Has anyone had issues with photography students..

[Sincity]

I am starting to teach a class with the local P&R department, and I figured people would want to get a experience with shooting models with OCF, and more than just the basics. The city's marketing department sent out flyers on the city webpage, FaceBook postings, and even some print. And the city is having issues filling the class.

So I am wondering if anyone teaching photography have had the same issues and how do they remedy it ??

 

[Joeseph]

Hard to say, when you mention photography students I immediately think of folks in their late teens, and my ones (3x boys) would have completely missed anything on a city webpage, Facebook or print as they don't frequent such places!
Maybe find someone in your target audience & figure out what media reaches these peoples? I'd be in if I were anywhere closer...

 

[Capn Jack]

I am starting to teach a class with the local P&R department, and I figured people would want to get a experience with shooting models with OCF, and more than just the basics. The city's marketing department sent out flyers on the city webpage, FaceBook postings, and even some print. And the city is having issues filling the class.

So I am wondering if anyone teaching photography have had the same issues and how do they remedy it ??

There's too little information to give more than vague advice.

• "P&R" is likely parks and recreation, but what is "OCF"? If abbreviations like this were used in the marketing without definition, no one will know why they should attend.
• When are the classes? week days? weekends? evenings? During the day? This will determine who can attend.
• What equipment is needed? Interchangeable lens camera, Point & Shoot, cell phone? Flash lamps? Can the class work with a diverse mix of equipment?
• What will I get from the class? How to pose models? How to use light in the best way?
• What is the class level?
• Is the end result to make better Instagram photos or more "professional" pictures of family? There is a great deal of overlap here.

 

[Sincity]

There's too little information to give more than vague advice.

• "P&R" is likely parks and recreation, but what is "OCF"? If abbreviations like this were used in the marketing without definition, no one will know why they should attend.
• When are the classes? week days? weekends? evenings? During the day? This will determine who can attend.
• What equipment is needed? Interchangeable lens camera, Point & Shoot, cell phone? Flash lamps? Can the class work with a diverse mix of equipment?
• What will I get from the class? How to pose models? How to use light in the best way?
• What is the class level?
• Is the end result to make better Instagram photos or more "professional" pictures of family? There is a great deal of overlap here.

Yep.. I was just asking if anyone who teaches photography has any issues with filling the classes with students...

Going back to the beginning of my original post.. The city parks and recreation is allowing me to teach a short introduction to off-camaera lighting with models and trying to get people off the basics. It was designed to let the public try different ways to light a subject from HMI lighting for iPhone users to strobes for anyone with a flash shoe. Modifiers to include softboxes, fresnels, and spots.

I really thought the marketing department did a good job on advertising, since it was aimed at people wanting to get off the auto. Plus the city has a extensive teen/ youth sports program, so it would be accessible to them as it is held at the same sports complex.

 

[OhLook]

I really thought the marketing department did a good job on advertising, since it was aimed at people wanting to get off the auto.

Not to fault whatever parts of their job were done well, but they did not do a good job in designing the ad you posted.

Graphics: You want viewers to take in headlines at a glance; most people read lower-case faster than all caps, and dark type on light more easily than light on dark. The bars behind the first two words after the P&R logo interrupt the visual downward flow by drawing attention to themselves (a change of color, yet!) and making the design choppy (too many elements). The design is also choppy apart from that. Too many elements scattered around the page/frame, varying in content and style. Where did the artist want people to look, and in what order? You wouldn't compose a photo that way.

Text: Titles of classes aren't enough to attract students. Blurbs are also needed that relate to the audience's needs and wishes. (What does "nontraditional lighting" mean to the people you want to reach?) Like "Go beyond the limitations of your camera's built-in flash. Learn to handle unwanted shadows. Know what to do when the sun is overhead and when it's not."

I'm not trying to be mean. The artist may be an underpaid civil servant whose primary job is something else. But studying advertising, even a little, would produce a more effective ad.

 

[paddler4]

Off camera flash is a fairly specialized part of photography. I've been doing photography for more than 50 years and rarely use it. My guess is that it's just too specialized a topic for people browsing a catalog of local courses. The courses I have seen here tend to be about basics. But this is just my guess.

 

[West Coast Birder]

$20 for the class? I would take it if I were in your area!

But yeah, Parks and Recreation classes are ones I have always accessed through the booklet that comes home in the mail or on their website. If you are not getting bites even after posting on FB, IG, etc., then how about X, BlueSky, etc.? If you still don't get students, then perhaps nobody is really interested in traditional flash photography and lighting when everyone is just taking cell phone photos, unfortunately.

 

[Wilt]

Off camera flash is a fairly specialized part of photography. I've been doing photography for more than 50 years and rarely use it. My guess is that it's just too specialized a topic for people browsing a catalog of local courses. The courses I have seen here tend to be about basics. But this is just my guess.

