Canowindra High School was selected from more than one thousand applicants to host a prestigious 2011 Moran Arts Foundation photography workshop at the school late last year.

The photography workshop was a great success and the students had a fantastic day, organisers report.

The class of 30 students each received a digital camera to use for the day under the instruction of international photographer Sally Mayman, a previous finalist in the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize.

Canowindra High School art teacher Tony Dagg said the students embraced the unique opportunity to learn basic skills which transformed how they approached photography.

“They learnt how to edit, pre-focus, rule of thirds, and other simple techniques,” Mr Dagg said.

“They also learnt how to use simple settings changes such as macro, which are available on even the most basic camera, and provided them with another way of shooting images.”

The students are eligible for the Moran Contemporary Photographic Competition, with up to $300,000 of prize monies up for grabs.