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Participant’s Simple Pleasures Pics Jan 2015

• A simple “How to” guide, for running a group outdoor photo walk • Notes on the resources required and tips on how to conduct the activities • Four suggested Photo Treasure Hunt hand outs (by season)

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Intended for use by teachers, group leaders and facilitators throughout Scotland, this educational resource pack is designed as a tool to engage groups in outdoor photo walk activities, with follow up feedback sessions. An easy “How to” guide, this pack provides tips on how to organise a group, a location, a kit, a photo walk, a feedback session, a visual output and a bunch of happy faces! Some suggested treasure hunt lists are also included, which detail what kind of Simple Pleasures can be found and photographed, by season.

In 2015, Scottish Natural Heritage commissioned Open Aye to work with four Glasgow primary schools to celebrate their ‘Simple Pleasures, Easily Found’ project and ‘Glasgow’s Green year 2015’. ‘Simple pleasures, easily found’ is a project encouraging more people to be active outdoors more often and at least once a week. The ethos is to enjoy the outdoors whether through enjoying nature, walking or other active pursuits. The emphasis is on easy, doable and free activities people can enjoy throughout the year and in any weather! Research shows that being outdoors can be very beneficial to everyone’s physical and mental health. Glasgow’s Green in 2015 is a themed year for Glasgow City Council celebrating their aspiration to be one of the most sustainable cities around.

This participatory photography project was designed to encourage pupils to get outdoors in all weathers, explore their local green spaces, inspire creativity and be more active. Through a series of park photo walks and feedback sessions, the school groups were provided with cameras, basic photo skills, a treasure hunt list, a map of their local park area and a guided photo walk. Forty students participated in the project, producing 1300 images, some of which are used in this resource. Leaflets, banners and a film were created as outputs, to be shared across the Glasgow schools network in celebration of year of Glasgow’s Green year 2015. In addition, further promotions are planned Scotland wide with other schools, uniformed groups such as Scouts and Guides and any community or other groups of any age! The aim of this resource is to provide groups with some basic tips and activities, to empower many more people to access the outdoors and explore nature through Simple Pleasures photo treasure hunts. The Simple Pleasures theme lends itself well to engaging all types of people within their natural environments. Participatory photo methodologies offer groups a sense of direction, focus, camaraderie and purpose to their visits, in addition to documenting the areas through the eyes of the groups involved. Photo walks of a green space area, combined with photo treasure hunts of Simple Pleasures activities, provide the participants with a wealth of things to do and capture with their cameras. Lasting enjoyable memories are noticed, captured and relived again at future points. Through groups producing photographs which explore their local parks and green spaces, it is hoped this resource will inspire creativity and encourage enjoyment of nature everywhere: near, far, or even on a doorstep!

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures

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You may have a group in mind – a school class/a youth club/a support group/a local lunch club, any kind of group is fine! Simple Pleasures photo walks are flexible and fun for any age and ability. A good group size is usually around 10-15 participants, with 1 leader and an assistant (if possible). Asking the group to work in pairs usually works very well. Assigning them a team colour (team red/team blue) can provide a link to spotting colours on their walk (“find anything red!”) and is also a neat way of strengthening their sense of team spirit. One camera between two in these pairs is actually preferable as the couple will work together and help each other out – modelling, spotting, appraising.

It can be any kind of green space – a local park, a nature reserve, some woods, or a grander country park, formal garden or wilderness! Well known places to the group can be seen with new eyes on photo treasure hunts, but it is also nice to take groups to new and exciting places which they can explore together though a lens. Judge your group’s ability, travel logistics, time and budget and plan location accordingly. Walking to the location is ideal. Public transport is also good – not just for greener credentials but also to ensure as many members of the group can revisit as possible. Check local ranger services (council run or Forestry Commission Scotland etc) for “What’s on” guides and park maps. Try and print a location map for your participants if you can – this always adds to the sense of adventure, enjoyment and understanding of the area. Make a note of toilet facilities and ensure the group has comfort breaks en route where possible. Know where the start and end points on your route will be. For any standard 20 min walk, a photo treasure hunt walk can take 2 or 3 times longer... so allow one hour total for a 20-30min walk. Always go and visit a site before taking a group. It is essential to check for any health and safety issues (with group ability in mind) but also to double-check the walking route and look out for any interesting features, which could make for good photos (e.g. trees in blossom).

