Photography for Kids – Go Out and Take Pictures

The past three days I’ve given tips and “assignments” that can help kids (really anyone) take better photographs. Reading tips, however, isn’t enough; kids need to explore nature with a camera in hand. The nature can be in their backyard, at a state forest, or at their summer camp. Kids can give themselves a goal – take 25 pictures a day, for example. They could take 25 pictures in ten minutes or over the course of ten hours. If they find an interesting subject they could take additional photographs.

I know a graphic designer who received a camera one Christmas and made it his goal to take 100 pictures each day, thereby teaching himself how to be a photographer. Granted, he had a trained artist’s eye, but still, he did a lot of experimentation as he played with the best angle to photograph ice and learned how the lighting at different times of day affected the forest, the field, water.

The first thing, of course, is that kids need access to a camera. There are enough inexpensive digital cameras that will allow a kid or teen to experiment without the concerns that come with borrowing mom or dad’s camera for a day. Here are some other tips for kids …

- Read the manual. It may be boring but it will tell you about features on the camera that you might overlook.
- Keep the batteries or camera charged. Have an extra set for backup. I’ve known a lot of kids that have had to stop taking pictures because their batteries died ten minutes after they turned on their camera.
- Download photos regularly and clear you memory card. There is nothing worse than losing a photo-taking opportunity because you are scanning through your camera’s memory trying to decide what to delete.
- Set a goal each day. Take pictures at different times of day. Do the “assignments” in composition, lighting, and angles.

A Backyard of Baby Animals

Originally published June 12, 2009 at Suite101.com

I’m sitting at the dining room table, writing, or pretending to write because a gray squirrel has perched on the railing surrounding the deck behind my apartment. After a moment of vigorous grooming, it sprawls over the railing, four feet dangling. Flattened on this branch-substitute, a second gray squirrel meanders across the deck and down the stairs. Neither squirrel seems aware of the other.

Unlike the third squirrel to appear, this one walks along the railing until it notices squirrel number one (that also notices this railing invader) and with distinct “hey, I’m not here to cause any trouble,” body language, squirrel three backs up.

Only it doesn’t get far because a slightly larger gray squirrel is right behind it. It presses the smaller squirrel to the railing and immediately begins grooming it (with much enthusiastic chewing of fleas, lice, and whatever else). At this point, I want my camera, which I usually keep downstairs, but it’s upstairs charging for a weekend event. I risk crossing the room and getting the camera (the back door is wide open and I’m convinced the squirrels will hear the floorboards creak and head up the nearest tree). The squirrels are still grooming.

Squirrels two, three, and four bound off for a vigorous wrestling match in the poison ivy (their fur protects their skin from getting a rash). Squirrel number one is still draped over the railing, watching.

Three house sparrows drop onto the deck, all with the dull coloring of the female. One sparrow hunches into a ball and cheeps until another sparrow feeds it. A male house sparrow, with his brighter chestnut feathers, drops nearby into the grass. I realize that I’m looking at parents feeding their fledglings – juveniles old enough to fly short distances but still looking for a handout from mom and dad.

The gray squirrel, tired of perching on the rectangular branch that is my railing, jumps to the ground, causing the birds to take wing. Even in the small, shared backyard of an apartment, the spring’s bounty of baby animals is evident.

Create a Photo Story

When was the last time your child held a camera? Did they use your camera or did they use their own camera? What was the occasion? Kids don’t have to limit taking pictures to vacations and school field trips. Digital cameras are inexpensive enough nowadays that parents don’t have to worry about handing over their expensive camera when their child wants to take pictures. Once a child has the physical ability to hold and aim the camera while pressing the shutter button, they can start exploring this hobby, which gives them another way to connect with nature.

Some kids (even, or especially, adolescents) go a bit wild when they get their hands on a camera. I had one experience with a group of homeschoolers where they spent the first day of a nature photography class taking close-up pictures of each others’ nostrils. Cameras can become an exploration tool.

Send your kids into the backyard with a camera and ask them to take pictures that tell a story. The story might be, “After the Rain,” “Spring,” “Green.” This is a case where kids don’t have to worry about incorporating an exciting plot. Encourage them to take a lot of pictures and then come inside and pick their favorites. They can then order the photos into a story. This last part, indoors and on the computer, can be a way for parent and child to talk about the child’s experiences outdoors.

Turn the photos into a slideshow screen saver on the family computer. Print the photos and slide them into a small album; add words to elaborate on the story or allow the pictures to speak for themselves.
Although a child’s first forays into photography may not produce much more than some out-of-focus close-ups, they can continue to use a camera to capture their observations of nature.

Nature Lists

Okay, maybe the only writing you do on a regular basis is emails; the idea of writing for fun – for the sake of writing – may have never crossed your mind. Your child may or may not feel excited by the prospects of writing; most of what he does is connected to schoolwork.

