Tips for Getting Your Child into Photography

Photo by Alexander Dummer

Sharing the thing you love with your children is a great part of parenthood. It can be challenging to share your passion with children as they often lack the attention span and the understanding. Photography is a great skill for all ages however and can be taught in stages.

Under 7- These children are often too young to use a camera but you can give them a phone to teach them the process of taking a picture and allow them to get creative in a very controlled setting. If you want to teach them on a camera, a point and shoot is the best to use with children so young.

Photo by Tanaphong Toochinda

8-12-  This is the age to start exploring with a DSLR. You can begin to teach them manual mode basics but this age is more about getting comfortable with a professional camera and establishing the rules of composition. Kids this age will begin to dabble in different depths of field and will also understand what a perfectly shot image looks like.

13-17- By this time, your teen should have worked with manual mode, at least the basics. This will be the point where they will become more serious and will know enough about photography to begin to treat it as an art form more so than an archival tool. Plenty of experimenting will happen in this stage so give lots of feedback and continue to encourage them to experiment.

Photo by Cameron Kirby

Tips to Spark Your Child’s Love for Photography:

-Get them thinking creatively. Before you start teaching them the technical concepts, get them thinking about the creative elements of a photo. Teach them about composition and the rule of thirds. Get them to take photos and then explain why it’s a good photo or why certain elements of it work. This will keep them interested because they are receiving praise.

Photo by imgix

-Give them a project. Help them create a photo series and explain why certain photos go together and others don’t. This project will help focus them and help them to develop a photography process.

Photo by Charisse Kenion

-Look through old photos. Looking through old photos can show them the kinds of things they should aspire to capture. Point out good facial expressions, great framing, and share family memories all at the same time.

Photo by Sai Del Silva

-Take your time. Don’t be in a rush to teach them every technical in and out of photography. Let them gain interest organically. Allow them to experiment and they will eventually come to you with questions. Allow them to appreciate the beauty and art of photography before you consider their technical abilities.