Teach Me Classes

Right after the holidays I got several emails from frustrated people who received brand new cameras as gifts and had no idea how to use them. Or from people who had "figured" out the basics of the camera, knew which "auto" setting to chose in specific situations and were taking decent photos but still weren't satisfied. They weren't getting the effects they sought out to achieve...occasionally they stumbled upon a great photo, but it was totally by chance, not by skill. 

These people realized that they could achieve these effects on purpose if only they knew how to use their camera properly, how to manipulate the settings in order to make the camera do what they wanted it to do. They wanted to take control!!

I decided to start holding "Teach Me" sessions to help those people acquire new skills, improve their photos and take control of their cameras. When I started out with photography, I had some great mentors who taught me the different functions of the camera, how to manipulate light, how to direct and pose people in a photo shoot and how to get the desired effects ON PURPOSE! I still to this day turn to those people for guidance and inspiration, but at this point I feel I have enough under my belt to pay it forward and do the same.

So far I have had much success with these meetings. I love it when I see the wheels turning in people's brains, I love it even more when I see light bulbs (or flash bulbs, hehe) go off in someone's eyes when they finally GOT IT!

I wanted to share with you a photo taken, not by me, at a recent Teach Me session. Not only did I see the light bulb go off, I also saw his face light up when he saw the photo he was about to take...let me repeat that...ABOUT to take. He took control- he knew what he was looking at, he knew what the photo was going to look like, and he took it. He grabbed it and ran with it.

This is what he saw, this is what he got. Good for you Kevin and thanks for sharing this photo with me! Good luck with your photography goals!