Do you put a lot of time into taking a great picture? Or do you tend to leave the heavy lifting to the automatic settings on your smartphone or digital camera? As TED-Ed Club Members around the world are busy snapping shots to document their experience, TED-Ed invited Senior Photo Editor Dian Lofton to host a workshop where she could share some tips and tricks to take your photos from average to awesome.

The workshop was attended by a group of TED-Ed Club Members and Facilitators who spanned the globe from India to Georgia, representing a variety of schools, subjects and age levels. The participants each shared a little about their schools and classrooms. They were all eager to hear more about how they could better incorporate photography skills into their TED-Ed Clubs.

Dian provided thoughtful and handy tips on how to understand the photo-taking process. She began by dividing the process into three smaller stages (pre-production, production and post-production). She detailed each of these three stages, sharing advice she’s learned along the way. These “picture-perfect” hints and tricks are even translatable for our TED-Ed Clubs as they prepare to film their final presentations.

Check out the full workshop here:

If you want to start a TED-Ed Club in your school, be sure to apply here! >>