On December 5th, STELIP staff Tom Sproat and Petrusia Hontar along with local photographer Grayden Laing hosted the first of five photography lessons at the St Thomas-Elgin YWCA. The course targets newcomers to the area, offering them an opportunity to develop their photography skills and capacity for self-expression. The course will build towards the February 23 + 24 Railway City Art Crawl where course participants will present their photos to the public as a part of a photo exhibition at the Destination Church.

STELIP Coordinator Petrusia Hontar speaks to class participants

Lesson one focused on some of the more technical aspects of camera operation: the F-Stop, Aperture, Focal Length, Depth of Field, White Balance, and more. The students, nine in total ranging in age from 12 to mid-thirties, and all coming from areas of limited to no personal photography experience, listened attentively to instructor Grayden Laing as he demonstrated by projecting the screen of his own camera onto a Smart Board at the front of the room. Time was given throughout the class for students to practice on their own cameras, some brought by the students themselves and others supplied by Grayden and STELIP.

See everyone for class two!