help needed pls

puddles22

hi there, am looking for some POSITIVE help and advice. i have been asked to do a beginners digital photography course at the weekend for 2.5 hours they wouldnt have asked except they are completely stuck and need someone so i sort of agreed but did clearly state that i have never done anything like this and that some of my pics might be good enough but tryin to teach it is a different matter.
so what i am looking for us if canbody help with such as, what would be a format for doing something like this? what should i cover with them, they also want some info on photo editing? now i ahve ps and lightroom and presuming that these people arent going to be runing out buying these as they very dear, anybody know any free software. i have been informed that the majority of people there will have point and shoots.
i am doing my own research over the net so not looking the lazy way out by asking you guys but more really for any advice from people who may have experience. and i cant pull out at this stage as would leave the place in a bad way .

5uspect

Picassa is free and easy to use. GIMP is also free and much more complicated, so if they're using point and shoots direct them towards Picassa.

In terms of teaching them, you're going to have to keep things general until you figure out what they are capable of. If they all have different P&S cameras you can't really teach them about aperture and exposure unless everyone has access to manual controls.

You can teach them about composition, the rule of thirds, getting yourself into interesting perspectives with the camera. How to use focal length to your advantage.

You can teach them tips and techniques on many topics.
How best to hold a camera. Why using a tripod is a good idea. When to use flash. When not to use flash. How to transfer their photos to a PC and manage them. How to put their photos online and share them with others. How to order prints.

AnCatDubh

Take a look on slideshare.net for some presentation materials - there are lots of people there sharing their resources. Obviously scrutinise what is in them, for errors, dated materials, copyright(!) should it be present, etc... and compile your own (then share it over there again for someone else to benefit from).

Its easy to jump straight into shooting stuff but imho it is nice (and also important) to know a little of where photography has come from (might bore the pants off the P&S warriors but none the less, they will appreciate you doing it in 3 years time). When you think of it, the principles are fairly static albeit the technology has changed things.

Even if they are P&S merchants, teach them about exposure (again might bore the pants off them initially, but contextualise why you are telling them this like if they take a photo indoors at a parents anniversary party and it comes out too dark - what has gone wrong (the obvious technical answer is nothing - the camera has just shot what has been told too, but in practical terms what has happened - apperture too narrow, iso too low, shutter speed too fast?). Understanding this stuff is important even if the darn camera, or perhaps their phone is guessing the answers for them and maybe if they understand this they will be encouraged to strike out and start thinking 'there's too little light here', 'maybe i need to give the camera more time (shutter speed), more light (aperture), or improved light reaction (iso).

I think 5uspect's suggestions covers lots too.

The Gimp is all powerful but darn fiddley with a steep learning curve (that said once you get used to it it's great). Picassa is handy and not a bad place to start as you begin to encounter image management - where did I put that darn image?) - there's a useful path to be drawn between picassa and the gimp (or photoshop if they are serious about their image processing).

Cover good practices like backup, backup, and then put a copy online into a vault just to have a backup, and taking care of their camera (even basic lens cleaning).

The forum's FAQ's albeit not updated in a while will have some useful pointers that people have shared. If you can find the thread on 100 things (not the last one, but one previous had boardsie 100 tips for photography which will give you some useful material to work with). Stuff like that.

I think also hone in your subject areas to something manageable - it is better that they learn 5 things well from you than the 100 tips not so well.

Most of all enjoy it yourself! Don't fret, you will be at least 5 pages ahead in the manual :eek: