9 Year Old Daughter Interested In Photography

[Andreas]

Hi,

My daughter says she would like a camera and is interested in taking pictures.

I shot using an f3 and was wondering what I should start Megan with.

How do I get her started and should I use film or digital?

I have a film scanner if this matters.


thx

[opus]

Let's see. When my son was about that age, he started getting interested too, so I'm trying to remember what I did with him.

I think I bought him a couple disposable cameras to use for trips to the park. We developed them and they weren't very good, but I think he was able to see the results compared to what he thought he was getting.

Then, one day when we went to a special model train display at the botanical gardens, I let him use a small film camera of mine. I was very impressed with the amount of time he was taking composing the pictures, and some of the angles he was using. So, after we got those pictures developed, and they were pretty good (not great, but good), we decided to buy him a 4 megapixel digital camera.

Beyond the expense of the camera and the flash card (and a replacement battery), we haven't had any more expense from the camera. Our son can download all his pictures to his computer and email them to his friends, or make them into screen savers. He can also print them on our photo printer, although he doesn't do that very often. He has been taking very good pictures for about a year (he's 13 now), and in fact has made a little business deal with the local ski hill, to create a website around the pictures he's taken at the hill, in return for discounted admission.

Here's his site, still under construction:

http://www.slingerboarders.com/SlingerBoarders.htm

[Peter_AUS]

Hey Kelly,

Just looked at the site, there are some things he should fix there straight away.

There are two images not displaying, top right and bottom left.

When I clicked the home page it took me to an error display page, when I select jus the http://www.slingerboarders.com it takes me to the parent directory.

Generally when designing webpages, there should be a default page, which is the index.htm, or index.html, or default.htm, or default.html in the root directory of the website.

Think of index.html as the filing cabinet, it should be the first page seen when loading up the site. At present it is http://www.slingerboarders.com/SlingerBoarders.htm, change the slingerboarders.htm to index.htm and then things should be fine. It is also a good idea to make sure everything regarding filenames is in lower case as well.

[Lionheart]

Hi,

My daughter says she would like a camera and is interested in taking pictures.

I shot using an f3 and was wondering what I should start Megan with.

How do I get her started and should I use film or digital?

I have a film scanner if this matters.


thx

I gave my 8 yr. old son a Canon A60 for his birthday last May. He can take all the pics he wants, download them to the computer, and print his keepers on the inkjet printer, which is relatively inexpensive compared to the costs of developing and printing long term. The A60 was about 130 dollars, and is a 3 Mp camera, uses 4 AA batteries (we have a huge stock of 2000 mah AA batteries) and goes quite a ways on a set of batteries.

[opus]

Peter, the site isn't public yet, he's still working on it. I just posted it here to show Andreas how my son's photography is leading in some very neat directions.

[walterick]

That's an awesome story.

Rick

[shadz]

I have an 11 y/o that is getting a Canon A75 for her birthday. (Whoever wanted kids this close to xmas?!?) Takes good shots, can grow with her for a while, not REAL expensive. Matter of fact; I'm gettin one for ME too. :P

[another view]

I was going to suggest film - and maybe the first few times out a disposable is a good idea. If it gets lost or broken, not a problem and if she's still interested after trying it a couple of times then another camera might be something to consider.

But the more I think about it, maybe digital is a better answer. First off, it's "cool". I don't have kids but when I was 9, I probably wouldn't want something washed up like film (BTW, I do shoot both film & digital, nothing quite like Tri-X in digital, etc...), and then there's the instant gratification factor...

You also don't need to spend a lot of money to get a capable-enough camera, I bought an A60 for my wife (there are parallels here which I won't explain any further... ;) ) and agree it's a good choice. Probably discontinued now, but something along those lines would be good.

Great story, Kelly!

[tijean]

I shoot in both film and digital and would definately suggest a little digital. I have learned as much from my digicam in the 2 years I had had it as I learned from all that time in the darkroom (learned very different, equally as important things). I am a fan of film, but for now learning is the key and nothing beats digital for instant feedback. Also, I cannot say I ever learned much from having someone else develop my photos. There's so many variables when you are just starting to learn and so much lead time that once you get those photos back, you may learn a little bit, but it's really not a fraction of being able to look at the image straight away.

Kelly, that is really incredible. Kids that age can just amaze you. I remember when I was 13, I could open up any piece of software and feel at home. I learned HTML by viewing the source of other pages because I got bored (source was a lot simplier in 1995!). No tutorials, editors, I didn't know those even existed. Now, I've been trying to learn Flash, on and off, for a year!

[Hindey]

I was just thinking the exact same thing, at least with regards to learning HTML and web design. I can't imagine how amazing it must be to watch a tiny baby develop into something as creative as your son seems to be. I've never seen it from a parent's point of view before. I think you can chalk that up as about the third time ever that I've actually /wanted/ kids. Not now mind, a few years...

Chris

[mtbbrian]

I'd suggest a Holga.
They are cheap and a roll of 120 film is about the same price as 35mm film.
Good Luck and way to be dad!
Brian

[CaSousa]

I know I was shooting by 14 with my mom's old Canon Ftb. But age 9? Wow!

I'd suggest a digital p&s also, as you won't be hindered by your daughter's film costs and she will have ample learning opportunities. I know I still enjoy seeing photos I took 5 or 10 years ago on film... but for today's kids, a digital maybe a better way to start.

[Cowgirl]

I have an eight year old daughter. She also likes photography. In fact, she just won First Place at a PTA visual arts contest (Photography Class), and her photo is moving on to the District Contest.

I'm just a little jealous!!??

She borrows my 10D (Yikes!!) only when I am with her though. If I was buying her a camera, I would go with a little Canon Digital P&S. It would be much cheaper in the long run than film.


I've been saving my Elan IIE (my first SLR) to give to her, because it hardly ever gets used. But I'm going to sell it instead and go with digital.

Anyone want to buy a Canon Elan IIE? ;)

Kathy

[tijean]

Brian, a Holga sounds like it would just confuse the poor child!

But hey, it would be awfully funny to post them and hear how artistically brilliant they were and how the artist is a master.

[Hindey]

I had similar thoughts when I looked up what a Holga was the other day... Call me cynical, but I just didn't get it.

[opus]

The reason I think digital is the way to go is, I still remember the feeling in my stomach when I looked at the film (disposable cameras) on the counter and knew that I had to take it in and pay for it. It felt like throwing money out the window.

With digital, it's kinda fun shopping for the camera, and then your kid is in control after that.