Fully flexible! The participants can use phone cameras quite successfully for this kind of activity. Many will be most comfortable using their own phone. But if it is possible to have the whole group using some small “point and shoot” digital cameras then that is more desirable. Higher-end digital cameras can also be utilised for these photo walks, with excellent results. But expensive kit is not necessary (it’s what you point it at that really matters!). Ensure all cameras have enough memory space and always charge up/have spare batteries for everybody. Ask participants to come appropriately dressed for the likely weather. If walking in winter with children, it is always advisable to take a few spare pairs of gloves, just in case! Be prepared with sun cream in summer and decent shoes for walking in mud are also recommended. Everybody should carry water. Group leaders should also have a travel first aid kit, a working phone, a decent map, some tissues and lots and lots of spare batteries for the cameras. Snacks and food for impromptu picnic breaks are always good too!

Allow 1-2 hours for the actual photo walk (with additional time for travelling to and from the site). See some suggested treasure hunt sheets later in this pack. Feel free to create your own too! The key is to give participants a range of activities to photograph (5–10, depending on the group). Simple Pleasures activities are the small things in nature that make you smile: seeing a rainbow... spotting reflections in water… hearing birdsong. Ask participants to come up with their own “wild card” suggestions too. Soon everyone will be excitedly pointing out Simple Pleasures on the walk and will be smiling away when taking their photos! It usually works!

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures

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This takes time, so allow for it. Check you have permissions from the participants and/or their parents/guardians to use their images. After the walk, gather in all the cameras, upload the highest quality jpegs* to a central resource folder and name each photo by participants and their team colour. An example of file name of a participant’s photos could be: OurGroupJane-Red.001.jpeg If participants have used their own cameras or phone camera, then ideally ask them to email their favourite images to you, or have a laptop, card reader and storage device (external hard drive or usb) to save everything onto with you for the end of the walk and allow extra time at the end of the outdoor session to gather in the images before handing back the camera or memory cards. Participants can swap cameras to view each other’s pictures/discuss their treasure hunt successes while this happens, if needs be. Expect to need to save anything up to around 8gb for an enthusiastic snap-happy group! (An 8gb usb is good). *Image quality: for good quality printing a high file resolution is required. For viewing on screen a lower resolution is fine. But as a matter of course just set the cameras and upload functions to high quality, larger file size. It is always better to have the bigger files, just in case you do want prints. Print quality images are usually 300 pixels per inch (ppi). Screen quality is usually 72 ppis. Don’t be tempted to shoot lesser quality for more pictures though, it’s advisable to increase your memory size instead!

Plan in advance how you will show your group their photos and run through the “Best of” selection, so you are ready to congratulate and applaud participants’ great work when seen together! If you can print a sheet which shows all the participants’ pics on, (a contact sheet) this is great to share with group members. But don’t worry too much if not. Just ensure all participants have access to see their photos, somehow – either as prints or on screen. It is best to have both a slideshow of top images prepared as well as a selection of prints for each team, if you can. If you have the budget – get a small collection of prints of the best images (top 10 or 20 for every team) printed out and hand these to the participants for them to see, select their favourites and share with the group. Cheap prints can be bought en masse on 24 hour turnaround times from most high street pharmacies, photo retailers and supermarkets. For a group size of 15 expect to pay around £30 for several hundred prints. You can hang these up on string with paper clips and pin around the room for an impactful display. Or stick them onto a large printed map of the walk route you took. Coloured dots can be used on the map to show where you walked and where you saw points of interest in the photos. Younger groups especially love putting the dots on maps to show the routes!

