Teaching

Camera Classes

Most of what I know about a camera I learned by getting it wrong on somebody else’s time. These classes are the shorter way round: small groups, your own camera, and a day given over to the handful of decisions that actually change a picture. Two tracks, stills and motion, taught the same way and in whichever order suits you.

Track One

Photography

Light, exposure, and the edge of the frame. Two classes: start at the beginning, or arrive with a few thousand frames behind you and fix what keeps going wrong.

Photography · Beginner

Reading Light

Who it is for
First timers with any camera at all — a mirrorless body, a DSLR, or the film SLR that has been in a drawer since your father owned it.
Format
One session of two and a half hours, arranged to suit you.
You come away with
A working grip on exposure, and six frames of your own, edited together with me before you leave.

Fee A$250 2.5 hours

Enquire about Reading Light, the beginner photography class

Photography · Advanced

Working the Frame

Who it is for
Photographers who already shoot manually and want to know why their pictures are not landing.
Format
Half a day, arranged to suit you.
You come away with
An edited sequence of twelve frames and a printed contact sheet. A body of work, not a folder.

Fee A$450 half day

Enquire about Working the Frame, the advanced photography class

Track Two

Motion

The crossing from stills to moving pictures: shot sizes, sound, and cutting something that holds together. One class, taught over a weekend.

Motion · All levels

Moving Pictures

Who it is for
Stills photographers crossing over, and anyone who has to make video for work and would rather it were good.
Format
Two hours, or half a day — whichever suits what you are making.
You come away with
A finished sixty second film — shot, cut, graded and mixed — that you made yourself.

Fee A$250 / A$450 2 hours / half day

Enquire about Moving Pictures, the motion class

All three run on the Gold Coast, at a time arranged to suit you. Available for more people by request.

In class

A student photographing into the sunset through trees, the frame visible on the camera screen
Close over a student's shoulder as they compose a shot, the scene showing on the camera's screen
Looking down at a camera screen framing shells and pebbles on the shore
A student at the water's edge photographing the Gold Coast skyline at dusk

Afterwards

From past classes

“My girlfriend and I recently bought new cameras and, being completely new to photography, we had no idea where to start! We booked a lesson with Taro and honestly couldn’t have been happier.”

“From the booking process, to the lesson itself, and even helping us with all our questions afterwards, Taro was awesome. We learnt so much during the lesson and came away feeling much more confident and ready to start snapping.”

“We had a great time and would highly recommend booking a lesson with Taro if you’re looking to improve your photography and take your shooting to the next level!”

Charlie and Gabby

“I really loved my workshop with Taro. He took the time to understand what I wanted to learn and made everything around filming and camera settings feel much easier to grasp.”

“He’s incredibly knowledgeable, creative and generous with his ideas, and having him as the subject of my first mini documentary was an added bonus! His background in nature photography and guiding safaris in Kenya made the whole experience even more interesting. I’d definitely recommend a workshop with Taro.”

Katherine