Last week I had the privilege of being a guest speaker and photographic instructor at one of the private Catholic schools here in Canberra called St Clare’s College.

And what a class it was! The class started off as every class does, with me giving a brief introduction of myself and some of my ideas and thoughts around photography and the industry. While the girls were fairly timid at the beginning it didn’t take long once they had cameras in hand to start getting into it and taking all sorts of photos of each other.

As I only had couple of hours I wanted to share as much information with them as possible to give them an understanding of what it is like to take portraits on a professional level. To do this I took in and set up my portable studio in one of their arts classes so they could see and touch the equipment while also getting a chance to use some of it in the practical component of the class, and I must say once they got over their initial shyness they had the studio lights popping as if it was popcorn at the movies.

We walked-through the process of postprocessing an image in Photoshop and some of the skills and techniques I use when dealing with portrait images, like skin and eyes, and not to mention hair, an I must say I was very surprised with how quickly the girls picked up all the information that I was throwing at them with not one of them having any issues using Photoshop and in post.  The amazing amount of enthusiasm that the class had made it a real pleasure to instruct, while the lab where we conducted the practical photo shop part of the lesson was outstanding. Each of the kids had a PC to their own motor with photo shop so they could follow along while I demonstrated on the projector.

After talking with the teacher she tells me the girls had a fantastic time and not only enjoyed the lesson but also learnt a lot in the short time we had. We are now in discussion of how I can go along and assist in future classes both for that year and the senior years where they get more into the lighting, and I must say that be a very exciting class to give.

I was hoping to get the chance last week to video and upload me editing the same image which I gave to the class, but unfortunately I spent most of last week on the road and out of town, so today is catch up day and with any luck I should have the video up this afternoon for the girls to view and follow the process.

Looking for a guest speaker or instructor for your photography class? Drop me a line as I would love to come along.

If you run a work in education and are looking for a guest speaker for your photography classes please don’t hesitate in dropping me a line is I’m always very keen to share my knowledge and enthusiasm with the younger generation.