At 9.00am on Saturday 3rd November Callum, Dylan, John, Melanie and Tom met at Scout Hut to start work on their Photographers Badge. The course was organised by Luke Atkinson and he was assisted by Matt Whitehall.
The day started with Luke & Matt demonstrating different types of photographic equipment which they had both brought along. The Scouts were indeed lucky to be able to see such an array of gear which was worth several thousand pounds. Luke and Matt gave a very informative demonstration of their equipment and the Scouts were really interested in all that they heard and they asked a number of interesting questions which were ably answered by Matt & Luke.
Next the Scouts looked at a number of photo’s on Luke’s computer and discussed them. They identified what genre each photograph fell into, for instance portrait, documentary, landscape or similar. They discussed the composition of each photo, leading lines , how they were lit and similar technical and artistic detail. By the end of this session the Scouts had a better understanding of what makes a great photo .It also transpired that they didn’t think much of David Bailey’s work but Luke promised not to tell him.
Then it was time for the Scouts to head off into the wide world, well Bedworth Town Centre anyway , on their first photographic assignment. They had an hour to take photo’s of iconic Bedworth landmarks, and also to take some fun and action shots if they wished. The Scouts returned with some great work which was discussed and downloaded onto Luke’s laptop.
Their next photographic assignment was to produce a number of photos using fast shutter speeds. They experimented with photographing food colouring being dropped into water, also coins and pebbles being dropped into coloured liquid. One of the highlights of the day was the session where the Scouts took pictures of each other smashing oranges, tomatoes and plums with hammers. It was very messy but very enjoyable and the photographic results were brilliant.
The final photographic assignment of the day involved using slow shutter speeds to ’paint with light’ using torches and sparklers they let their imagination run wild and produced some great results
After tidying up the Scouts displayed their photo’s in the main hall for to be seen by everyone present. The parents who had arrived were very impressed by their youngsters artistic prowess and I am sure that the Scouts were deservedly very proud of themselves.
Luke then presented the Scouts with well earned prizes in recognition of their effort, excellent work and faultless behaviour. All that remains now is for the Scouts to be presented with their Photographer Badges on Troop Night.
Thanks to Luke and Matt for putting on a great day which was very much enjoyed by all of the Scouts who took part. Well done Scouts for being so enthusiastic and so well behaved.