For the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to teach several nature photography workshops to young photographers (age 8-13 or so). I work with the Water Wise Workshops, created by the Organization for the Assabet River – which teaches youngsters about the water cycle, plants and animals, and other topics related to living in a watershed such as ours — and I’ve been working with the local National Wildlife Refuges (Great Meadows NWR and Assabet River NWR) as part of their summer camp programs.
The workshops aren’t very technical in nature — my two main objectives are to instill a sense of respect for the environment that they are photographing (learn about your subjects, don’t stress animals, leave no trace) along with the basics of composition and stabilization. In my experience the two biggest disappointments people have with using small cameras are blurry photos and boring results.
Most of the participants have a genuine interest in exploring their environment and using the camera and it is rewarding to me, as a photographer, to help them a bit in coming back from wherever they go with, I hope, better photographs. The other main lesson I try to teach is that the best camera is the one you have with you (credit to Chase Jarvis for coining the perfect mantra on that topic) — and how, with a few things they probably have lying around the house, they can make their cameras even better (e.g., using a hacky-sack as a camera stabilizer for low-angle shots).
Here are a few more scenes from my 2010 workshops along with some portraits of a few of the participants. Normally I’d have more pictures, but most of my time was spent answering questions and creating challenges for them as we walked down the trails.
Thanks to the OAR and Eastern Mass. NWR Refuge Complex staff for making the workshop sessions a great experience for both me and the next Art Wolfe’s of the world.
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by Dave
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