Teaching photography to a 5-year-old
When I was about seven, I became seriously aware of photography, and I wish someone had started teaching me things back then. Of course, digital photography didn’t quite exist, so that makes it a lot more difficult (and expensive) to learn by trial and error, so things have changed a lot. I was on the train the other day, thinking about how I would teach photography to a young’un with the current technology available.
I discovered I couldn’t think of how to do it – so I got in touch with one of my friends who is a teacher, and she got so stoked up about the idea that she went ahead and wrote up a phenomenal article for Photocritic…
How old were you when you took your first real photograph? You know, intentionally focusing on something to produce an image. Four? Eight? In your teens? Maybe even later? I was about five, and it was using my Mum’s compact camera. I was seven when my Dad taught me how to use an SLR. Of course, this was back when I had no option other than to steel my patience and wait for the fruits of my pointing and clicking to be developed, but I was hooked from the start.
Besides children being inquisitive by nature, and wanting to imitate adults, the instant gratification of digital photography makes the chances of them wanting to have a go with a camera quite high. So, when a five year old is looking at you and your camera expectantly, how do you teach him or her to take a photo?
Starting simple: Basics + framing
Initially, I wouldn’t teach him or her anything more than the simple mechanics of the camera (and I’m assuming this is a compact): look here, press this button. Let him or her play around, click randomly, get a feel for the camera and what it does. They will learn plenty from experimentation and discovery: not holding the camera still will make fuzzy pictures, you’ll also get blurry images if you get too close, and if something is too far away it’ll be tiny in the photograph. If they start to show an interest in the images that they are making and begin to ask questions, then you can start to teach them. However, keep it fun and keep it simple. By enjoying themselves they are more likely to want to continue, and well, we are talking about five year olds, after all. Lay a firm foundation of basic understanding – and this will be very basic stuff – and who knows to where they’ll progress.
Begin by encouraging the little one in question to think about what it is that they want to photograph and why. An easy way to accomplish this is with a simple viewfinder. You can make one from a cereal packet: cut the middle out of the large panel leaving a frame roughly four centimeters deep. Hand it to your budding Ansel Adams and get him or her to wander around and use the viewfinder to frame potential images. Whilst they’re doing it ask them what their focal points are: that flower, those blocks of Lego, the red car parked on the street. By encouraging them to think about their subjects you are helping them to construct an image successfully: they are taking a picture of something, and that something needs to be the centre of attention. The idea of the cardboard frame transfers easily to the camera’s viewfinder, helping our youngsters to select their images.
Introducing perspective and focus
From there you can broach the idea of perspective, starting with the cardboard viewfinder before moving onto the camera. Show them that by standing closer to something it will appear larger, and conversely you make something look smaller by standing further away from it. Get your little photographers to experiment: how far away will they need to be from a tree before they can fit all of it into a frame; how close can they get to Mummy’s hand before it spills out of the frame? Essentially it is close equals big and far equals small, but we’re accustomed to the concept of perspective and for a five year old it is fairly revolutionary, so be patient.
Focus is probably something that should follow on from here. In their initial playing around our young photographers have probably found out that holding the camera too close to the subject will result in a fuzzy picture. Helping them to understand why this happens can be accomplished by getting them to hold their hand in front of their face, at arm’s length, asking them to focus on their hand, and then move it steadily closer to their eyes. Does it start to go fuzzy at any point? When is this point? By likening the camera lens to their eyes you’ll help them to understand that the lens can’t focus sharply on something that is too close.
The concepts of ‘light’ and ‘dark’
The last aspect that I’d want to broach with a five year old is the influence of light and dark on a picture, anything else is going to be too technical and quite frankly unnecessary. Again, using the analogy of the eye and the camera lens will help to explain the effects. When they wake in the middle of the night, and their room is dark, they can’t see very much. The camera lens is the same as their eyes: it can’t make an image in the dark. If they want to take a photograph in the dark, they are going to have to introduce some light (like switching on their bedside lamp in the night), that’s why cameras have flashes. Of course, if a light is too bright they cannot see properly, and looking into the sun hurts their eyes. This is why they mustn’t take a photograph facing into the sun or with a light in it, because the lens won’t be able to cope with the light, just like their eyes.
