Don’t be surprised if a bunch of people stop you in the street andask if they can take your photo.. Cheryl was happy to oblige.
By Geoff Ellis
"GOOD morning. Can we take your photo? We're the photography group from Bass Coast Adult Learning."
BCAL’s photography and friendship group is all about having fun and getting the most from your phone or camera. Each Tuesday around 9.30am we gather at our home base, the art room at the Jean Melzer Campus on White Road, Wonthaggi, to swap photos and stories about the past week then plot our next adventure.
Sometimes we decide to stay on campus to print and frame pics for our ongoing exhibitions. We might do a book one day. Sometimes we study technical aspects of photography. Mostly, we head off to explore a landscape or historical feature. As we click away we discuss ideas for pics - different angles, effects, close ups, panorama … we give anything a go.
"GOOD morning. Can we take your photo? We're the photography group from Bass Coast Adult Learning."
BCAL’s photography and friendship group is all about having fun and getting the most from your phone or camera. Each Tuesday around 9.30am we gather at our home base, the art room at the Jean Melzer Campus on White Road, Wonthaggi, to swap photos and stories about the past week then plot our next adventure.
Sometimes we decide to stay on campus to print and frame pics for our ongoing exhibitions. We might do a book one day. Sometimes we study technical aspects of photography. Mostly, we head off to explore a landscape or historical feature. As we click away we discuss ideas for pics - different angles, effects, close ups, panorama … we give anything a go.
After about an hour we head for a café and share and compare over morning tea. The session officially ends at noon but lingering for lunch is an option. Our long-term plan includes exhibitions of our work and entering photography competitions.
Over the years we've photographed farms, forests and a fantastic array of fabulous beaches. We've created photos for Halloween, covered rallies and done product photoshoots. For our ongoing exhibition, "Character and Essence" we collectively decided to head into Wonthaggi and take pics of people for display on December 3, the national day of people living with disability.
We started out at the Union Theatre and meandered up the street. The photos tell the story. We were slightly out of our comfort zone as we explained to complete strangers who we are and what we’re up to. But no one said no and we got some great pics.
Creativity, fun and a bit of personal growth - it doesn't get much better than this, eh? Along Graham St we had a bit of an epiphany about inclusion and exclusion. Everyone is a character. We all have our own abilities and disabilities.
Over coffee we decided NOT to focus on any particular date or event. That removed the need to chase a deadline and meant we weren't labelling or making judgements based on some fleeting interaction. "Character(s) of Wonthaggi" became the working title which has now morphed into "Character and Essence (Bass Coast)" which covers our Wonthaggi base and provides plenty of scope to visit the dozens of places and consider the thousands of individuals in Bass Coast.
Term four ends this week and we'll have plenty to share when we reconvene in the last week of January.
Photography and Friendship is one of the many programs available at Bass Coast Adult Learning.
We started out at the Union Theatre and meandered up the street. The photos tell the story. We were slightly out of our comfort zone as we explained to complete strangers who we are and what we’re up to. But no one said no and we got some great pics.
Creativity, fun and a bit of personal growth - it doesn't get much better than this, eh? Along Graham St we had a bit of an epiphany about inclusion and exclusion. Everyone is a character. We all have our own abilities and disabilities.
Over coffee we decided NOT to focus on any particular date or event. That removed the need to chase a deadline and meant we weren't labelling or making judgements based on some fleeting interaction. "Character(s) of Wonthaggi" became the working title which has now morphed into "Character and Essence (Bass Coast)" which covers our Wonthaggi base and provides plenty of scope to visit the dozens of places and consider the thousands of individuals in Bass Coast.
Term four ends this week and we'll have plenty to share when we reconvene in the last week of January.
Photography and Friendship is one of the many programs available at Bass Coast Adult Learning.