Since the time lockdown was imposed in India, apart from working from home, people have started to use social media as a means to showcase their skills in activities like cooking, dancing, painting and singing. While some have adopted a routine to gain fitness, a few others have subscribed to various apps and portals to learn new things. One such option is photography. Shutterbugs now have an option to learn photography and/or have a chance to hone their skills for free.
Camera-makers like Panasonic, Nikon and Fujifilm are running free virtual photography learning classes during this lockdown period. They have roped in experts and photography professionals to teach the nitty-gritties of clicking a photo. Further, some of them are also hosting online contests for best photographs and giving away prizes.
Lumix by Panasonic is organising free of cost, virtual photography workshops titled #PassionNeverRests. During sessions, aspirants will be offered tutorials on basic as well as advanced photography techniques, and will include essential tips and tricks by experts. Panasonic will be organising these workshops thrice a week till May 31 on its Instagram and Facebook handles.
Panasonic has collaborated with photography influencers and Lumix luminaries such as Shoot Guru - Kshitih Shritak, Abhishek Singh - i.am.abhishek, PK Suri, Head of World Wide Studio, Niklesh Malkani, CupCake Productions, Vivek Gowda – Blink Films and Jassi Oberai – Xploring Light. These experts will share insights and experiences across diverse genres and disciplines in photography, including wedding, travel, cinematography, vlogging, aviation, fashion and landscape. The virtual workshops will be moderated by Hitesh Vig – National product trainer of the Panasonic Lumix range.
Fujifilm India is hosting free online workshops on photography throughout April, in three formats. The first format is ‘Rendezvous’ which is an Instagram Live discussion organised by wedding & commercial photographer Arjun Kartha, along with guest photographers like Anushka Menon, Harsheen Jammu, and Shantanu Sheorey. These sessions will also have guest photographers like Prashant Godbole, Peach Kamath and Cinematographer Aditya Varma.
There will be ‘Roobaru’ -- a two-hour customer-centric initiative on building connect and answering queries of photographers. Following these workshops, there will be an “X Tutorials Online” that will provide enthusiasts and amateurs in-depth knowledge on how to make best use of their Fujifilm cameras. These upcoming workshops will be conducted on Fujifilm’s social media handles.
Nikon India has also introduced free online photography classes until April 30. Each class is hosted by a professional photographer to offer in-depth photography knowledge, and some of the classes will be followed by a Q&A session. All the classes will be available through Nikon’s official handles of Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Nikon India has collaborated with Raghu Rai, laureate of the first edition of the Académie des beaux-arts Photography awardee, and several other renowned photographers who will give classes on genres including wedding, wildlife, effects of focal length, interior & architecture, street, portrait, food & pet photography, etc. Nikon is also hosting a competition wherein the users can share their work by posting their picture on Capture with Nikon platform, and win prizes & avail benefits on Nikon products.
While GoPro is not hosting any workshop, but it is hosting GoPro #HomePro Challenge through April 30. The challenge invites anyone to submit their videos and photos -- SHOT ON ANY DEVICE -- for an opportunity to win a HERO8 Black or MAX camera and five years of GoPro PLUS subscription service. GoPro will choose five winners each day from all submissions tagged #HomePro or #GoPro on Instagram, TikTok, Youtube or Facebook.
