Double trouble... Penny and Shirley get focused

This class was set in an incredibly beautiful garden, the perfect place for two budding photographers to practice.

We spent some time working on composition, as well as depth of field and focus. Both ladies produced some beautiful photos as a result, proving that their creative flare was there all along.

It's also worth mentioning that not a single photo was taken on auto, the only shooting mode both Penny and Shirley were familiar with prior to our lesson.

Hopefully these snaps get you dusting of your lens and  slapping on some sunblock - Spring is the perfect time to whip out your camera and head for the great outdoors. Play with natural light, take photographs at different times during the day and don't be afraid to get right up close.

Birds do it. Bees do it. Penny and Shirley did it, and so can you!

Happy snapping!

Shirley

Penny

Closer, Caitlin.... go closer!!!

This was a class of many firsts for me... My first class with a teenager, 13 year old Caitlin - a budding young photographer with a passion for taking snaps of her family and animals.

Another first was trying to teach someone how to use a camera with super duper optical zoom, and I have to say it was.... perplexing.

First off, it's a real challenge trying to get a camera like this to focus properly. You're also looking at a LCD screen instead of through a view finder, quite tricky on a sunny day.

Definitely not an ideal camera for a beginner, and Caitlin seemed to relax instantly once I handed over my Canon DLSR for her to try out. Having an actual viewfinder made it much easier for to properly compose her photos, even if I did need to keep reminding her to go closer - optical zoom takes the fun out of photography, and an important lesson for Caitlin  was taking the same photo from different angles.

Caitlin did show a lot of promise and quickly grasped the basic concepts of photography, we will soon hopefully have her experimenting with film, perhaps even using her own darkroom.

One thing's for sure, nothing ever quite matches up to the enthusiasm of a child, and I hope to get more and more youngsters behind a lens in the future.