So, why write in nature? Nature provides a wonderful source of inspiration. Instead of dredging through memories, you can write about what you see at that very moment. Before you turn away from this blog, the writing activity I’m suggesting is super easy, as in if you can write a list for the supermarket you can write this list poem.

A list poem is just what it sounds like – a list. You don’t need to worry about rhyme, parts of speech, punctuation, grammar, or anything else that often causes people to stare at a white sheet of paper as if they are gazing at their doom. This is a fun (really) poem for one or for a group.

Select a topic, something that you are looking at, whether that is the beach, a forest, a park, a tree, a garden, a flower, or whatever else captures you eye. Write the name at the top of the page, “Horseneck Beach,” “Piping Plover,” “Red Maple Swamp,” “Tree,” “Thunderstorm.”
Now, write a list. The list could be nouns – tangible things associated with your topic. You might list verbs – actions engaged in by the topic.

You may even combine the two into short phrases, object with its action (“branches sway”). Each word or brief phrase gets its own line in this poem. The words don’t have to be in any particular order, although as you make your list, you could decide to rearrange the order of some of the words.

This is it. You’ll want at least five lines to your poem. Although this sounds simplistic, the effect of reading the list aloud can be powerful and impressive. The single words or brief phrases captures not just the essence of your topic but shows your emotional connection to your subject through your word choice.

For young children, this can be a bit like a game; for older children, adolescents, and adults, this is a simple way to express their observations. A group can call out words to one person who records them and they will create a document that binds together their experiences.

You and your children can incorporate these poems into artwork, photo albums, scrapbooks. List poems can become a spontaneous activity at any time, in any place.

Seasonal Color Wheel

What are the colors of spring? Summer? Autumn? Winter? Each season offers a unique color palette. If an interior decorator selected colors for four rooms in the colors of each season, chances are that you’d have no difficulty telling what season was represented in each room. Once children become old enough to be aware that they’ve experienced a season in their past, they too would recognize the colors of the seasons.

You can do these activities during any season; you could even do them each month of the year. The activities go beyond simple color recognition to noticing the variations within colors. Try these as art projects, even if you don’t feel that you yourself are artistically inclined. Do the activities along with your children, students, scouts, or campers.

Color Match
Go to the hardware store and collect an assortment of paint chip samples (start with greens, browns, and grays). If you have the time and inclination, cut the strips apart into individual colors and toss them in a bag or envelope. Now, go outside with the kids and give everyone at least one of the paint samples and encourage them to explore the area looking for as close a match in nature as they can possibly find.

Players can switch to different colors if they can’t find what they are trying to match, or they can hold onto a color in the hopes of matching it elsewhere along their walk. Try this activity in natural settings as well as urban or suburban settings to contrast the colors of not just seasons but environments.

Color Wheel
This activity is a bit more complex because instead of matching colors the participants are creating color matches. Each player will need some paper and either colored pencils or watercolors. Although the manufacture is providing a range of colors, point out those colors can be mixed or layered to create other colors.

Take a plate and draw a circle on the paper. Divide the circle into six, eight, or twelve pie sections. Now, go outside and select a color distinctive of the season and color in one of the pie sections. Again, the yellow of forsythia might not be the yellow of the colored pencil, so encourage exploration and experimentation with the materials as participants practice mixing or layering colors.

Fill in each pie section with a different color. Notice how not all green leaves are the same color green and try to duplicate these different hues. Label the page with the season or the month. Try to repeat throughout the year, creating a color palette for each season.

Try either of these activities with preschoolers all the way up through adults. They give you an awareness of the variety of colors around you as well as bring clarity to the distinctive qualities of each time of the year.

Shadow Art

Originally published 4/12/2011 at explorealongtheway.com

Have kids do this project on a sunny day that isn’t too windy. They can do this in their own backyard. They’ll need to start with a large piece of white paper and a pencil. They will also need a sturdy piece of cardboard that they can use as a drawing board and a couple of binder clips to hold the paper in place as they work.

Walk around outside looking for interesting shadows. It doesn’t really matter what is casting the shadow, they’re interested in the shadows themselves. Look for shadows on the ground as well as shadows that may fall on walls. Don’t worry if the entire shadow doesn’t fit on the piece of paper. Hold the paper so an interesting part of the shadow falls across the paper.

Work quickly to trace the shape of the shadow. If there is a slight breeze the objects will move a bit, so they should do as good a job as they can; this doesn’t have to be perfect. Because of the angle of the sun, a traced shadow won’t look like an outline of the object. This can be fun because people looking at the finished artwork won’t necessarily know the inspiration for the piece. After tracing the shadow onto the paper, the kids will want to get some other art supplies. For this project, they can use watercolor paints, colored pencils, pastels, marker, crayons, etc.

Tell the kids to color in the shadow(s) however they like, using a solid color or changing colors when they want. After coloring in the shape, they may want to cut it out and glue it onto a piece of colored construction paper for additional contrast.