There is a difference. The workshop I am starting up today is not “basic photography”, in the sense of photography for just beginners. Rather, if the word “basic” must be used to describe it, it is the “basics of photography”, in the sense that we may already be highly creative, have an excellent eye for the image we want, and take beautiful photographs on a regular basis, but we still have a weakness in the technical aspects of how photography works.
Photography is intriguing in that way: it is both highly creative and highly technical. You have to have a feel for the image, and eye for what to capture, but you also have to have a solid understanding of the technical aspects of how cameras and lenses work. That technical understanding will unlock knew realms of creativity, or, at the very least, help you mess-up fewer photos.
I was copied on an e-mail, which was forwarded to a camera club whose members might be interested in this workshop, and it was introduced as a workshop about “basic photography”. That could mean different things, as I was just saying, and I sure hope the recipients do not lose interest because they feel like they are beyond mere “basic photography”.
I am excited to get started with the workshop tonight, though. It is another chance to help folks understand their cameras and then be enabled to capture the photos they are picturing in their heads. When I showed my wife the handout I made up for this first class, she stared blankly at it, just like we stare at all those button on our cameras: it looks nice, but it might as well be another language.
We will be learning, hands on, together, in the workshop how to not only decode all those numbers and settings, but to practically use them to create eye-catching photography.
