Amazed

My 9 year picked Photography as one of her elective subjects this year. This (of course) pleased me. I may not be an expert, but I know enough about it to have taught several workshops. I figured it would be nice to teach a subject that required no textbook purchases.

Considering her age, I figured it would not make sense to begin as I typically would with all of the technical camera information. Handing her my DSLR and showing her briefly how to work it, I gave her a basic exercise in seeing light. I gave her a shell, and a lamp, and put her in a dark room. The idea is to play with angles of both the subject and the light, seeing the sometimes subtle, and sometimes extreme, differences. She also had an opportunity to place the shell in front of window light and play with that too. After that, I loaded her photos into Lightroom and giving her a very quick overview of some of the Develop Tools, told her to select five and play with them until she was happy.

Honestly, I am astounded at how quickly she began thinking outside of the box. Without the inhibitions that we adults so often carry, to her, there were no limits. No right or wrong. Just simply what she liked. And I am sincerely amazed at the results she presented. The following images are all Copyright of J. D. Green.

Take the time to teach your child, give them a little freedom, and they'll open your eyes to a whole new world.