The general interest within the current photography community, in the area of supplemental lighting, has fallen into a deep abyss. One has to only look at the very very few posts on the topic of lighting in this and other forums, compared to the level of lighting discussion 10 years ago!

 

[Capn Jack]

The general interest within the current photography community, in the area of supplemental lighting, has fallen into a deep abyss. One has to only look at the very very few posts on the topic of lighting in this and other forums, compared to the level of lighting discussion 10 years ago!

What is the need for it anymore, except for professionals such as @ImageMaker ? I only see it used for pictures of models or products anymore. The decline follows the rise of cell-phone cameras. Sensor sensitivity on modern cameras negates the need for flash (on or off camera) in many cases. There is a learning curve for learning the technique, and other than a single flash set somewhere, there is time to set it up and take it down. Good equipment isn't cheap either. I am only a single datapoint, but I've only used off-camera flash once, other than practice, since I bought it.

 

[Capn Jack]

Yep.. I was just asking if anyone who teaches photography has any issues with filling the classes with students...

Going back to the beginning of my original post.. The city parks and recreation is allowing me to teach a short introduction to off-camaera lighting with models and trying to get people off the basics. It was designed to let the public try different ways to light a subject from HMI lighting for iPhone users to strobes for anyone with a flash shoe. Modifiers to include softboxes, fresnels, and spots.

I really thought the marketing department did a good job on advertising, since it was aimed at people wanting to get off the auto. Plus the city has a extensive teen/ youth sports program, so it would be accessible to them as it is held at the same sports complex.




View attachment 186427

I myself would attend, if I were in the area. But I still am at work at 3 to 5, and I suspect most other people 18+ are at work during that time.

 

[ImageMaker]

What is the need for it anymore, except for professionals such as @ImageMaker ? I only see it used for pictures of models or products anymore. The decline follows the rise of cell-phone cameras. Sensor sensitivity on modern cameras negates the need for flash (on or off camera) in many cases. There is a learning curve for learning the technique, and other than a single flash set somewhere, there is time to set it up and take it down. Good equipment isn't cheap either. I am only a single datapoint, but I've only used off-camera flash once, other than practice, since I bought it.

The more I see cell phone shots the better I think off-camera flash looks.

Multiple (5) strobes:


A single strobe:


6 strobes:

 

[Capn Jack]

The more I see cell phone shots the better I think off-camera flash looks.

Multiple (5) strobes:
View attachment 187313

A single strobe:
View attachment 187314

6 strobes:
View attachment 187318

Those are great pictures and they do look much better than the weak LED cell phones use as "flash". However, you, in a sense, you proved my point. Two those used multiple strobes, and few people are going to take a single strobe with them, much less 5 or 6. After that, one needs to learn how to use them. There are other skills needed beyond the lighting, as you show by posing those people in a most flattering fashion. These are best used in a studio settings, which doesn't apply to most photographers due to space.

Photography needs people with your skills, but that isn't most photographers. And, as noted by others, many people are satisfied with their phone selfies.

 

[Wilt]

The general interest within the current photography community, in the area of supplemental lighting, has fallen into a deep abyss. One has to only look at the very very few posts on the topic of lighting in this and other forums, compared to the level of lighting discussion 10 years ago!

FOP has only 35 threads ever started on the topic of Lighting in a two year period. Another long time photo forum (FM) has 75 threads in 12 months.

 

[Capn Jack]

FOP has only 35 threads ever started on the topic of Lighting in a two year period. Another long time photo forum (FM) has 75 threads in 12 months.

What's your point? It's an apples/oranges comparison. FoP hasn't been around that long, barely 2 years (as of tomorrow, based on She-who-must-not-be named's welcome post). FM (Fred Miranda) existed with Pekka's board. FM almost certainly has more members and more traffic than FoP, so it makes sense that they would have more posts on nearly any subject. FoP had little membership at the start, so traffic would naturally be lower, on any topic. FM's "market" may well be different, perhaps targeting professionals, again causing differences in traffic.

 

[Sincity]

I had my class and I got three students and it kinda devolved from an intermediate class to beginner's class. Where we were trying to figure out how to change modes on a camera where they did not have a owners manual. For example one had it locked on Auto-ISO, so when you change your aperture or shutter speed it doesn't change the exposure.

When I did constant lighting, it looked boring on their cameras. But we moved onto strobe, and it did not matter with the Auto-ISO, so they were happier. They really liked using a regular reflector with grid to control the light. And they said they would sign up for the next class with non-traditional lighting. So they are going to try fresnels, lekos, even a parabolic <like what ImageMaker uses> With luck, I can blow their socks off

 

[Joeseph]

sounds like a good result. you might find if folks really enjoy the class they'll tell their friends...