7 More Digital Photography Lessons to Teach Your Child

Enjoying photography can mean sharing the joy and experience with loved ones, and passing on the passion to your child. In a previous article, we wrote several photography lessons for your child. Here are 7 more:

1. Find a point of interest - teach your child to focus on the most important element in the image by knowing how to identify the point of interest. Once your child understands this, he will know how to position himself and angle his photographs as well as use other photography techniques to place emphasis on a subject.

2. Teach your child the basic composition techniques - explain the techniques in simple terms and avoid any jargon that may just add to the confusion. It’s not easy to teach a child that by placing a subject 1/3 or 2/3 of the frame for composition makes the photograph more visually appealing, but teaching him to place a subject slightly off center can be a start.

3. Take interest in your children’s images – one of the most important parts in teaching your child how to photograph is actually sitting with them and reviewing the images he’s taken. By going through the shots, you can praise the shots that have been taken well as well as give suggestions on shots that can be improved. Give extra attention and pay generous compliments to the images that have been taken well because these will feed enthusiasm and inspiration to develop their skills more.

4. Teach your child the relevance of a photograph – impart to your child that a camera can capture memories, not just record images. Ask him to remember to include himself in some of the photographs by asking a friend to take a picture of him.

5. Practice how to use focal lock - teach your child to use focal lock by pressing the shutter halfway down to focus and to frame a shot while still holding the shutter down. This is a technique that he can use forever. Even if most, if not all, of the digital cameras out in the market are equipped with auto focus, it still cannot determine the main point of focus or the actual subject.

6. Different modes for different situations - teach your child to use the different modes of a camera such as ‘sports’, ‘macro’, ‘landscape’, etc. Explain the meaning of each mode and if possible, demonstrate the differences. It is also important that your child knows when the appropriate time is to use each mode and how to switch to manual mode. This makes children more aware of their subject as well as learning how lighting, focal distance and movement can affect a shot.

7. Exposure settings - when you child has a full understanding of the basic techniques, you can move on to explaining the importance of exposure. This may be a lesson for older kids with advanced compact cameras, but depending on how you explain the three exposure settings, the concept of ISO, aperture and shutter speed is a start. Explain the functions of each setting and what it can do to an image. Showing them how to use aperture and shutter priority modes will help them on their way to fully understanding these functions.

Depending on your child’s age and experience with a camera, you can pinpoint how to proceed with their photography lessons. A simple point and shoot will be sufficient in getting your child to learn and explore the world of photography and capture amazing photos at the same time. At best, be patient and give quality time when getting them started. Most of all, make it a fun and exciting experience for the both of you.