Digital Photography for Kids
Turn Camera Curiosity into a Fun and Rewarding Hobby
Kids like to have their own cameras at an early age. Once they hit the tween years, you can turn that love of cameras into a rewarding hobby, if they have the interest.
Capitalize on kids curiosity, and sense of adventure when trying to capture their attention and really get them interested in digital photography. It is a fun and rewarding hobby that could actually turn into quite a profitable career, depending on your child's level of interest.
Digital Photography Techniques
Even the youngest child will love investigating his environment, exploring nature, or suddenly seeing things through different eyes. The camera’s eye, that is. Make photography fun and exciting, throw in some spontaneity, and every kid, young or old, is bound to be captivated sooner or later.
Get up-close and personal. Show kids how to zoom in on their subject by taking close up pictures of unexpected objects. Get them giggling by taking a super close up picture of grandpa’s big toe, or their big sisters right eyeball. Get them thinking about perspective, and how things look different from different vantage points. Take them to a wide open space, and see how much more you can see when you zoom in or use a telephoto lens.
Be artistic. Play around with camera settings. Not every picture will turn out great, but that’s the wonder of modern technology, if you don’t like a picture, just delete it. Show kids it’s okay to experiment and have fun. Taking pictures should be a lot more than just having everyone smile and say cheese. Adjust the exposure, change the lighting, use the flash or don’t use it, try this, that and the next thing. When there’s an experiment in progress, kids are bound to stick around to see how it all turns out.
Show kids how, then let them try. Kids are always interested in anything they can do themselves. With a little patience and encouragement, they’ll be taking digital pictures of everything in the house.
Get them their own camera. That word “mine” has the amazing ability to capture a child’s attention in an instant. Getting them their own digital camera, and showing them how to use it, and care for it, is a sure way to get them interested in the subject of digital photography.
Do it together. Go on outings with the single purpose of taking the coolest pictures ever taken by human beings. Spend time comparing shots, talking about composition, lighting elements, or whatever else comes up.
Throw in some fun. Have a digital scavenger hunt. Break into teams of two, each with a camera and a list of ten objects to locate and photograph. Depending on the age of the children in question, you can vary the amount of skill, talent, or acrobatic genius needed to obtain the photos on the list. You can also make up your own rules, such as each person on the team has to take 5 of the pictures, or the pictures must be taken with a telephoto lens, but also must be clear and easy to identify.
A Rewarding Hobby
Digital photography with kids can and should be lots of fun. But there are also some very important benefits to be gleaned from digital photography, for kids and adults alike. Taking pictures can help us learn to look at things in a new light. This wonderful hobby can also help us to slow down and take a closer look at the things we think we already know, and understand. Digital photography can help children learn to think more like adults, and with any luck, it can also help us adults learn to see as children again.
