Armed with their cameras, a group of 50 children were found roaming around the Botanic Garden of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University on Friday, looking to capture nature in its early morning splendour.
It was the third day of the summer photography camp organised by The Hindu and Savithri Photo House at TNAU.
Leading them was Balan Madhavan, renowned nature, conservation and travel photographer, who introduced the students to photography lessons as he shared thoughts on wildlife conservation. “A photograph becomes successful when the viewer feels an emotional connection with the image. It should effectively communicate to the viewer, he said.
Mr. Madhavan, a fellow of International League of Conservation Photographers, and a winner of many photography awards, said that with technological advancement people have started to judge photographs based on their technical quality. But, a sharp image does not make a good photograph, he added.
According to Mr. Madhavan, the camp focused more on attitude and approach towards photography than on the technical aspects as most children used automatic cameras.
Through creative exercises, he illustrated how to find the right photo opportunity and creatively use shapes and pattern to convey an idea. Principles of composition including arrangement of visuals and framing were explained in detail.
It was followed by a feedback session on the photographs taken by the participants.
“We clicked the images of fallen leaves, an old camera and bicycle when he asked us to take photographs on the topic ‘old age'. We learnt theoretical aspects like why we should not place subjects at the centre of the photograph. The use of aperture, shutter and ISO settings in cameras was also new to us,” said N. Sanjay Vardhan (Standard IX), Harris Richard (Standard IX) and K. Vivek (Standard X).
Students of Standards IV- XII from various schools are taking part in the camp. The valedictory function of the free camp, in its fourth year, will be held on May 12. Competitions will be held for the participants and prizes will be distributed.
Keywords: summer camp
