There’s something about taking a photo, and it’s like a small piece of reality and an artifact of a moment in time. Since the camera was invented and made available to anyone, adults and children alike love to get behind and in front of the camera and start clicking. However, in order to make good photo memorabilia, some practice is needed. Teaching your kid how to take good pictures does not need any fancy equipment or too much time. All you need is a lot of patience and a nice working camera. In this article, we are going to give you some tips on how to teach your kids to take better photos.
- Start with a cheap camera – As we mentioned, you do not need to have expensive equipment to teach your kids how to take good photos and make them excited to learn. Entry-level and inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras are the perfect ones to use when you’re starting your photography lessons because they are unintimidating, lightweight, and replaceable. They also often come in cute designs and custom colors. Remember, do not mind the specifications. You can ignore LCD size, ISO speed, pixel count, as well as other features.
- Use auto mode – Kids learn best when they are taught in the simplest ways. That is why they should start out using their camera’s auto mode because it is the best mode for beginners of any age. Auto mode lets the camera handle the essential exposure settings, and it helps get the kids used to the basic skills of zooming in and out, holding the camera, composing a scene, and taking pictures.
- Practice by taking photos of pets, people, flowers, and toys – When you’re teaching your kid how to take a good photo, we suggest that you encourage them to take pictures of the things that interest them. Eventually, you will notice that they want to pursue taking pictures of more abstract textures, subjects, shapes, and geometries. When they are taking a photograph of people and pets, children will slowly learn to develop their portrait skills which include framing the scene and taking a nice and sharp picture.
- Teach your kids how to compose in thirds – Teaching the rule of thirds from the beginning of your lesson can be a good step. This is because it is an essential principle of good photography. The rule of thirds divides a photo vertically or horizontally into three sections. This photography principle is important for capturing good photos of scenes and people, but it is not commonly used when taking a photo of flowers and other unmoving subjects.
- Encourage your kid to take close-up shots – Most kids love to get really close to their photographing subject. They usually come up with good photos this way. Remind your kids that if their photos are always blurry, then they might be too close to the subject. Teach them to stand back a little bit and zoom in by using the lens of the camera.
- Teach them to take a photo from unique perspectives – Most of us want all our photos to be nice and level. That is why we like horizontal lines to be horizontal and vertical lines to be vertical. But, kids tend to express themselves more freely. That is why you will see them tilting their cameras in every way possible, which often results in some creative-looking pictures. Remember not to take this creative instinct from them. Teach them to use the lines in the scene as cues if they have to and let them take a photo based on how to angle they want.
- Teach them the basics about lightings – When you’re teaching your kid how to take a good photo, teach them to pay attention to where the main light source is placed. When you see them pointing their camera into the light, remind them to reposition. This is because looking into the main light source can make the camera think that the ambient light is brighter than it is. This often results in people, as well as other subjects look darker in the photo.