The site TakeGreatPictures.com is always coming up with fun and creative ways to get consumers more involved with photography and their latest list of ways to get young children started in photography simply offers up more of what they do best. Passing along the enthusiasm and advice this site offers its visitors on to your customers might be a great idea.
Penned by industry veteran Jon Sienkiewicz, we give you six tips that may very well produce the next Ansel Adams or Barbara Bordnick.
[1] Start early.
Children as young as three can enjoy taking pictures as long as they are given proper supervision and a few rules. At first they may want to shoot a dozen pictures of everything in sight, but some gentle direction and a little firm guidance will keep them on right path. Avoid being too strict, but in the beginning you may want to limit the tyke to one or two shots per subject.
[2] Don’t worry, be happy.
The biggest barrier to kids taking pictures is they tend to drop the camera, and doing that even once can be a calamity. Children will quickly learn to respect the camera as a precision instrument that should be handled with care – but don’t expect perfection from the beginning. Be safe, not sorry. Single-use cameras, especially the weatherproof and waterproof variety, are perfect starter cameras for youngsters. They’re hard to break and are quite inexpensive.
[3] Keep it handy.
When you head off for a family outing, make the child responsible for bringing his or her camera. Youth-sized waist-packs are hard to find, but they do make great camera cases. Backpacks work well, too. At home, designate one special place where the camera is always kept when not in use. That way it can always be found when needed.
[4] Stay on the subject.
Kids’ favorite subjects tend to be the things they see most frequently. Family, friends, pets, favorite toys, other belongings – those are the things they’ll want to shoot, and they’ll appreciate the memories later, years from now when they look back upon their childhood experiences. A favorite toy, the family dog, a stuffed animal that was taken to bed to ward off nightmares, all of these memories can easily be documented in a few snaps and saved, to be cherished, forever.
[5] Gather around the browser.
Review everyone’s photos as a family event. Looking at the vacation pictures while huddled around the PC can be nearly as much family fun as the vacation itself. And when kids see the images they shot they’ll learn what they need to improve. When you browse to the images the children shot, be generous with praise and giggle away the composition blunders. And when you decide which to have printed, make sure that a few shots the kids took are included.
[6] Save them to enjoy forever.
Put printed images in a scrapbook with the child’s other original artwork, writings and drawings. Most kids produce volumes of artwork, either at preschool or at home, and what could be better than a few printed photos to supplement the creation? Think way beyond the refrigerator.
