For people looking to advance their knowledge of photography or develop
their drawing skills, NSCAD University is offering a number of courses
and workshops this summer to help with both.
One two-day workshop will introduce students to the principles of action photography. It’s called Intermediate Photography Workshop: Action Photography and instructor Steve Farmer has a goal in mind for his students.
“My goal is to get them where what they have envisioned is what they are producing,” he says.
Farmer wants them to start thinking like a photographer.
“With the skill set I want to get them into, it’s about getting a bit more of a photographer’s eye as opposed to the snap and grab situations,” says Farmer.
He envisions the workshop as being a good fit for proud parents. “I’m thinking about a lot of the moms and dads out there who are trying to photograph their children running around the soccer field or the lacrosse rink, whatever,” says Farmer.
He says some of the challenges traditionally associated with shooting action photography have to do with people not framing the action properly or just clicking at the wrong time.
“It’s the decisive moment they’re looking for,” says Farmer. “My goal is to show them when to click and how to make that happen.”
For people interested in learning to draw, Introductory Drawing is an observational course which will have students looking at things and drawing them, along with learning the basics.
Instructor Michael Fernandes says students take the course for different reasons.
“Some people take it to hone up on their skills or build up their portfolio,” he says. “Some take it for a break. It’s almost therapeutic. It’s a situation where it’s quiet and almost meditative in some ways.”
For those who are self-conscious about their drawing abilities, Fernandes says with the right instruction and practice, there is hope for everybody.
“I can take anyone, anybody,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what talent you have.”
