What do you see when you walk down the street? Is it really only the same fruit vendor or newspaper kiosk? Are you certain that you don’t need a close-up to discover the juiciness of watermelons or the genuineness of the stand owner? Focus. Essential in recognizing the value of each person’s human dignity is to learn how to see that beauty in everyone. It is after recognizing this beauty that one can learn how to communicate it through art.
Here at the WYA Headquarters we were determined to develop a better appreciation of the world around us. What better way to do this than with a Photography Workshop? Thanks to the help of our new Marketing Communications Intern, Nina Zenni, we dove into the world of framing, overexposures and Rules of Thirds. In a three-day workshop (June 21-23), WYA staff and interns were able to gather the necessary information to transmit a good story through every photo taken.
The key workshop objectives were to “See”, “Compose”, and “Expose”. We learned that in order to “see” creatively we had to ask ourselves a set of a priori questions to define the story or idea we wanted to share through our snapshots. One such question was, “What do I wish to accomplish in taking this photo?” We learned how to regain control with composition by taking care of basic elements such as focus, depth, framing, contrast and depth of field. In addition, we learned that light can either be a friend or a terrible enemy. It was helpful for us to learn the best ways to expose varying degrees of light through our lens and how this would then influence photos taken.
Nina’s Rule #1? Don’t be afraid to get closer!
On the second day of the workshop we attempted to put this rule into practice as we went out in search of inspiration around the World Youth Alliance Headquarters. You can see the results in this amazing slideshow/album here:
The results of the first WYA Photography Workshop? It turns out there is a photographer inside every one of us! Thank you, Nina, for teaching us new and useful tools for capturing great images through the camera lens.
-Alex Sierra, 21
Honduras
