Andreas F. Bobak is a photographer and user interface developer. He runs his own studio
which is located in the old town of Zurich, Switzerland.A Morning of Discovery
published on 17 October 2011
The 11- to 12-year old girls who took part in the Curious Courses Discovering Photography workshop that I ran on a sunny day in September, all went home filled with new skills, fun experiences and cake.
We started the course with some theory and I introduced the girls to my field camera. Belonging to the digital age, seeing me open a box to fold out a camera consisting of a lens at one end, a bellows in the middle and a film holder at the other was a real eye opener for them. None of the girls could remember a time when cameras took pictures on films that needed to be developed so watching a polaroid develop in front of their eyes was a blast from the past for them. And a firm reminder to me about just how quickly technology has advanced in the field of photography just in the last decade.
By the time I handed out the Nikon D300s, the girls were ready to take as many pictures as they could and the sound of shutters clicking filled the rest of the morning.
We were lucky enough with the weather to be able to visit the Villa Tobler for the practical part of the course where the girls were set the task to take a number of different types of pictures, including “something moving”, “something against the sun”, “something you wouldn’t normally take a picture of”. The last category raised lots of laughs back in the studio when we looked over the shots.
To create a picture showing “something in focus with the background blurry”, the girls had to put into practice what I had taught them in the studio about “dragging” the shutter, i.e. using a low shutter speed while following a subject so getting a picture with the subject in focus and the background blurred.
When the girls finished clicking, we headed back to the studio where I downloaded the photos for a debriefing session. This time turned out to be as equally entertaining to the girls as the rest of the course as the snacks that they were served while I worked consisted mostly of cakes, which they devoured with a relish as their reward for a hard morning’s work. The healthier snacks were mostly ignored… don’t tell their mums.
After discussing the photos that had been shot, the girls all went home ready to become their family’s official photographer.
A big thank you once again to Nikon for supplying the cameras and lenses, without which the day could not have been such a success.
