for kids aged 10+

Rock Your Camera Online Course

Tuesday January 4 - Friday January 7, 2022
1:00 - 2:15 PM MST

School has been postponed for a week in many provinces. To help with activities during the week, we've added in a photography class during school hours to keep kids engaged!

This is an online photography course for kids to learn how to rock their camera's manual settings with KPA founder, Janet Pliszka.

- learn, play and experiment with exposure, aperture, shutter speed, and ISO
  - become more comfortable making decisions about your settings rather than having the camera do it for you
- see your photos improve and love how great your photos look!

Maximum #:  10 students
Minimum #:  4 students  (tell your friends!!) 
Write your awesome label here.

Day 1

  • The Exposure Triangle
  • Working with ISO
  • Working with Focal Points

Day 2

  • How Aperture Impacts our Photos
  • Working in Aperture Priority Mode
  • Exposure Compensation

Day 3

  • How Shutter Speed Impacts our Photos
  • Working in Shutter Speed Priority Mode

Day 4

  • Working in Manual Mode
  • Trouble shooting our Exposures
  • Working in Different Lighting Situations
kind words by students

Our students love our
approach to learning

"My 13 year old son really loved participating in the online "Rock your Camera" workshop! He learned so much about his new camera and was super engaged in all the classes. The activities and additional challenges presented really helped to inspire him. He certainly became more confident and creative with his camera throughout the workshop."
JULIE
"Thank you so much for your teaching this week! Our son has always had an eye for detail so it’s great to get proper instruction on the potential of the camera! We appreciate you tackling the whole online piece so beautifully and the upside of the pandemic is being able to work with someone like you from anywhere in the world. I think your platform is great. It’s also very helpful to have some social interaction in the midst of too much isolation. "
DANA
"My daughter loved the the Rock your camera workshop. It is a great introduction to photography for kids. The instruction was great and my daughter loved the picture taking exercises."
JAY

Frequently Asked Questions

How much time will be spent online during the course?

The group will meet via Zoom at 5:00pm MST for 60 -75 minutes each Monday for 4 weeks starting on January 12th. Throughout the four days, we will talk about about exposure, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Kids will have the week to practice, experiment and play with the concepts learned.  

What kind of camera does my child require to take this course?

The purpose of the course is to get more and more comfortable with taking their camera off automode and putting it on manual mode. So kids require a camera with manual functionality. It doesn't have to be a DSLR but it does need to have aperture priority, shutter speed priority and manual functionality.
Feel free to email me at [email protected] to ask if the camera you have on hand will be appropriate.

What is the ideal age for kids taking this course?

Kids will need to be comfortable with being in a Zoom meeting for 60-75 minutes. An age range of 10-16 is recommended for this camp but of course depends on their focus level.

How will the kids learn in this online photo course?

For each day we are together kids will be taken through a certain concept. The main concepts covered are exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and putting it all together in manual mode. They will see loads of different examples that are shown through screen share that reinforce their learning. We will talk about the technical aspects of what each of those mean as well as how it impacts their image in an artistic way. I will keep the sessions interactive by asking them what they notice (one of my favourite questions!!), ensuring they understand the concept and encouraging questions.
After our time together, the kids have the week to learn, play and experiment with what they learned. They will have a number of challenges to complete before the next class. They will most likely run into some issues here and there as moving into manual is a lot of trial and error. They are welcome to email me with questions they may run into throughout the week. They will also have online access to the material covered in class so they can go back and review whenever they need. They are also welcome to post their images to the KPA Community Hub to get feedback.
Submitted images will be discussed in the following week's class.  

Are there are prerequisites for taking this course?

No, there are not any prerequisites for taking the course. However, there is "homework" to be completed before the course begins. It is essential that your child or you and your child are familiar with how to change the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO of your camera. With it being online, it is very hard for me to look at the camera and tell you how to do this. They don't need to know why or what happens when you make these changes... they just need to know how to change the values. This information will be included in a welcome section you can access as soon as you register for the course.  
Meet the instructor

Janet Pliszka

Janet is the creator of Kids Photography Academy.   She's been a professional photographer for over 15 years and has specialized in family, school and branding photography.
She's always loved watching kids get curious about her camera and that motivated her to start teaching photography in camps and schools in her city of Calgary. Now, she's thrilled to also offer online experiences for kids everywhere through KPA.  Her students describe her as super encouraging, fun and knowledgeable.
She is all about sparking passion, confidence, and curiosity in kids by teaching them this craft she loves so much.  She looks forward to seeing you soon! 
Patrick Jones - Course author