Don't tell me there not learning somthing from my efforts with a Dslr! They don't know, understand, or care about it's limitations and when they do start caring then it will be time to upgrade them.

My point is...You have a lot to teach them even with whatever they bring to class. Explain the diffrence's but don't dwell on it and they will upgrade if they feel it's nessacary when they understand the reason why. After all I'm sure at this stage of the game you have come to realize that gear is nice but it's not a magic formula!

I'll bet if Casio sponsered the class with 20 identical cameras....It would be you the instructer that took the best photo. We couldn't lay that at the feet of gear now could we.