A five-day intensive photography training workshop jointly organised by CANON Central & North Africa (CCNA) and National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) aimed at modernising film and photography in the country has ended in Accra.
The workshop, dubbed ‘Film and Photography Excellence Program’ was also aimed at sharpening skills of participants to enable them to discover their talents and creativity.
The workshop was focused on areas such as sports photography, filming and Speedlite lighting and lighting for filmmaking.
It sought to build the capacity of participants as part of a mutual collaboration between the two bodies, replicating a similar exercise that took place last year to promote the modernisation of film and photography industry in Ghana.
Some 50 participants drawn from selected media houses, leading production houses and students from NAFTI and private film and television schools across the country were dispatched to specific locations as part of their field training.
To ensure successful conduct of the program Canon recruited experts with a global outlook in film and photography.
Canon Explorer and a prolific Sports Photographer, Eddie Keogh, took sports photography and creativity participants through practical field techniques in modern sports photography, with emphasis on how to lie down to capture dramatic actions on the pitch.
The sports photography and creativity participants were also taken through shooting techniques such as shooting at an eye level, shooting in an end zone with a wide angle lens to enable them to capture more action shots tell the story.
He tells participants to concentrate on players on the ball at any particular point in time.
He warned participants against ‘chimping’, which he said most sports photographers are guilty of. Essentially, ‘chimping’ is when a photographer checks every photo they take on the LCD.
“Why is this bad?” he quizzed, “It takes your eye off the action and puts it on the camera,” he counseled.
According to him, this is bad for two reasons: 1. You can get hurt more easily, and 2. You may miss a good shot.
Mark Williams, an expert in video lighting, exposed participants to proper mounting of video lighting system.
Raul Gabat, a specialist in Speedliting who is also a Canon Ambassador, taught his group on how to effectively use flash in still photography to produce stunning images, while John Wambugu, a Kenyan international photographer, and a filmmaker took participants through the dynamics of film making and editing.
Speaking on the sideline of the workshop, the Rector of NAFTI, Professor Linus Abraham, said as part of the three-year partnership agreement signed in 2016, a series of workshops would be facilitated by experts from CCNA over the next three years.
Prof. Linus Abraham,(left) Mr William Ofori a letcturer at NAFTI
As part of the deal, CCNA will also provide some equipment to the Institute to shore up its capacity for effective training.
According to him, the overall objective of the Canon-NAFTI partnership is to strengthen the knowledge, capacity, and skills of Ghana’s creative and professional talents in film and photography, and create rewarding career opportunities in the industry.
‘’Indeed for us at NAFTI this partnership and these workshops are significant for two main reasons: It constitutes one of the means in realizing the strategic goals of NAFTI — in continuously modernizing the school, bringing the institute’s training in line with international global standards of filmmaking and photography, and infusing international expertise to improve the quality of our teaching and knowledge at the Institute. Secondly, it constitutes a vital framework in realising another strategic goal, of NAFTI’s extension work and responsibility to the larger professional film and photography industries, in helping to improve and build the professional skills and knowledge,” said Professor Abraham.
He noted that the madden edition in July of 2016 was attended by NAFTI students and industry practitioners, included short courses in videography and photography raised an awareness of the latest affordable technology in imaging, including Canon’s new products and their capabilities.
Prof. Abraham charged the participants to demonstrate the skills acquired from the workshop since, according to him, that was the only way to prove themselves worthy for the job market.
Canon Inc, a Japanese multinational corporation, manufactures imaging and optical products such as cameras, photocopiers, steppers, computer printers and medical equipment.
