I’m going to end this week with a wrap up of the Photography Camp I ran last week. I already told you how the first half of the week went with the scavenger hunt, and field trips to Wave Hill and The Bronx Zoo. Today I’ll talk about our special visitor and how we ended with an elegant Gallery Show.
I was especially excited for our visitor last Thursday – Karsten Moran, the lead photographer/Photo Editor of our local newspaper The Riverdale Press. He was nice enough to take time out of his day to come by and talk to us about photojournalism and street photography.
He brought copies of the newspaper for each kid to look through as he discussed his thought process for the different photos that appear in the paper.
He explained how even though some photos may be landscapes, others portraits, the most important thing is that they each tell a story.
The kids came prepared with lots of questions for him!
“Is it hard to be a photographer?”
“Do you ask people if you can take their picture?”
“Why are some photos color and others black and white?”
“Is this your real job?” Had to laugh at that one! 🙂
Karsten was full of information and he gave us tips to try our own photojournalism and street photography. So, that’s exactly what we did – hit the streets!
The kids had fun looking for interesting things to photograph. They also took Karsten’s advice by politely asking people if they could take their picture.
Most were obliging and I think surprised when a group of 10 kids came running up to them with cameras!
Some of the local business owners were also nice enough to let the kids come into their stores. It’s no surprise that they all wanted to go to The Candy Box & Gelato Shoppe. Could you blame them?
On our last day together, we did some fun activities incorporating all of the techniques we learned throughout the week. Here they were asked to photograph things that begin with the letters in their initials. As you can see, for the letter “S”, they got really creative!
We also had a chance to go on the computer and do some work on Picasa. They had fun manipulating their photos!
This brings us to our final day together. Our time together ended with a Gallery Show. I was so proud of these kids! They chose their 3 favorite shots from the week, I had them printed, and they worked on mounting them. They took such pride in their work! We took over the lobby of The Y and set up their work on easels and long tables.
The event was catered by Mr. Bagel – a local cafe and caterer. I was really taken aback by their generosity – they DONATED the delicious treats! The food was elegantly displayed and tasted even better.
I think the crowd favorite was the brownies. My little one informed me later that she had 3 of them! See what happens when mom isn’t looking!
The Gallery Show turned out just as I had envisioned. My main goal was to make the kids feel special and proud of their photographs. I introduced each of the photographers and gave them a chance to speak about their photos.
I think the friends and families that attended the event were equally impressed. So, all in all it was a complete success!
This Photography Camp was such an amazing experience for me. I feel fortunate that I was able to share my knowledge with such enthusiastic kids.
I, in turn learned from them as well.
Here is a sampling of photos taken by the kids – a favorite from each of them.
Well, that’s it!
I hope you have a great weekend! Here in the northeast we are preparing for a hurricane. What are your plans?
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