If you feel the need to cover shadow – and please bear in mind that our five year olds have taken in a great deal already – it is probably best to do it if they take a picture particularly affected by it, and then start with a demonstration of shadow puppets on a wall. Explain how the dark areas are cast by things blocking light reaching the wall and that the dark area in their picture was created the same way. Maybe the shadow in their picture was created by them standing between their light source and their subject? Ask them how they think they could avoid having a shadow in their picture next time. Most of all, be aware that you might need to keep an eye on where and how they stand to take photographs, and that encouraging them to move could be necessary.
So, by keeping it simple and letting them discover as much for themselves as possible it mightn’t be long before you’ve photographs taken by your children sitting along side photographs of your children.
This article was written by Daniela Bowker.
All the pictures used in this article are under creative commons licence and were found on Flickr. The first photo is ‘budding photographer‘ by bookgrl, the photo of the girl with the tripod is ‘Paige 9880‘ by casch52, the photo frame in sunset is ‘framed sunset‘ by kfergos, the child lifting a tiny adult is ‘a matter of perspective‘ by cayusa, and finally, the bike with shadows is ‘autumn cycle‘ by moriza.
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Insights, suggestions and comments
Good stuff — I wish I had started in photography a lot sooner than I did. I didn’t really start up until my first child was born. Now, my kids (2 and 4 years old) are already little digital photographers and they have a blast with it. My oldest is probably about ready for some of the things you mention in the article.
My son, 3, is very aware of cameras. While I don’t consider myself very good at all, and most of my stuff seems more like family snapshots, my son loves to take pictures, from using one of my older SLR cameras, to those one time use cameras, to even my cell phone camera. He’s getting pretty good at getting things in the shot, and I’m trying to keep him interested. I’m going to start introducing him to some of these ideas, good stuff.
I wish I had started earlier as well. I don’t really consider my start until I learned how to use an SLR when I was 15. It was part of a school course on visual communications.
Before that, I just had a compact from the time I was 9 or 10. I rarely used it, because I always got frustrated with how it wouldn’t do what I wanted. The lack of control on a compact drove me up the wall, even as a nine year old.
ACK … All these child prodigies. I didn’t pick up a camera until two and a half years ago when I was 47. Now I can’t get the silly thing out of my hands :-)
Thanks for that – maybe I will stop hogging the camera in our house and hand it over to the smaller people.
I didn’t own a still camera until last year… I got into video about 5-6 years ago… I wish I had taken high school classes, but I didn’t really grow up in a family that took a lot of pictures… I am kind of the pioneer in that category! My mom has a 2MP digital still camera, and is content with it… And that is the only camera my family has… Now I am running around with a D200, and enjoying every moment of it! I will teach my children the importance of photography… but… i am single, so that might be a while! :)
I remember the very first picture I took. I was 7, on the beach with my parents and my father gave me a compact camera. It wasnt’ 35mm, I can’t remember. But anyway, I stayed with the camera the whole morning and then an old bright yellow VW Beatle passed right in front of me and I took the picture. it came out really good. I still have it.
My boy is 3 in a few weeks, I soooooooo want to get him a camera for his birthday……
Good stuff! I just learned two years ago (age 22) and I wish I had you as my teacher haha *sigh* I had to learn everything the hard way and boy was it expensive.
I started taking pictures at about 3 / 4 years old with my first compact.
My dad has been doing part time freelance photographic jobs all my life and trying to make it pro but failing mainly in the early years do to the finacial risks involved and having to support a kid (me) on his own.
What is more interesting is I was printing my own black & whites at the age of 8, had an SLR a couple of years before that. If I remember rightly I had a tripod for my 5th birthday, because family always tell the story of 5 year old Ed with his tripod stopping traffic to take a photo in Ireland. Still use that tripod today at the age of 20.
My dad taught me all about photography and light and I taught him how to use a computer and Photoshop etc.
Note to PARENTS…
Show, educate and teach but don’t force them into it, take pictures with them and get them cameras but dont force them to use their cameras all the time, this will only put your children off photography. My dad never pushed me into photography, when I was 13 – 17 I never touched a camera and my dad never asked why I had gone off it, but since digital I love it again and will make a future career out of it. Think about it.
DO IT!!! DO IT!!! Kids love taking pictures at that age. My 2 year old takes a ton of pictures. 3 is definitely not too early!
