A decade or two ago it was far more expensive if your passion was photography especially if you were in your teens and only had pocket money to count on.Not so today.Photography as a hobby is far more accessible and cheaper on account of the digital age. There is no need for film, darkrooms, chemicals and very expensive paper. And if you didn’t have a darkroom years ago and had to get your film developed by a commercial lab that was going to cost you a pretty penny.And so it is no surprise that the Youth Camera Action (YCA) programme put on by the Bermuda National Galley is becoming more and more popular.The BNG is again having its YCA Summer Programme and it will be bigger this year because of the demand.There will be eight weekly sessions in July and August with each week costing $125. Middle school students can sign up for one week and classes will last from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 4 pm. Only 16 students will be allowed in any given week. Sponsor of the Summer Programme is BTC. The BNG also has a school term programme sponsored by the Catlin End-to-End Bermuda.Dany Pen, the BNG’s education and communications officer, is one of two instructors of the YCA. The other is Rohan Shastri.Ms Pen said that last year the Summer Programme only made eight spaces available per week but because it became so popular they ended up with a waiting list.“We have now doubled the class size for this summer to 16 spaces,” she added.Ms Pen studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. Known for her photo-installations, her work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions in Toronto, New York and Bermuda. Ms Pen is also an educator who has taught students from preschool to college level.Mr Shastri is a photographer who studied at the University for the Creative Arts in England, UK. He has worked alongside reputable photographers in London such as fashion photographers Jochen Braun and Alexis Armanet. Mr Shastri also led the YCA 2011 Summer Camp and co-taught the 2011 YCA Autumn Term.While the students receive instruction at the BNG, they spend a lot of the time on the road photographing all over the Island.Ms Pen said: “The big thing we see today is that all the kids have cameras either they have their own or have their parents. But they do not know how to use them properly. For instance the camera is always left on the automatic setting but when they come to us they learn how to use it on manual mode and also to use the settings things like shutter speed and aperture. They all know how to use the camera for things like parties but we want them to go beyond that.”Every day is different as well.Ms Pen said: “We go on trips every day. Sometimes we will go to the Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo other days we will explore Hamilton. In fact we explore the entire length of the Island. We are only indoors on rainy days. We teach the students all about lighting and shadows the different kinds of light and we do all colour arrangements. We try and teach them everything.”For more information on the Summer Camps email education@bng.bm or call 295 9428.