Advice invited ...

Yellowbelly

Yellowbelly

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Name
Bob
Edit My Images
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I am flattered by being asked to give a talk to a local group. They just want a few shots displayed so I have put together a goodly few images about which a I can give some background information as to how and why they were photographed. My background is mainly in landscapes and seascapes, but I also shoot a few portraits and creative historical type stuff.

If you were attending such an event, what would like to see and hear?
 
Enthusiasm, a well structured presentation and enthusiasm.

Good luck with it.
 
Landscape/seascape ... how I did this.
 
For me at my amateur level, I'd like real world examples of how I can try take these sort of shots myself and tips and tricks to enjoy a greater photographic success rate.
 
I have watched ALOT of talk videos online and noticed that the audience always ask for settings and gear.. so i would get that in when each image is displayed before your asked then tell the story behind the shot. ;)

Profit!
 
Being a member of a local camera club, the talks that keep my attention are the ones that flow well, with the speaker showing obvious enthusiasm for his subject. Those that allow the audience to interrupt with questions tend to be dis-jointed and less interesting so I would recommend leaving time for questions at the end.

Just my opinion, of course :)
 
Bristolian said:
Being a member of a local camera club, the talks that keep my attention are the ones that flow well, with the speaker showing obvious enthusiasm for his subject. Those that allow the audience to interrupt with questions tend to be dis-jointed and less interesting so I would recommend leaving time for questions at the end.

Just my opinion, of course :)
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I think that's a good point, questions at the end seems to work better i think
 
M.A.Gibson said:
I have watched ALOT of talk videos online and noticed that the audience always ask for settings and gear.. so i would get that in when each image is displayed before your asked then tell the story behind the shot. ;)

Profit!
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Quickest way to make it turgid and boring IMO.

By all means invite questions on settings and gear, but tell them it's not what the presentation is about up front.
 
  1. Tell them what you are going to tell them
  2. Tell them
  3. Tell them what you have just told them
Relaxed, humorous and informative.
 
I would be most interested in why you took it, not how and what with.
 
Thanks for the replies. If one thing has become clear, it is to leave questions to the end.
 
as long as yuo can talk openly and freely about something your passionate about you shouldnt have any issues.... just keep within your comfort zone!
 
john-oh said:
  1. Tell them what you are going to tell them
  2. Tell them
  3. Tell them what you have just told them
Click to expand...

This is certainly true if your trying to instill information/teach something but may be a bit overboard for a general interest talk.

Relaxed, humorous and informative.
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ABSOLUTELY agree :thumbs:
 
The last one like this I did for our Photographic Society there was a lot of interest in my gear, particularly filters and my tripod set up (panoramic plates, geared head, Arca Swiss conversion etc).

Obviously it would depend on your audience but I know a lot of people find filters something of a black art so might be something to consider.
 
Your thought process from start to finish... Ie, Reason for taking shot,Pre-shoot prep, Kit Used and issues encountered when on site and the way you negated the issues. Plus all the above ref the actual flow of the talk.
 
Thanks again for all your input. I have taken points from each of you, so I'll blame you all if it turns mouldy! :lol:
 
What is the background of the local group? Are they photographers or the local guild? Your talk should be structured towards that.
 
They range from very competent to holiday snappers. I think I can only pitch in the middle.
 
I gave my talk bearing in mind the tips given here. It went very well and I received a very nice e mail from the organiser inviting me to give another talk later in the year.

So many thanks to all who responded. :)
 
Humour is always a good way to get audiences engaged, I remember during A Level physics we had to do a short presentation in pairs about the behaviour of waves, stuff like compression and rarefaction, touching upon the Doppler effect etc. Not particularly exciting, and this showed with a lot of the groups who basically re-wrote the summaries in the textbooks and read them back to the class! My friend and I did it all a bit differently, we made it short and funny, with demonstrations of stuff and occasionally making ourselves look a bit silly - one part for the Doppler effect was my mate running across the classroom with me making the noise like a Formula 1 car as it passes the camera on TV! This was followed by a brief summary of the physics involved to get the point across properly :p Needless to say, this was much better received by the class and teacher than the groups who spoke in monotone voices.

Now, you don't need to make yourself look silly, but some humour and sometimes some well-timed audience interaction can really boost any presentation!
 
Yellowbelly said:
I gave my talk bearing in mind the tips given here. It went very well and I received a very nice e mail from the organiser inviting me to give another talk later in the year.

So many thanks to all who responded. :)
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:clap: Excellent stuff.
 
Yellowbelly said:
I gave my talk bearing in mind the tips given here. It went very well and I received a very nice e mail from the organiser inviting me to give another talk later in the year.

So many thanks to all who responded. :)
Click to expand...

Excellent news ... well done :thumbs:

The trick now is to think about what you did/said this time and decide how it could have been better ... then do it :D
 
Bristolian said:
Excellent news ... well done :thumbs:

The trick now is to think about what you did/said this time and decide how it could have been better ... then do it :D
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I am of an age that within a week I will have forgotten where I gave the talk let alone what I said and how I said it. Dammit, I'll probably ask for advice again when I get the date for the next one. ;):)
 
Yeah i would just do landscape/seascape then if they ask you back again you can do portraiture then.
 
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