My DD got a digital camera for Christmas. Nothing fancy but it is an HP and will do 5mpx.
I allowed her to use our camera during the family Christmas gatherings and I encouraged her to take her camera to the New Years party. At the New Year's party, I specifically asked her to take my picture with her camera (since I'm the one typically taking my picture, I don't get in the pictures unless I force it upon someone else).
I got around to downloading the pictures off both cameras this weekend and the pictures my daughter took are very obvious. They are not poor quality pictures, but with the exception of the one she took of me, the rest are worthless IMHO. She took several pictures of the party host's dogs. Lots of pictures of one nephew, mostly from behind. The same thing happened when she took a camera to camp. In 5 days, not one picture of her friends, her tent, sitting around the campfire, games she played. The entire roll consisted of zoo animals from the field trip they took.
I don't want to discourage her and I know they are subjects that interest her, but I'd like to guide her in choosing her subjects better. Any suggestions on how I can approach the discussion?
Your post just cracks me up, because it's exactly what my kids do. My folks buy the kids a disposable camera when we go on trips. After I spend the money to get them developed I always feel like I've wasted my money. One trip to Disneyland my son took 26 pictures of birds and mice in the under belly of Disneyland. I didn't know there were so many critters around stealing the food that dropped on the ground. I just give the kids their photos and let them enjoy.
Same with camp... usually all the film is gone before she even gets to camp. I'll get pictures of suitcases, sleeping bags, and maybe half of a face of a friend darting out of the photograph.
I think they just remember events differently than we do. I wonder if we give them a list of what we think is important and then let them take whatever they want would work better.
Have you talked to her about it at all? I'd say first find out how she feels about her pictures, ask her a lot of questions. After all, questions aren't judgments. "Do you like the pictures you took? Are there things you wish you'd taken pictures of? When you take pictures of people, do you think it's better to plan the shot, (ask them to look at you, smile, etc.) or do you think you get better pictures when they're candid (surprise) shots?"
I am teaching Sarah how to use the camera since she is in front of it so much but we have to remember that it is through their eyes that we see the world. So seeing under the couch and people's feet are the norm. LOL
Since I work with a lot of disabled adults (I.Q. less than 59) I have to refocus my thought patterns so they can understand me not the other way around.
She took your picture but you are thinking like a grown up. She turned took your picture and went back to taking "interesting" pictures. It might also help to teach her how to scrap her pictures and you continue to scrap yours.
It will take time but she will begin to take pictures that you can understand. Trust me, I've been behind the camera since I was 8 and I've evolved.
Post them in your account and we'll help in scrapping them. LOL
Totally normal for a 12 year old. My one niece is 17 and still does the same thing and then when we scrap she gets mad that she doesn't have any good pictures. Somehow she forgets that the next time she has a camera in her hand.
There is no such thing as a 'worthless' photo. Everyone has a different eye, and they usually take photos of the things that strike them as being photo-worthy, which might not be the same things you'd like to see photographed. I would guess that she took lots of photos of the dogs because dogs and animals appeal to her - they're cute and photogenic and easy to persuade to cooperate. They mattered to her, so they're just as worthy of photography as your second-cousins aunts mother-in-law...
Some people don't see the point in taking photos of people. My mother will NOT take a photo of a person to save her life unless they specifically say 'take my photo doing this' and insist that she does it right then, but she'll take a thousand photos of the scenery... I don't understand people who only take photos of other people - (the sort who go on a trip around the world and come home with one roll of 'trophy shots') - but I'm sure they don't understand how my mother and I could go on a similar trip and come home with (literally) ten thousand photos and digital images to go through, less than a dozen of them of us.
The only way to learn to take technically better photos is to take them - LOTS of them. The more practice she gets, the better she'll get at composing them, managing the technical aspects of the camera etc. and the better results she'll turn out. At least a digital camera has the advantage that she can take a thousand photos and it doesn't cost you a cent except for the ones that turn out print-worthy! So encourage her to take lots of shots and to experiment with camera-angles etc.
Also maybe, when she's busy playing or doing activities, she's focused on what she's DOING and it doesn't occur to her to take out the camera to record them... except for the field trip, which was an obvious 'photography' activity - you go to a zoo to take photos of the animals, not to play with them!
One thing you could do to help broaden her photographic eye is to give her a checklist like a wedding photographer would use - sit down before she goes on the trip and make a little list of the things that she COULD photograph and that you'd like to see... point out that she's going on the trip and you're not, and you'd like to see everything that she sees and does so that you can share the experience with her through her photos. Don't make it an exhaustive list - photography is meant to be fun, not a chore - but a list of suggestions...
Or maybe show her a collection of unusual shots that you've taken yourself to give her some ideas...
I give my DS a camera when he goes on school field trips. I remember the first year he took it to the caves and all we got was stalagmites and stalactites - which is what you see in a cave. We scrapped the photos together. The next year he went to the same caves again. I reminded him about taking a picture of his classmates because we already had cave shots from last year. He took the same photos again , except for one from the front of the bus looking back to get everyone on the bus in. He said it was to save time - he expected me to crop out each friend and enlarge them like I do pictures I have on the computer. Smart kid!! But, he had a disposable camera, not a digital one..... Sandy
I think it's a kid thing. I took an out-of-town school trip when I was in the 6th grade. Of course, I took a camera with me. A 110 I think. Anyways, several years ago, we're talking after I was married and had at least DD, either Mom or my sis found that roll of 110 and developed it, not knowing what was on it. Needless to say, they gave it to me. LOL I have some weird pictures on that roll, but know what? It helped me remember that trip, and my classmates I went with. Which is pretty interesting to me, especially since we moved when school let out for the summer and I never saw most of those classmates again. But to look back at those pictures, even the blurry, "what the heck was I thinking" pictures, brought back those memories. You may never understand why she takes pictures the way she does, but more than likely, she'll look back on those pictures and remember that trip or holdiay, or party. Everyone here has given great advice, and my only advice to add would be to get her a book on photography, especially if she likes to read, and you can find one that brings it down to her level. Or....see about a photography class or something in your area. If you know of a good photographer, maybe they would be willing to give her some tips or let her shadow them for a day. I know with my DD, sometimes I can give her the same advice someone else does, but for some reason, it goes farther when it's someone else. Probably because they're not "mom". LOL
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