Today while sorting through some
old boxes I found a photo album filled with the first ever photos that I took
as a young budding photographer. I was around nine years old when I first
started using our family’s film point and shoot camera and I still remember my
Dad’s ‘training’ on how to use it. Basically it consisted of this advice:
‘Don’t take too many shots’
Remember, this was back in the
day of film photography where film and processing costs made my Dad’s advice
pretty sound. However looking back over my early images I wish he’d taught me a
few other things about taking photos. Here’s some of the advice I could have
benefited from hearing.
Note – before I start I should
say that you can probably teach a child too much about photography and ‘kill’
some of the playfulness that I think makes the images that a child can take
special. My main advice would be to instill in your child the first lesson
below – of experimenting and having fun:
1. Experiment
ExperimentLooking over many of
the shots that I took in those early days shows me that I took a lot of shots
of almost exactly the same things. I approached my subjects in much the same
way with every shot and as a result ended up with very similar results. Teach
your child how to vary their shots in a number of these ways:
shoot from different perspectives
– up high, down low etc. getting in close – stepping back
for a wider angle shot moving around your subject to
shoot from different sides
experimenting with different
settings (teaching them about different exposure modes)
2. Check your Backgrounds
BackgroundsA very simple concept
that can enhance an image is to check out the background of a shot to check for
clutter or distraction.
Teach your children to scan the
background (and the foreground) of an image quickly and to change their framing
if there’s too many distractions – otherwise their shots will end up like mine
used to with all kinds of objects growing out of the heads of those I was
photographing.
3. Hold the Camera Straight
While shots that are not straight
can be quite effective (they can be playful or give a more ‘candid’ feel to
them) it is good to teach your children to check the framing of their shot
before hitting the shutter.
4. How to Hold a Camera
Holding-CameraIt is easy to
assume that everyone knows how to hold a digital camera – however while many
people do it intuitively some will not – particularly children who are
unfamiliar with them. In fact I’ve seen a lot of adults who could do with a
lesson or two on how to hold a camera and whose images must suffer with camera
shake as a result of poor technique.
A quick lesson on securing your
camera could help a child get clear, shake free images for years to come.
5. Get in Close
Get-In-CloseAlmost all of the
shots that took in my first rolls of film have my subject somewhere off into
the distance of the shot. This is partly because the camera that I was using
didn’t have a zoom lens – but it was partly because I didn’t understand how
getting in close would help capture the detail of a subject.
Teach your children how to use
the zoom on your digital camera – but don’t forget to teach them how using
their legs to move closer can achieve the same results!
6. Take Lots of Photos
Lots-Of-Shots-1While my Dad’s
advice did save our family a lot of money at the time – with the advent of
digital photography, taking lots of pictures is no longer something that is too
costly (although there are costs in terms of storing them all). Taking lots of
images is a great way to learn different techniques of photography.
While you probably will want to
encourage your children not to take 100 shots of exactly the same thing –
encourage them to experiment with lots of different shots over time and as they
do you’ll see their photography improve.
7. Getting the Balance Right
Between Photographing People, ‘Things’ and Places
People-PlacesI still remember
coming back from my first overseas trip as a teenager (a school trip) and
showing my parents my photos. Their first comment was that I had hardly taken
any shots of people. All my shots had been of buildings. While some of them
were interesting – I missed one of the most important aspects of the trip –
those I was traveling with.
I chatted to a friend with two
children recently and she told me that one of her children did the same thing
with me – but the other came back from a school trip with hundreds of photos of
their friends but none of the sites that they saw. I guess some children get
too focused on photographing sites and some too focused upon photographing
people. If you see your child doing this – perhaps reflect back to them that
they think about different types of photography.
8. Find a Point of Interest
Points-Of-InterestInteresting
photographs have interesting things in them – they need a visual point of
interest (a focal point). Teach your child to identify what this point of
interest is before hitting the shutter.
Once they’ve identified the point
of interest they can then think about how to highlight it (by positioning
themselves, using their zoom etc).
9. Rule of Thirds
Rule-Of-Thirds-1A simple principle
of photography that I’ve taught a number of children is the Rule of Thirds.
While I’ve talked numerous times about how breaking this rule can also be a
powerful effect – it is something that I’ve found really can lift a child’s
images – particularly when they are photographing other people.
Even if the child doesn’t
completely understand to position their subject right on the intersecting third
points – to teach them how to place their subject off centre can be enough.
10. Review Your Children’s Images
with Them
Review-Photos-Together-1One thing
that you can do to help your children drastically improve their photography is
to sit down at the computer with them after they’ve been out with their camera
to go through their shots.
As you scroll through them pause
to affirm them with what they’ve done well and to point out things that they
could do better next time to improve their results. Pay particular attention to
the shots that they do well with as this will give them positive reinforcement
and inspiration to keep going with their hobby.
11. Focal Lock
Focal-LockOne important technique
that children will do well to learn is how to use focal lock. While most
cameras do well in auto focusing upon subjects there are times when you’ll end
up with shots that are out of focus because the camera doesn’t know what the
main subject is (particularly if they are placing subjects off centre with the
rule of thirds).
Teach your child how to press the
shutter halfway down to focus and then to frame the shot while still holding it
down and they’ll have a skill that they’ll use forever!
12. Different Modes for Different
Situations
Digital-Camera-Modes-2The day
that i discovered my family film camera had a little dial for different
‘shooting modes’ on it was a day my photography improved a little. Most digital
cameras these days have the ability to switch a camera into modes like
‘portrait’, ‘sports’, ‘macro’ etc. Teach your child what these modes mean and
when to switch to them and you’ll be taking them a step closer to learning
about how their camera works and how to learn about manual exposure modes (see
the next point).
Just knowing that different
situations will mean you need to use different settings is an important lesson
for kids to learn as it helps them to become more aware of not only their
subject but things like how light, focal distance and subject movement can impact
a shot.
13. Exposure Settings
Exposure-1Once your child has a
good grasp on the above techniques it might be time to teach them some basics
of exposure (this might be one for slightly older kids). Learning about the
three elements of ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed are a useful place to start
your lessons and giving them an introduction to how changing these settings can
impact a photo.
The best way for them to learn
this is by introducing them to Aperture and Shutter priority modes.
What do You Teach Your Children?
Of course deciding which of the
above lessons for kids on photography to teach your child will depend upon
their age and experience. Some are obviously more appropriate for some children
than others. I’d be interested to hear what readers do when it comes to this
topic? What have you taught your kids?
With my own son (who is 16 months
old) we’re obviously not up to any of these – however I am teaching him to
become familiar with cameras – showing him images once they’ve been taken on
the LCD, letting him look through the viewfinder and even pressing the shutter.
This familiarization is really nothing more than that – but in doing so he’s
becoming more comfortable with cameras – and I’ve noticed when I’m
photographing him (which does happen a lot) he’s much more happy to pose for
me.
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