I teach digital photo classes in the local libraries around here. In one class I might have students that range in age from 8 to 80. We have a lot of fun with it and don’t take ourselves too seriously. Humor goes a long way, especially with the kids. They are fearless with the computer and are usually very creative in their work. Digital cameras are everywhere now and since there is zero cost for the images, along with the instant feedback of the rear screen, they learn the basics of composition and exposure very quickly.
Earle Rich
Mont Vernon, NH
One of the things I did when my neice and nephew visited (both under 12) was to buy them each a disposable camera and let them take pics of the sites (Washington DC).
At the end of the trip I took the cameras to a 1-hour photo store and had the kids make a mini trip photo album.
Beside their parents loving the pics when they got home, one of the kids was hooked on taking pics.
I have been doing photography since I was about 11-12. I wish I learned it earlier. I am now building a photography business at the age of 43. On the other hand my grand daughter is 2. I was at her house doing photography and she had her Moms camera taking pictures too. I told her mother we need to get her a camera. Now they make digital cameras for kids. I hope that my business takes off so that when my grand-daughter get old enough she can step in my place. She is a co-owner. Friends laughs. I have a picture of her taking a picture of me. It is my greatest joy.
About 5 years ago I started Geocaching (see geocaching.com for details). I was almost 50. This sport involves using a GPS to locate a hidden box. One of the things Geocaching trained me to do – and can teach a 5 year old-is how to SEE what you’re looking at.
After my Geocaching stint I took up photography…I love digital photography… click, click, click… you get the idea. I took my more experienced geocaching eyes with me to photography. It has helped tremendously. I don’t see why the same kind of SEEING training can’t be used in teaching kid’s photography. After all, even the best technique isn’t worth a great deal if the subject isn’t interesting.
I am thinking about offering a photography course for children at my photography school. This article is really helpful.
Good article – interesting stuff. My 5 year old has been using our little Kodak easyshare for at least a year and he gets some good results with it too!
I agree – get them young before their common sense comes into play! We have found that the most disruptive and awkward children take the best photos!
Photography is such a good thing for kids. Thanks to digital. No more buying film. When I was younger, I had a camera, but getting film was a different story. Getting it developed was a different adventure.
started when I was six, still remember my first polaroid at xmas, has been one of my greatest loves ever since, hobby and a little money made, now my five-year old is getting into it. I think you covered everything well here, but one thing is missing besides all the technical, whether it be focal points, framing, or light and shadow, and that is the passion for observing, capturing beauty and curiosity…the wonder of looking – which of course all children have!!!! But so few adults continue to encourage….wow, look at the colours int hat pile of garbage, or the twinkle of light in the cat’s eye, or the shadopws behind the curtain! In encouraging photos skills in children, I’ve felt this to be the most useful, once they’ve gotten over the wanting to manipulate an adult object stage…my kid started at three.
thanks
I started taking pictures around 7-8. My mom gave me an old Fuji 110 camera that had belonged to her so I started taking pictures of everything I saw. My dolls, my schooltrips, etc. I’d always been very image-oriented and would see things as if they were pictures so it was my most cherished gift for a long, long time.
Today I have a DSLR but the impetus is the same :)
My husband and I took our three oldest grandsons to Washington D.C. this summer. Ages ranged from 8-16. Before the trip I bought them each a point and shoot digital camera.
The first day in Washington we joined a photographer who did a walking tour of Washington sights and a short photography class. He just taught the basics.
Though I’m a photographer myself, I knew it would be more fun to learn the basics from someone who knew the city and all the cool photo sites.
We walked all over Washington D.C. that first day and the boys spent the day looking for the perfect photos. The light, the framing, etc.
Our trip lasted 7 days and the boys took their cameras everywhere. They were constantly looking for the perfect shot. They spent a lot more time looking at monuments, buildings, etc because they wanted to photograph them . . . then they would have if the cameras weren’t a part of the trip.
It was an excellent experiment. The trip was once in a life time and so were all their photos. After the trip, I gathered everyone memory cards and downloaded the pictures.
I took the best photos of each grandson, and turned the pictures into a book for each of them. What fun we had . . . and I know they will always remember the Washington D.C. trip with Grandma & Grandpa.
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