Canon ieat Photography Workshop for Teachers of Dunman Secondary School
As part of an effort to inspire the teachers, the IT dept invited me to conduct a lecture and workshop on Blogging and Food Photography. Around twenty teachers were in attendance and after the lecture, everyone got an opportunity to take some photos of the Sushi. It is interesting to note that the Sushi was eaten by some other teachers who came after the workshop and that none of the teachers who took the photos actually ate the Sushi......
I think this is the first time I got to teach teachers. I must say they were a well behaved bunch who didn't talk in class. Darn, I was keen to see if I can do what my Chinese teacher always threaten to do to us if we talked in class - "Go out and stand in the Sun!"
Many thanks to Eric, the Head of IT Dept of Dunman Secondary School for inviting me to conduct the workshop.
This workshop was made possible through the kind sponsorship of Canon Singapore.
34 comments:
You put on weight liao. A good few kgs at least. Your double chin is growing.
Doc
can you add a menu title CAnon under yr Food categories.
We are interested to read about Canon Ixus camera, what to buy and how to shoot. Difficult to find them now.
Thanks.
The tutorial which I did on Canon Powershot compact cameras can be found in the
ieat tutorials
So the SLRs are all provided? I'm a little skeptical on the usefulness of such a workshop, but I guess it's all in the name of exposure and good fun.
But I can see the usefulness from Canon's POV though lol. They are infinitely more likely to get a Canon over a Nikon now. And since teachers are educators, they might inadvertently influence their students to think Canon is better, and these students would then tell their parents that Canon is better.
Having attended the workshop myself, I would say that the teachers, and even myself included definitely picked up a few useful points..
While helping the teachers with the techinical stuff about the cameras, I could definitely see that they have started to re-think the way they take photos..
The teachers which I chatted with told me that like most people, they just point centre at their subject, half press, steady their hand and then shoot.(Of course, with flash)
But after the short slideshow presentation, I noticed that they started to pay abit more attention to their composition, the angle in which they took their pics, and the source of lighting.
Of course, it would be unrealistic to expect them to absorb 100% of what Leslie had mentioned, but I suppose they do know how to experiment and be creative in their shots now.
Personally, I found it really funny but at the same time weird teaching people who are educators themselves, and much older than me, since I am just a student and it is always teachers who are educating me.
But as they say, the learning goes both ways, and I thoroughly enjoyed this workshop. XD
When is the next Canon workshop? Would like to attend as i missed the first one
Holybro, are you there to learn or to teach? If to teach, what are your credentials? Do you even have a blog? If to learn, then why do you say weird teaching people who are educators? You're weird.
haha
Anon, I was not there mainly to teach or to learn. I learnt in the sense that while ieat was presenting the slideshow, I also picked up a few useful tips in photography on the way.
My job that day was just merely to assist the teachers in handling the DSLRs provided by Canon.
My apologies for the misunderstanding. Thanks for helping me clarify points as I was not too clear in the previous comment :)
Holybro is like Robin to Batman. : )
He has pciked up some skills himself.
In medicine, we have a saying. "See one, do one, teach one". The credentials of a good teacher doesn't have to be very long. It is the ability and the willingness to teach what one knows.
Holybro proved to be very helpful during the session. Besides helping to set up the logistics, he was able to help the teachers with using the DSLR cameras.
He has learnt much in the few months that he has owned a DSLR. Enough to be able to pass on whatever knowledge he has learnt to someone else who doesn't know.
Hi Zanyduke, we can certainly start planning the next course if there are enough interested parties. You can write to canondigitallab@canon.com.sg to express your interest. They will put your name on their list and email you when the next course starts.
We will also announce the next course on the blog, so watch for it.
Just wanna say that Holybro is a good hardworking and mature young man. He has now won praises from Liverpool and Ieat, his two part-time bosses. Keep it up. : )
I can't be more proud of my bro.
Ever since I passed him a digital camera, he has continually pursued this interest further - passionate enough to blow a few months' pay just to upgrade to a DSLR (2nd hand, no less) all by his own effort, notwithstanding the vehement objections of my parents even - and he has developed a genuine love for photography and has not looked back since.
He always ate humble pie and is learning constantly because he is acknowledgedly no expert,nor does he certainly have any credentials to show. But he humbly offers whatever little he has thus gained so far and sharing it with those who are interested to acquire some basic pointers.
The subtle outcome is that he himself acquired in-depth knowledge through such instances of interaction with the educators & there was definitely no top-down imparting approach intended whatsoever. By 'weird', he meant he felt humbled by the whole experience.
He learnt as much as he had shared, and I'm sure the teachers would agree in wholehearted appreciation.
Actually, when I first asked Holybro to help me, he was also hesitent at first. He asked how he can be able to help in the workshop since he was a beginner himself. I just told him to teach people what he knew and as I observed him during the session, I think he realised himself how much he actually learnt.
