Earlier in the year Edin contacted me to ask for advice on leading a photography workshop. She had been approached by  the Kaipatiki Project to lead a weekend workshop on Nature Photography aimed at people wanting to get the most out of their DSLR cameras and was concerned at how she would fit this into her demanding post-graduate study schedule. It was an opportunity not to be missed so we decided to work on it together and identified a weekend that would fit with her studies. I began to put together a  presentation on the more technical issues and shoot images to illustrate them and left Edin to cover the more artistic side of things. We fortunately had a few days of holiday together in Taupo the week prior so used this to collaborate and finalise our presentations. The plan was to start on the first day with a classroom session and then head out into the field for some practical sessions and spend the second day with less classroom work, more shooting and then an editing session to finish. We went up to Auckland the day before to scout Eskdale Reserve for some locations and were lucky with the weather improving after a bit of a dreary week. The forest was damp but we had the benefit of some decent water flow down the small waterfalls.

The course had sold out and we met up with our group of 12 enthusiastic students on the Saturday morning. After an introduction from Edin, I covered an introduction to photography relating to exposure and the variables we can control to emphasise our chosen subject/concept within image followed by a session on understanding histograms. After lunch Edin covered issues of composition before we headed out to practice and demonstrate concepts we had discussed.

Some of the students were very keen, tried things and asked questions while others were more reserved so we planned to structure the field session for the next day more formally with a couple of stations for each student to rotate through to ensure that everyone had a chance to see and practice techniques as well a some free time to explore the Eskdale Reserve. The Sunday classroom session was shorter as we had covered all the brain-ache technical stuff the previous day. Edin covered computer issues relating to software, downloading and backing up files as well as ways to share and use your images. The field session was great fun as I set up a tripod at a waterfall and students rotated through exploring the different effects of different exposure settings. Edin found some macro subjects and demonstrated using light and reflectors which the students then went on to explore. It was quite hard to drag ourselves back to the confines of the classroom for lunch. The post lunch editing session was good fun with some fabulous shots made by students that Edin then demonstrated some post processing on via the data projector while I did the same more individually on my laptop.

Reflecting on the Kaipatiki  photography workshop, the biggest frustration was the low resolution of the supplied VGA data projector and poor screen contrast due to the layout of the classroom. We got a lot of very positive feedback from the students but this too was an area that they identified as needing improvement. The solution has been for us to invest in an Epson ED-W130 WXGA projector which Edin has since used to present a 1 day Smartphone Photography workshop at the same venue with much better results. I have encountered the same frustrations previously when talking to groups regarding my photography and having to rely on supplied low resolution projectors. With an upcoming talk and the workshop scheduled to be run again later this year we decided to bite the bullet and get a projector that we can take to each venue. It has always been an anxiety about having the correct cable to connect to various projectors and carrying various options to trouble-shoot each venue so it is nice to have those variables eliminated. The Epson projector has been incredibly easy to set-up and use with HDMI, VGA, USB and wireless connections that will even allow projection wirelessly for an iPad or iPhone. All in all, highly recommended.

While a lot of work over quite a few weeks went into preparing lectures and resources for the photography workshop it was a hugely rewarding experience. We met a group of lovely enthusiastic people and shared a journey with a common goal. It was very rewarding to see the excitement of the students as they made images that they previously would not have and understanding the process of how to achieve the effects they wanted. The shared adventures that Edin and I have, usually involve travel and image making, this shared experience of teaching together was quite different  but just as rewarding. The next course is scheduled for the weekend of 5th/6th November and can be booked through the Kaipatiki Project site.

See Edin’s blog for her report on the workshops.

See My Articles and Books page or use the direct links below for free downloadable resources from the workshop.