Photography Skill Acquisition is Where My Heart's at Now

Day 10 at Ikare Akoko National Youth service Corps (NYSC) orientation camp and I have got to say it has been one hell of a ride. I remember looking forward to being a part of this for months as I have heard how thrilling the entire experience is but it being a part of it has shown me it is a mixture of something more - Pain, Stress and Fun. Since I got here, I have been unable to get the bare minimum of a 6 hours sleep time. It's lights out by 10, I struggle to sleep for at least an extra hour and wake by past 3 to get ready for the early morning reveille which happens daily (except on Sundays). This has been my routine since the 20th of July and will be ending 11 days from now😔😔. However before leaving, I intend to make as many memories as possible while having a good time doing it.

As a fresh corper still in camp, we are required to choose a skill and learn the basics before heading to the outside world. I rattled my brain for weeks trying to think of a skill I'll be really interested in and all roads led to photography/film-making and to that I decided to give it a try. After getting acquainted with our instructors, divided into three equal groups containing about 21 learners each, the entire faction of aspiring photographers were taken to a different hall where the official lesson would begin.

After the introductions were out of the way, the instructor asked the entire class if there were individuals who had any idea about photography or could handle a camera fairly well. Thirteen people stood up (all guys) and the instructor pleaded with each and every one of them to help him train the novices like myself and also told them to contribute whenever they thought he might have made a mistake.

Next, was a thirty minute long lecture about what photography is, its importance and the numerous equipment used for producing beautiful images. Mr Adewale (the instructor) came prepared with a huge bag filled with things I have never seen in my entire life. He gave each group a camera, showed us how to insert batteries, turn them on, insert/remove a camera lens and told us to try working it out individual just so everyone learns from the training session.

Working with this kind of crowd is no easy fear but I will have to commend Mr Ade for his impressive leadership skills, being able to control everywhere while also making the lesson really interesting. When everybody was sure they were already quite used to the basics of holding a camera, Mr Ade told us to head to the field as the next thing on his list was taking good quality pictures out in the open.
The instructor took a few pictures before pairing us all in twos where each person has to take turns capturing the other.

We all took pictures while he supervised and corrected us when we made mistakes. This went on for hours but due to the limited time on our hands, a few persons (myself included) were unable to join so the rest of the class were told to wait until tomorrow to participate as well. Regardless of the fact that I did not use a camera to take pictures, I still used my phone to capture some beautiful moments.

Today was fun I made some new friends, learned a lot and had fun while doing it. I look forward to our nice class and until next time, I still remain - The ambitious photography.
Thanks for stopping by guys.