Some time ago I signed up for a 'Wellbeing workshop' which was a photography morning run by a local photographer, Ben Kopilow on behalf of ACT Historic Places.
The workshop had an early start (7am) which was a bit punishing for a Saturday morning especially as it was held at Lanyon Homestead, an original homestead dating from 1829 in the extreme south of Canberra and probably a 30 minute drive from home.
It's been a couple of years (mostly due to covid) since we've been to Lanyon we've been to a few Christmas carols there as it's such a nice setting with the rolling hills of the (somewhat unfortunately named) Scabby Ranges behind it.
Audrey did a photography elective at the end of Year 8 and so she joined me at the workshop - Eli had a pre-season game of footy.
I'd just bought a new lens (Sigma 30mm f1.4) and I'd struggled through websites and youtube videos to choose it. It was quite an investment but a definite upgrade on the kit lens that came with the camera. I'd used it a little bit over the preceding fortnight (I'd climbed up Mount Tennent for the first time) but I was still very much a novice in terms of its capabilities.
After a hurried breakfast and dash in the car we made it down to Lanyon for the 7am start time. Fundamentally I'd made sure to remember my camera (and to charge it the night before). The light at that time was beautiful (sunrise was around 7.05am) and I could see why they'd picked the early start. The host, Ben was a really friendly and unassuming guy and he took us through a few fundamentals.
The plan was that we'd walk round the property and he'd accompany us on our first couple of stops to answer questions, but then would leave us to our own devices to take photos. Either way it was great having a professional on hand to ask questions.
There were a range of cameras on display, some people had big lenses and expensive gear whereas another couple were armed with small digital cameras it didn't seem to matter.
Ben's big lesson was to take your time. It's true in a life with a million calls on your time and a camera on every phone it's easy just to snap shots and not worry about composition or the make up of the shot. He left us with a (valuable) information sheet, which started with the following;
Creating an image with intent - thought process and check list
The first step to creating better images starts, not with rules or formula, but with a few questions
What about his subject or scene is interesting to me?
What am I trying to convey about this scene or subject by the photo I'm about to take
Am I just recording a memory for myself, or do I want to show others how I see the world?
There were a number of other questions that we were to ask ourselves.
The checklist concludes with a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci 'Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication'. I liked it.
Anyway, we walked round the garden and Audrey took some shots, some were good, some were not so good, some dark some well lit. We sought the help of Ben and found him to be ever so helpful. He critiqued what we'd done so far. Interestingly some of the ones we'd thought to be poor he thought were good, he looked at a couple I'd taken (and had been proud of) and remarked 'anyone could have taken those'. I realised Ben was right.
We continued with a new found sense of purpose. We re-shot some of the pictures we had taken based on the advice Ben had given us and we noted the improvement. We took them back to him and he reassessed and gave us further tips and hints. Towards the end he showed us a technique of moving your camera when you take a shot to create an abstract image. Some photos just looked blurred, but some looked like real works of art. It's something I'll continue to experiment with.
The two hours went quickly and both of us enjoyed it. I was proud of Audrey as she took some great photos and was the only teenager there. We drove back home definitely better photographers than when we arrived.
Here's a few of the shots Audrey took.
