Photo-fun at Eccles Art Center
A monthly adventure into camera art
Photo-fun is…well…fun with a camera, or a phone, or just about anything connected to a lens. Whether you own a DSLR, a mirrorless, a smart phone, or maybe even an old film camera, they all work—if you know how to properly motivate them. And that’s the point of these Photo-fun workshops.
Each month we take an hour and a half to two hours and explore some aspect of photographic art and technique. Some workshops focus on specific seasonal projects, like creating your own, personal Christmas cards; other sessions dig into the stuff you need to know to make your project work—stuff like composition and camera settings.
There is also a slice of time reserved for the peer evaluation of your own work. See what others think about it. An open and honest (but not negative) critique is one of the best pathways to producing more compelling pictures. The big question is this: “What would make this photo stronger?”
Topics for the next six months are below. You choose the sessions of most interest to you and we will help you press the shutter for more stimulating shots.
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Tuesday, September 12, 2023 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Turn YOUR ordinary photos into an engaging experience
You already have and thousand photos. Are they what you wanted? what you hoped for? Or are they just another picture? What’s the difference? Why does one picture reach out and grab you while another one cures your insomnia? Come and examine this question with us. It might just keep you awake at night.
Tuesday, October 10, 2023 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Create your own Christmas card
There’s something about a box of Christmas cards you bought at the store that just looks like you bought them at the store. Family portraits are common, but that’s the problem—they’re common. Do something different, meaningful. Even if it is a family picture, it doesn’t have to look like every other family’s picture.
Tuesday, November 14, 2023 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Make your holiday photos print-worthy
Picture this: everyone is sitting around the Thanksgiving table, or opening gifts on Christmas morning. You say, “Look at me everybody. Say cheese.” They don’t want to but they do. You now have the obligatory standard shot for the archives. Good. Keep it. You’ll be glad you did. But now it’s time for some real photo fun with cool candids you’ll really love.
Tuesday, December 12, 2023 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Christmas lights, night lights and shooting in the dark
If you know how to do it, these can be some of your most fascinating photos. Streaks of light and mysterious shadows make pictures full of meaningful memories and moods. Such photos are as much about what you don’t see as they are about what you do. Let’s learn how to capture a feeling after the sun goes down.
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
You got a new camera for Christmas. Now what?
Lions and tigers and bears, oh no! They are almost as scary as shutter speeds, aperture’s and ISO’s, oh no. But not to worry, you say, my camera has an automatic setting, and that should work just fine… and it does, for every day ordinary pictures. But you can do better than that.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Composition: the key to a hidden world of photo art
This is about far more than cropping. it is about light, and color, and contrast, and texture, and motion, and focus, and everything else. This is the art part. It is true, you have to know how to work your camera, but that’s the easy part, relatively speaking. The real magic is in the eye and the imagination of the one who holds the camera: you.
Tuesday, March 13, 2023 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Gear up for spring wildlife photography
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Instructor: Bruce Frandsen
Tuition:
Single Session $20 art center members, $25 nonmembers
Three Session package: $50 art center members, $60 nonmembers.
