Mentoring

Under Director John Ballard, the Mentoring Program continues to offers aid and instruction for new and intermediate photographers, provided by club member volunteers. If you are interested in finding a mentor, or want to volunteer your time helping someone improve his image-making, send your name and questions to John.

For mentors, you are making a commitment for a specific amount of time, from one to three months to be decided by you and your protege. Be organized and prepared for your meetings and have a plan for what you will do each time you get together. Most relationships will be one-on-one but once in a while, a mentor might be teaching a small group.

For proteges, review the topics below and be as specific as possible about what areas you want help in. When you meet your mentor, bring with you relevant paraphernalia - camera, manual, computer, lenses, flash, etc. 

Frequently requested topics

Basic

  • Camera operation - Taking your camera off the automatic controls and learning to shoot manually: adjusting ISO, aperture and shutter speeds etc.

Intermediate

  • Exposure techniques - how to consistently get good exposures under variable conditions (low light, bright light, back light), camera metering techniques & use of histograms
  • Composition - "why am I taking this image?", rule of thirds, leading lines, patterns, framing, contrasting objects and/or colors, etc. breaking the rules
  • Focus techniques - manual versus automatic camera focus systems, DOF, hyper-focal principals, stopping action, creating panning, action shots
  • Digital processing - camera to printer - organizing, renaming, editing, storage and printing, raw versus jpeg, Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.

If you'd like to be a mentor and OR need some help from one, send the following information:

  • Name
  • E-mail and phone number
  • Location (so we can match you with someone who lives or works near you)
  • Camera type
  • Instruction Topics

Questions?  Email .