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures

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- Uploaded photos, correctly named and filed on a portable storage device - Contact sheets (all the photos printed small on A4 paper) if possible - Top selection of images from each group prepared as slideshow (the “Free!” option) - Prints for each group, if possible (the “Requires Budget!” option) - Laptop/PC/projector/wall to project onto/suitably darkened room - Large printed wall maps of the route walked (or just blank flip chart paper and pens if creating own) - Sticky dots (to show where the group walked) - Post- it/sticky notes and pens (to capture thoughts and ideas of all)

Choose an indoor location which the group is familiar with, if possible. You will need a room big enough to comfortably accommodate everyone sitting at a table and moving around doing activities. Table, chairs, a blank wall to show their photos on (either projected or as strung up prints) is great. Prepare the room for their arrival.

Slideshow Viewing: When the participants arrive, have the slideshow or print presentation ready for them to view. Watch the slideshow or walk around the mini exhibition together, encouraging positive group feedback. This is an essential part of the process and is a great opportunity to congratulate and applaud participants. Selections: After the Viewing, give each pair a chance to see their own pictures again and to select their own top five or so images from their set. These chosen images can then be considered by the rest of the group. If an output is being created, such as a wall map of the area, choose the top 20 overall prints via sticky coloured dots. Captions: Give all participants five small sheets of paper and pens. Ask them to number the sheets 1-5. Ask questions and request they write down their answers on the sheets. Questions can be open or specific, such as:

1) What did you see? 2) What did you hear? 3) How did you feel? 4) What was the best bit? 5) What do you hope to see next time?

A selection of these answers can be stuck up on the wall maps with the photos, by the members of the group. Once the visual output has been created have the group take a good look at what they have achieved: a photo walk, producing photos, selecting the best images, writing captions and creating a great visual work of art!

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures

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- Provide groups with fun, active and enjoyable excursions to local outdoor areas, exploring Simple Pleasures.

- Encourage knowledge and gain confidence amongst the group to access outdoors more often.

- Give the group a sense of purpose and direction to the visits (through photo tasks). - Provide groups with a small collection of photographs, to share the memories. - Even well known outdoor spaces are seen through new fresh eyes when photographing. - Putting people into pairs and asking them to help each other spot photos and model for each other is a good

sharing, bonding experience that achieves integration and builds confidence (especially amongst those who may not traditionally feel comfortable with group activities).

- Congratulating individuals, pairs and the group on good photos taken as the walk progresses encourages

and uplifts participants, creating an even more enjoyable walk experience. - Pointing out progress on maps helps orientate participants (and leaders!) and allows mini breaks which

incorporates time for judgement calls on energy levels and continuation policy. - Allowing the novelty experience of taking photos in the snow or rain helps to foster a sense of doing

something special together, as a group - whatever the weather. - Allowing participants control over selecting the display images gives them freedom to showcase what they

feel to be important. - Most young participants love putting dots maps to represent where they have walked! This solidifies the

memory of their walk route, encourages map reading in general and improves their recollection of the whole experience.

- Collectively discussing or writing captions on Post it notes is an effective way to gather memories and

captions of the outdoor visits.

- Feedback sessions are an essential part of the enjoyable experience for most participants. Seeing their work

projected big, onto screens, always gives a sense of pride and creative confidence. Positive group feedback and appraisal increases self esteem.

Resource author: Becky Duncan – Open Aye (www.openaye.co.uk) Editor: Theresa Kewell – Scottish Natural Heritage (www.nature.scot)

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Enjoying the View Having a laugh outdoors

Going for a walk Making shadow puppets Feeling a leaf

Exploring a tree Seeing blossom Hugging a tree!

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures

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Enjoying the View Watching Wildlife

Feeling Fresh Grass Watching Clouds

Smelling Flowers Seeing Reflections Appreciating a great tree

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures

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Going for a walk Looking at a leaf Listening around you

Seeing reflections Picking wild berries Running under trees

Kicking up leaves Watching clouds Feeling the wind in your hair

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures

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Enjoying the view Watching wildlife Having fun outdoors

Spotting landmarks Spying ice crystals

Seeing your breath Watching clouds

For more inspiration visit snh.gov.uk/simplepleasures