It’s Saturday afternoon and the new class has arrived. Our first day of the beginning workshop used to be limited to only a few students who would be briefed on the technical side of the workflow process ahead of time. We did this so that these students could act as “first student leaders” and take on a good chunk of the computer work and help teach their peers. By doing it this way the download, import, and edit process on the first day tends to go a bit smoother because they’ve had a little crash course prior. However, over time, that group of students grew larger and larger until all the students in the class were getting computer prep ahead of time. So now, we simply start a day earlier and take the kids further!

We started off by presenting the camera assignments and handing out cameras. Mike, our tech guy, walked the class through all of the basic camera controls and settings; the on switch, shutter button, focus/zoom rings, bumpy-spinny dial, and the menu function buttons. Mike also spent the afternoon going through the process of how to get the students files from camera to computer starting with the download process. The students then got a chance to download sample images and had their first go at file management…where they copied the files into folders specific to the assignment and labeled them with the date and their name. Then they imported the images into Adobe’s Lightroom (our working environment). In this program, the students learn how to label, rename, and apply filters to their images with the goal of separating the good from the bad. Just before we left, we made sure that each of the students joined our private Facebook group so they can be connected to the community we’ve created for photo feedback and help that extends past the duration of this workshop.

It was a short day today, but packed with very dense information. The students absorbed it pretty well and we feel confident that we’re off to a good start. However, only time will tell. Tomorrow the heart of the learning will begin and we’ll start to get to know this dynamic group of students more personally through the way they photograph! We have a very unique group of students this session that offer a new perspective. A lot of them are relatively new to Canada, some having been in country for less than 6 months. We’re super pumped to see what they come up with this week!

Check back tomorrow for the first set of student images!

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