It was very useful to have him around and I hope he will be able to help me in future sessions.
Ok now it is clear holybro is just there to be the logistic helper. Anything else is history. His ego is boosted though.
Congrats Leslie... for being chosen to be the 'teacher'. Anyway you do look like one.
holybro has picked up many good photography tips from the enthusiastic photographers in ieat forum and makan sessions. His photography skill has improved and I am sure he did well in sharing his experience with the teachers. Keep up the good work, holybro!
Yep anon. Like what everyone said, I was just there to help out only.
I sincerely apologize if I have appeared egoistic and proud..because compared to the rest of the photographers here, I am just an infant in terms of photography skills and experience. And I have certainly no right to boast and brag about my photo-taking skills even if they were top class standard.
I just wanted to express that I just really enjoyed this workshop, both listening to the talk and also helping out in the logistics and sharing what little I know with others so that at least a few more people in this world could take a peek into the dynamic world of photography, and I will certainly look forward to future ones to attend, and also meet other fellow more experienced photographers, who I can learn alot from.
Anon, do you take photos yourself? Why not join us, since Zanyduke mentioned he is interested in participating in future workshops?
To cactuskit, iJeff and bro, thanks for your comments. :)
Looking at Holybro taking pictures during our makan session shows his keen interest in photography and he's always open to pointers and learning from the more seasoned pros.
Real glad that he has found another passion(thanks heaps to his mentors like ieat, ijeff, pchong)apart from food :)
Anoy
Not sure if you are here to teach or to poke fun at other people's interest. If you are of certain age you will appreciate a young one putting forward a passion to do something he enjoyed and at the same time sharing with others the passion. Obviously you are not in the same platform or league and your interest or fire must have died. Be an educator rather than to pour water over fire. It just shows how shallow to demean what one is interested in.
In fact Holybro is someone whom I am really impressed with from the start that I know him. He is very different from others his age and they do not come close to him .
If you have a son his age, I am sorry that it does not go well and rather unwise to swat.
Just pic where u stand here and I am sure that pic will not come out nicely.
Hi ieat & HB..
I'm one of the teachers there at the workshop. Don't worry or bother about the annonymous people who may be attention-starved and writing negative comments here.
From the horses' mouth, we are very thankful and have certainly gained A LOT from the workshop conducted by a 'celebrity' figure. As teachers, we are knowledgeable in our own subject areas, but practically the entire lump of us knows nuts about basic photography. I am very certain that my colleagues who attended the session will put our newly found skills into action soon and start taking good quality photos to supplement our lesson packages.
BTW, I am the compact camera teacher. The SX200 seems to be an ideal option for me. G10 is a little steep in pricing and bulky for me.
Thanks for your feedback Ken. Glad you all managed to learn something useful.
Here is the link to info about the upcoming Canon SX200 which looks like a real winner.
Canon SX200 review
moohahaha....holybro is probably overwhelmed by the situation at school lah....
many things in life, we are not experts, in some areas, we do have that that little bit of knowledge (i know my Avs, M and Tv and P functions, thats all !!! moohahahaha).
if for 16 years, you have been taking instructions from your teachers, learning from them, kena whack and scolding from them. Then one day, you find that you have to explain something to them and they nod their head in understanding, i will be overwhelm too, no matter how complex or simple the matter is.
not only for a 16 year old. I still speak to my teachers like a small boy and feel weird if i have to explain to them certain things.
You know, I have always been impressed by the senior doctors who show respect for the very junior ones, especially the houseman. I learnt a very valuable lesson and that is to never underestimate those who are more junior than you. A lot of those who were my juniors are now specialists and even heads of departments.
One day Holybro might become a Professional photographer using large format cameras while I am still carrying my simple entry level DSLR!
This boy is very enthusiastic in whatever he does. I can see a marked improvement in his photos as compared to day one.
I have recommended him a good photography book "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan F. Peterson, which I hope, will help him to improve his photography skill further.
For those who are interested in photography, you should check it out too. The other good book is "Learning to See Creatively" by the same author.
Yes, I have one of his books too. My reference in the early days of learning photography.
thanks all once again. Btw ijeff, I bought the book oredy. Though the price was steep, the info was pretty substantial and useful. And that was only the 1st chapter. Will peruse it thoroughly.
Can i know what lens do you use when taking the food photo? And which canon DSLR are you using?
Thanx:)
Hi, I am currently using a Canon 450D with a EFS 17-55mm lens as well as a EFS 60mm Macro lens.
And soon, it will be the Canon 5Dmk2? ;)
Amen brother!
wat a waste, i shud go for the workshop but unfortunately something came up last minute, i hope Eric will conduct another workshop for others i will not miss it again...love some of the shots.
Hi Leslie, I'm interested to organise this wkshop on my end as well. How do I go bout it? mmm
Hi Anonymous, you can write to me at leslie.tay@gmail.com.
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