The Carbally Creative Photography Course

The Carbally Community Development Project ran a six-week creative photography class at the Carbally Community Centre, in Rathmoylan, Dunmore East, Co. Waterford through June and July. Supported by Creative Ireland, the course participants created a photography record of Carbally and the surrounding areas during the first few months of the post pandemic era.

The photography tutor Karl Reinl taught the course participants about the use of light and shade in their compositions and covered all the technical aspects of using a digital camera. Following these sessions were field trips to various locations around their locality learning how to take good quality photographs. On the final workshop Karl demonstrated various methods of photo enhancement using Photoshop.

The class produced some great pictures from the field trips using the digital cameras and it was noted that the participants learned more during the outdoor sessions than in the classroom. A small exhibition was held in the community centre at the end of the course.

Half of the participants taking the workshops didn’t have access to their own quality digital cameras but enjoyed the workshops so much they are going to add them on their Christmas wish list. Following the success of the photography course, they have started a Carbally Camera Club and plan to hold further lessons during the winter months. They felt that holding this course was a very worthwhile exercise.

Due to covid restrictions, only 10 participants could take part in the workshops. The participants were in the 40 to 60 age bracket and were all female. Everyone said that they really enjoyed doing the course and they all learned something new. Some of the ladies had previous experience of photography while others were novices. They had no problem filling the class, so they didn’t have to advertise it, apart from a Facebook poster and word of mouth at the start.

All the attendees of the course fully enjoyed their experience. Most had enjoyed taking photographs mainly on their phones previously and were delighted with the opportunity to improve their photographic skills. They all gained encouragement when they saw the results of putting thought into the composition of their photos. They predict a big increase in the sale of frames to the Carbally area. Of all the courses they have undertaken at the community centre, they thought that this was one of the best.