This past Sunday I ran my first Photography for Beginners Course in Howick since moving to the area.  It was a blistering hot day which was quite exhausting but everyone coped so well and went away feeling totally empowered and excited about what they had learnt.

To start the day off we spoke about good and bad light and then moved on to how the camera works and the settings on the camera.  Our second practice session of the day is about Aperture and trying to get everything in focus and then trying to get more blur in the image.  Everyone walked around the garden testing out their settings on flowers and fruit and whatever they could find.

After a short coffee (iced juice) break we moved on to Shutter Speed and how using your Shutter Speed can either freeze movement or capture movement.  We went outside to practice on moving cars which is always a fun one to try as you can see big differences in your images.

Then we tried out our settings with water.  I usually use a sprinkler or tap for this but as it was so hot one of our attendees kindly offered to do some dives and tricks into the pool so we could capture the splashes etc.

Here are some pics of everyone in action trying out their settings.

Next we moved onto posing people and composition and used some of our attendees to take photos of.  These two men work for an organization called Siyabonga Helping Hands for Africa based in Pietermaritzburg and came on this course to learn how to take better photographs at the centers they work at.  They were so enthusiastic and made us all laugh quite a few times and didn’t shy away when I asked them to start the modeling off for us.  I am planning on going to visit them at their Centers one day and am really looking forward to seeing them in action.

Thank you so much to all of you that joined me, I thoroughly enjoyed the day and seeing all those “light bulb” moments.  Can’t wait to see how your photography grows.

Some kind words:

“Thank you for a wonderful class.  I really enjoyed the class and learned so much.  Very excited to start using my camera when it’s not on Auto”.

“Thanks Penny, I feel really empowered”.

I never thought that one day I will be able to take nice pictures for my organization Siyabonga Helping Hands, setting up my camera was awesome”.