All Over Albany

The Digital Eye

Who:
Warren E. Hamilton

Project:
Teaching kids how to shoot and edit video at a Vacation Bible School

Hello, my name is Warren E. Hamilton, and I am the owner of The Digital Eye, LLC. My passion for photography was started in my hometown of Niagara Falls, NY. As a youth, I was interested in my dad's "professional" Polaroid photography gear, and the fact that we had lots of family photos. My dad's photography habits inspired me, and my desire for a camera was answered when I was in the 3rd grade, when my mother gave me my first camera. In addition, growing up in Niagara Falls was a great inspiration in itself, and I recall our Sunday afternoon family drives to view the Falls. I was really inspired by the scenic beauty and majestic splendor of the American Falls, and the Horseshoe Falls.

My uncle traveled to the Bahama's in the mid-70's, and per an arrangement with my mother, he returned with my new Canon AE-1 Program SLR camera. I used this camera up until about 10 years ago; at that time, Kodak came out with a point-and-shoot camera called the Advantax. As a result of using this smaller, more convenient camera, I let my SLR sit for about 3 years.

I missed using my SLR, so in 2003 I bought a Canon Digital D10. My new "digital era" in photography blew my mind. The 3 years I lost really set me back, especially in light of the fast pace of the digital world in front of me. Luckily, I was always analytical, and I had owned PC's since the mid-1980's. Due to the inspiration I was getting from my new digital awareness, I decided to start an DBA business. I primarily started the business because I was always the friend at the event or party taking pictures, and then later, I would pass them out for free. My love and a passion was slowly turned into a small business in the Fall of 2003.

Since my humble beginnings, I received a ton of assistance from my church family at Macedonia Baptist Church in Albany NY. I got a lot of business and assistance from my church family, and I try to focus a lot of my work in that area. In that regard, I do a lot of free and low cost work for my church, other churches, and local mentoring programs.

Right now, I am a Project Leader at Siena's Colleges Urban Scholar's Program, where I lead a team of youth in a 7 week video editing project. Working on this current project led me to this Sunmark FCU project. Due to my past involvement with the Albany-Colonie Chamber EAP program, and secondly, my membership in the Art -n- Soul organization, I became aware of this Sunmark project.
I really enjoy community service, and my 9-5 job is as a Contract Manager for the NYS Office of National and Community Service. Every Summer I volunteer, and lead projects for my church's vacation bible class (Macedonia Baptist Church). If I win this funding, I plan to continue the success of my current project with a cohort of youth from the vacation bible classes. You should be aware that this vacation bible study is open to the community, and to the church membership. Also, we usually partner with Siena college and/or other local churches. As a result, you can rest assured that these funds will not be used to proselytize, or to benefit a small sub-set of youth. Quite the contrary, a number of youth from all segments of the city, and surrounding areas will benefit. Specifically, I propose to do the following:
The above screen shot is from iMovie, but I also teach the kids Final Cut Express (due to confidentiality issues of working with youth, I cannot show actual video footage).

<strong>With the funding, I will:</strong>
Use my multitude of professional video cameras to teach the children how to shoot video.
I will teach them about photography techniques, as well, since still shots are usually part  video projects.
I will teach the youth about video techniques in dual platform; both PC (Windows) and Apple (Macintosh).
I will teach the kids how to edit video.
Lastly, I will teach the kids how to produce video in computer format, and DVD format.

The funding will be used to buy additional storage space, as the typical high definition that is 60 minutes in length, is approximately 40 GB in size. Due to the large number of youth in some classes, I would also like to purchase a smaller, less "loaded" Mac desktop (I will use one of my current monitors), and a reasonably priced camcorder. I also will use my gear, but that gear is for my professional jobs, so I need to use that gear with caution.

The kids in my current project really love it, and I am teaching them a technical skill that will last a lifetime. The students can become involved in family projects, school endeavors, learn to be both in front, or behind the camera, or concentrate on the technical/computer aspects of video and photo production. I am offering them a chance of a lifetime, to find a skill and love at an early age. I have been doing this for well over 30 years. As I Corinthians 7-12 instructs, we all have a God given gift, and it is our duty to share it with the "body." With your help, I can help share this love and passion with many other youth. Thanks for considering me for this funding.