Photographs of precious moments are the greatest gifts relatives can leave behind for their descendants, aside from genes for cowlick-resistant hair or hints to where the inheritance is buried. Pass on a transgenerational treasure with today's Groupon: for $55, you get a Crash Course in Digital SLR Photography or Crash Course in Black and White Photography at Photo Center NW (a $135 value).
Photo Center NW's seasoned team of shot-snapping pros leads students through the ins and outs of photo capturing during thorough five-hour classes. The Digital SLR course walks pupils through myriad menus and options of electronic cameras, covering such topics as aperture, white balance, and bunny-ear-reduction techniques. The Black and White Photography class invites budding shutterbugs to snap a roll of 35 mm film before learning how to develop their negatives in the studio's well-appointed dark room. Classes take place in Photo Center NW's modern facility that plays host to an advanced digital lab, another lab specializing in 19th-century film processes, and a daylight studio perfect for still-life photos and vampire interrogations.
Photo Center NW
When Photo Center NW was originally founded in the early 1980s it was known as the Exposure School of Photography. Since then it has undergone numerous transformations, some of which included becoming a nonprofit organization and an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. Now standing as a mecca for students and creators in the Pacific Northwest art community, the center hosts regular exhibitions in addition to a robust curriculum of classes and workshops. Their faculty conducts 53-credit certification programs and 10-week courses within the facility’s four labs devoted to black-and-white and digital photography. The building also houses an immense reference library and plans to add a daylight studio and a playground for the cameras to relax in the very near future.