Grace, my oldest grandchild, often comes into my library when I’m importing the day’s photographs in Lightroom and makes comments on the ones she likes best.  We always talk about why she likes the photo, and after 10 minutes or so, she goes off to play.  She has seen Daddy and Grandpa taking pictures her whole life, so the camera is nothing strange, but she has never asked to try it.   

A couple of weeks ago, she asked if she could borrow my Nikon point and shoot.  The P6000 is a little thicker than most point and shoots, but it fits easily in her little hands.  (And it shoots in RAW and has GPS!)  She went off with Grandma, and I stayed far away, so I didn’t overwhelm her with my enthusiasm and destroy her desire to take photos.  I set the camera to P mode – for pre-schooler in this case.     She shot about 150 pictures and had a blast.

You might think it’s crazy to let a five-year-old have a camera, but, really, what could happen?  She isn’t going to toss it to the ground or throw it in the sprinkler.  As long as she is pointing and shooting, there really is no way to hurt the camera.  Take a chance with your kids, and let them have fun.  It gives them a opportunity to expand their vision. Try not to “help” them decide what to shoot.  Let them make their own decisions and feel grown up.  If they ask a question, just answer the question and avoid going into long dissertations (especially hard for me).  Avoid making judgmental opinions on their art, or they’ll lose interest quickly.  If you play it right, they’ll have fun; learn a new skill; and you may gain a new photo-buddy.

When Grace showed me her pictures, I was very pleased with the outcome.  The photos were naturally properly focused, with an acceptable exposure – that’s what “P mode” is designed to do.  She did a great job with the subject framing, all on her own.  She explained what she liked about the pictures as we imported them into Lightroom and chose her favorites to put up on the internet.  These photographs have not been touched by Photoshop; two were cropped, with her approval, to remove stuff in the background.  I put her comments down because I wanted to know why she chose her topics.  I know what you’re saying: “All grandparents think their grandkids are great.”  I am aware of this tendency, and have, therefore, conducted a highly objective evaluation.  The results were irrefutable – my grandkids are, indeed, perfect.  I hope she continues, and, someday, we’ll go out together to play with our cameras.  But I won’t push; I won’t push; repeat after me, I will not push her.    Here are her shots and comments.  If you like them half as much as I do, then she did a good job.

Rebecca was making a funny face on the screen.

Rebecca's shirt has pretty flowers on it.

I like the diamond on your table.

The purple flowers by the fence are pretty.

That's my grandma, and I love her.

My brother, Drew, has a cookie face.

This is my Toothless. (I needed help here - isn't that a hammock? Turns out that she is pretending this is the dragon, Toothless, from the movie, How to Train Your Dragon).

I can give you a hundred reasons to check that kind of nose-in-the-air attitude at the door, but let me mention a couple that drove the point home for me.

First, most people don’t give a hoot about your need to create a portfolio of “serious” work.  Their idea of photography is something that captures the moment at hand.  They don’t fret over the extra legs that appear in the image.  They don’t seem to understand that the sun is directly overhead, creating hot spots and flat lighting.  They think you’re nuts for carrying more gear than will fit into a shirt pocket.  They can’t tell an aperture from a raw file.  (I know it’s appalling that these people exist, but you chose to live with them and may have participated in bringing some of them into this world.)  Don’t bother explaining these things to them, you will only bring on a migraine, and, frankly, they don’t care.  Keep the peace and give them their happy snap.

Oh, by the way, you can use the photos to practice and learn.  The best way to learn photography is to take photographs – lots of them.  Here is your opportunity to have free models.  Then, follow up the free model shoot practice with some post-processing practice to improve the images you took.

I was having a nice, dark German beer and bratwurst at a Cristkindlmarkt in Munich when I got the command to shoot.  I palmed the brat and beer into my left hand and flicked the power on with my right.  Steadying the camera on the brat brochen in my left hand, I spun and got the shot on the left.  Yeah, I know – the color balance is wrong; there are people in the background; and the flash was too hot and lit the foreground subject, leaving a black hole behind her.  But the family was happy at my quick reaction, and, when they saw the shot, they were happy with it.  I had done a little post-processing on it, mind you.  I changed the aspect with a crop; corrected the color balance; added some fill light; cloned over the reflective tape on the tennis shoes; and added a some Gaussian blur to the background.  The family never saw the original.  And the secret is safe here, since they won’t read this unless one of you tells them that pictures of NumberOneGrandkid are in today’s blog.

Does this practice pay off?  Believe it or not, it does.  Notice that NumberOneGrandkid is older in the top image.  The war story of the first photo is much more boring.  We were at the National Zoo, and NumberOneGrandkid was wore out.   DaughterOne tapped me on the shoulder and pointed.  I shot.  Later, at the house, I gave her an image file.  No post-processing was necessary because I took the image correctly in the camera.

Of course, for me, the main reason I shoot snapshots for the family is to capture these great moments; they grow up so fast.  You will cherish the memories and have pictures to show and – occasionally – embarrass them.  Plus, if everyone is happy, you can sneak in a real portrait when they’re not paying attention.  Have fun with your snapshots.