Teaching a 12yr old - need some advice

[dumpsterDiver]

@tracydr: Thanks Tracy... I love nudis, unfortunately in Honduras we don't have a lot. Also she's just using a simple point a shoot, no macro lens. I agree that color and depth is something good to focus on. I thinking that dumpsterDiver's suggestion of taking an object and photographing it at different depths will help her understand the theory.

I'm having to constantly remind myself that she's only 12, but loving all the ideas, so keep em coming! You guys rock!~

[video=youtube_share;fUQK9LZS_eg]http://youtu.be/fUQK9LZS_eg[/video]

 

[Wisnu]

my daughter start taking uwp when she was 11. and here what she said when she learn uwp in Bali.

scuba diving, Melati D. Tulamben - Bali, 2011

 

[TSandM]

Introduce the concept of a raster. Have her look at some of her pictures and pick out three she really likes and three she doesn't like, and then put the raster over them and see how the composition matches the rule of thirds. Then have her do another dive and think about lining things up that way.

Do a dive and give her a project -- every animal she finds to shoot, she is to shoot down on it, level with it, and up at it. Then review the pictures at the end to see which ones she likes, and let her figure out that shooting up at the subject gives you the best photos.

JP Bresser gave us a great photo assignment in the Red Sea. He told us to go on a dive and take pictures that explained why we liked diving there. That makes you think about a) why you like diving there, and b) what kind of photograph would convey those ideas, and c) technically how to create such a photograph. I thought it was a wonderful experience, and it was really fun to see the pictures people came up with.

 

[glamourpuss]

Thanks so much for all of these suggestions! I think I've definitely got some good ideas to fill a couple more classes with. You guys are awesome!

 

[Larry C]

Number 1: Approaching wildlife or getting it to approach you
Number 2: Maintaining buoyancy and position while shooting
Number 3: Recognizing the direction of the light source and using it to make your picture better
Number 4: Picture angle. Do I want to shoot face to face, in profile, from behind, from underneath?
Number 5: Recognizing what the camera is good at. Is it better for portraits or landscapes? How much should be in the picture? An eyeball? A fish? A reef with lots of fish? A diver? A fish with a diver?

 

[glamourpuss]

Thanks Larry! All good stuff, but was hoping for ideas on exercises or activities we could do to put the theory of those things into practice. It's one things to tell someone on the surface that buoyancy and position are important, it's a whole different ball game when you get underwater. Especially with a 12yr old. Do you have any ideas on how to physically demonstrate this underwater?

 

[bvanant]

For color testing, print out a Macbeth color checker and laminate it. Then shoot them at different depths (with no flash) then add a single dive light to the photos. Great teaching tool if she is into that. Where are you diving? If there is a lot of local life then ask her to try to catalog (and learn about) as much local life as you can. Also make sure you ask her what her interests are, you might be surprised at how literate 12 year olds are about what they are interested in.
Bill

 

[Hickdive]

Don't sweat it, in less than a year they'll be a teenager and know everything about everything.

 

[glamourpuss]

This week's class went really well. I found some cute little toys and tied them to weights so she could practice in a sand patch. I think this really helped her focus on her buoyancy and allowed her to think about her shots rather than chasing fish, and just snapping away randomly. I had her take photos from all different angles and distances which really helped her see what worked and what didn't work as we were able to compare the photos of the same subject at the same depth. We took the last 15 minutes and went for a bit of a swim and let her take pics of whatever she wanted. She got a couple of pretty good shots that were a huge improvement from last week.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. They were a great help and will continue to help me come up with lesson plans!

Attached is a picture that one of the other divers on the boat snapped as he swam by us.