FALL STILL LIFE, J. FRANKLIN WILLIS

I taught a class in photography for children at the YMCA.  I expected kids in grade school, maybe middle school.  Surprise!!!  The kids were kindergarten to third grade.  Talk about changing plans on the spot.  I could just see these little guys and gals nodding off if I talked about technical stuff.  So the class became an activity.  We started by talking about composition.  Then we took field trips to a construction site, the near-by Whitman College campus and just outside the Y.  I was shocked at how much these little guys and gals took in and applied.  Their pictures were outstanding.  They applied the rule of thirds, leading lines and symmetrical compositions.  Most had simple point and shoot cameras that were automated so that they did not have to worry too much about f-stop, shutter speed or ISO.

We also spent a couple of sessions inside.

First, we worked on people shots.  The kids brought hats, over sized glasses, capes and whatever suited their fancy.  It was well worth any price of admission.

Second, we worked on still life (which is a sneaky way to work on composition).  I asked the students if they knew what "still life" was.  One little gal responded that it is when the stuff does not move.  I told them that that was true and, basically, you took some junk, placed it on a table and took pictures.  I brought several boxes of props (junk), plus some veggies.  Then one of the Y staff brought down a big bunch of colorful flowers.  I set up nice satin backdrops.  They shot away.  The results were most pleasing.  They asked a lot of questions about composition as they applied the basics.  I found that they were good for two to three set-ups.  After that it was time to run outside and play a little pick-up soccer.

Perhaps the most pleasant surprise was the comments of parents who said they were learning more about photography from their kids.  We also did an art show.  I printed up and mounted several images.  The images were displayed in our YMCA mini-gallery.  Folks kept saying the pictures were either taken by older kids or I had done a lot of Photo Shop work on them.  Both were false.  I would just point out the signatures on the pictures - you cannot fake the signature of a five to eight year olds.

It was great fun.

The still life above is mine.  It was taken with a maco lens at an f-stop of 16 and ISO of 200.  It is a tri-pod shot, with a cable release cord to control any camera shake.  The lighting is natural light coming in through an adjacent window.