About
I primarily teach over Zoom. Each lesson is individualized to student needs. Assignments are given between lessons so that the students can work on the skills taught. Lessons are a combination of hands on and lecture that are guided by student interests and questions.
These days, photography is as much about technology as it is about the camera. In addition to camera skills, I also teach how to use editing software to process your photographs. I teach Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, Photoshop, One1 and Capture One. Computer work includes how to choose a computer for editing, organization of photos on the hard drive and backup strategies.
I am a nature photographer specializing in birds, flowers, and landscape photography. I have watched birds and taken photographs since I was a child. Inspiration started early in childhood from reading Gerald Durrell's animal travelogues, Ernest Shackleton's journal about the Endurance, and Charles Darwin's Voyage of the Beagle. Nature continues to inspire me. There is nothing more inspiring than getting up before dawn to capture the morning light on birds and flowers or staying up past midnight to capture the Milky Way in all its glory.
I love to teach. I enjoy the light in student faces when the light bulb goes off. I have taught calculus, chemistry, physics and computer science to high school and college students. I also taught teacher preparation and inservice classes. I have given photography lessons since 1997.
Details
Interest in additional skills
Student's age
Experience level
Photography type
Reviews
Claudette M.
Valentina R.
Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
I start off by asking the student to show me 5 pictures that they have taken recently. Some of the pictures should be ones that you are proud of and some that you are not so proud of. It doesn't matter whether the pictures were taken with a phone or a camera.
Next I ask a series of questions to determine skill level such as:
1. Why do you want to take photography lessons?
2. What do you like to take pictures of?
3. When you take pictures do you stay on automatic or have you experimented with the other settings.
4. Do you know about aperture, shutter speed and ISO?
This gives me a sense of where we need to start.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I see photography as the application of physics to art. The essence of photography is the manipulation of light. I am a self-taught photographer who has spent 1000s of hours perfecting my skills. I have taken workshops, read and practiced. The key is practice. My teaching skill comes from teaching high school and college for 20 years. I am an innovative teacher who loves to come up with multiple ways to teach concepts. We all learn differently.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
The price for an individual lesson is $60/hour/person.
The price for a group lesson is $50/hour/person.
Lessons are offered over Zoom. In person instruction is available at your home if you live within 15 miles of Olympia and you are up-to-date on your COVID-19 vaccinations. A lesson at your home must be at least 2 hours.