Effective Training for Photography Trainers

"Hey, guess what, I've been a photographer for a couple of years or so now and I guess it's time for me to start training others as photographers! I mean, training can't be that hard, and I know most of what I'm doing with my camera. I know my posing is a bit questionable at times, and sometimes I make mistakes at the weddings I shoot, but no-one will know I've corrected those mistakes in Photoshop. You know, these people who want to learn, they know less than me, and as long as I stay one step or so ahead of them, well, I can blag it! Anyway, how hard can it be to train others how to become a wedding and portrait photographer?"

With 25 years experience behind me of designing and delivering training courses, along with a Masters degree in Learning I am often amazed to hear photographers moan about inexperienced amateur/semi-pro photographers blagging it with brides that they can shoot a wedding when they've never done one before, and then those self same photographers think that they can set up training courses when they have no knowledge of how to run any form of learning process.

Now let's face it, me commenting that everyone wants to be a trainer is hardly going to stop photographers offering themselves up as the next best thing in photography training, so I thought I'd offer some tips to wannabe photography trainers in order to protect the unsuspecting student when they pick their favourite workshop.

So if you're setting yourself up to do some form of photography training, what kind of things do you need to consider? Firstly, it's helpful to know what it is you are going to do - trying to be all things to all people is likely to get you into a mess, so be clear where your expertise lies and concentrate on that. This is in the context of both subject matter and delivery style. By that I mean that you need to know if you are better as a facilitator of learning (you create an environment through which the student can learn towards their own specific needs using their transferable knowledge and skills), or as a trainer (you guide the student through their learning, helping them to understand what and how to do something, without getting into the why) or as a teacher (you take an active role in telling people as you educate them in a structured process). Each of these styles of delivery requires a different set of skills and as an educator you need to be aware of what your skills are, so that you can focus your delivery towards the most appropriate learning process.

Let's assume then that you know what your skills are as an educator. Next you need to be clear about how you are going to deliver the information - what is your structure, how will you pace delivery, what will you introduce to create variety and retain the learner's attention (we can apparently only take in around 12 minutes of information before our minds start to wander), what level of challenge will you bring in, and what exercises will you use?

It's noticable that a lot of photography trainers think that it is sufficient to tell the participants something, demonstrate it and then leave them to experiment - but is this enough? Does it lead to true learning? When you are working out your course structure make sure that you include time for instruction, for discussion, for demonstration, for experimentation, for review and reflection, and also for some level of risk and discomfort to push the participants' boundaries.

If you are doing training for groups you will also need to consider the group dynamics, how people interact, what happens when someone takes over with their views, questions or comments, and how the power dynamics will work within the group. As the workshop or course leader you need to be able to be in control of the group, and be able to handle any issues that arise, including your own nerves.

And finally for now, it is critical that you design appropriate exercises for people to be able to learn, along with procedures for keeping exercises on track. Make sure that your exercises have a purpose to them that is more than about giving yourself a break from the group. Consider how you create moments of learner autonomy to encourage the learner to take charge of themselves in the learning process, and ensure that there is a mix of experimentation, risk and analysis so that the learner can use the exercise effectively.

If you are a learner, looking for training, make sure you have checked out the credentials of the trainer - they may well be able to take reasonable or even good photographs, but are they really able to teach you what you need to know? Remember to do your research before you book your place and part with your money!