Renowned blogger, editor, and founder of Digital Photography School Darren Rowse, shares how he would have liked to have been taught photography as a child as he took his first steps in the art.

teach-your-child-how-to-take-better-photos

Note. Before you start, remember the most important rule: do not kill the game element in learning. Trying and having fun is the key to successful photography training for your child.

1. Start experimenting

Children very often shoot the same things and get many almost identical shots. This is because the child always approaches his objects in the same way and, obviously, the result is very similar photographs. Teach your child how to add variety to the composition:

Shoot from different angles - top, bottom, etc.
Move closer or move away for a wider angle
Move around the subject to photograph from different angles
Experiment with different settings (teach different exposure modes).

2. Use the rule of thirds

The rule of thirds in photography world is a simple and effective principle. While it is common knowledge that breaking this rule can also be powerful, Darren believes that it is right to act flawlessly when children start photographing other people. Even if the child does not immediately understand how to correctly position the subject at the intersection points of thirds, it is enough to teach him how to place the subject just off-center.

3. View pictures of children with them

The nicest thing you can definitely do to help your kids radically improve their photography skills is review the pictures together. Pause to note that they were done well, show where and how it was necessary to do better. Pay special attention (aloud!) To the pictures that the child is good at. This provides excellent positive reinforcement and inspiration to continue your hobby.

4. Use focus lock

One important technique that children learn well is using a focus lock. While most cameras have automatic focusing on objects, there are times when you get shots that are out of focus because the digital camera cannot determine what the main subject is (especially if the objects are not centered using the rule of thirds ). Teach your child to press the shutter button halfway to focus and then take a picture while holding it. Thus, a skill is formed that he will use forever!

5. Use different modes for different situations

The day Darren discovered that his family film camera had a small dial for different shooting modes, his photography improved dramatically. Today, most digital cameras have the ability to switch the camera to modes such as portrait, sports, macro, etc.

Tell your child about shooting modes and when to switch to them. This brings you one step closer to learning manual exposure modes (see next paragraph). Realizing that different situations require different settings is an important lesson for children as it helps them better understand not only their subject but also things like the effects of light, focal length, and subject movement.

6. Examine exposure settings

Once your child has mastered the techniques described above, it's time to teach him some of the basics of exposure adjustment (although this is more likely for older children).

Of course, learning about the three elements of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed is a good starting point to get started. Inform him about how changing these settings can affect your photo. The best way to learn this is to introduce them to priority aperture and shutter modes.

7. Always pay attention to the background

A very simple concept that can enhance your shots is to check the background for any clutter or distractions. Teach your child to quickly scan the background (and foreground) of an image and change it - otherwise, photographs will come out with all kinds of objects growing out of the heads of those the child will shoot.

8. Keep the camera level

Another obvious problem with many images at the start of the creative journey is that they rarely have a flat horizon. Yes, after watching the child's first album, real dizziness can begin within the first few minutes! While this jaggedness can be quite playful or give pictures a more "revealing" look, it is helpful to teach children to check this moment before pressing the shutter button.

9.How to hold the camera

It seems quite obvious to us how to properly hold a digital camera. However, not all children understand this intuitively, especially the younger generation of children who are not yet familiar with other equipment. A quick lesson on how to hold the camera safely and as steadily as possible will help your child get clear images in the future.

10. Need to come closer

In almost all of Darren's first frames, the subject was somewhere in the distance. This is partly due to the fact that the camera he was using then did not have a zoom lens, but more so because Darren did not understand how zooming in could help capture the details of the subject.

Teach your kids the correct use of digital zoom, but remember to teach them that you can also just get closer to your subject, and it can produce great results just as well.

11. Take a lot of pictures

While Darren's father's advice to take a few pictures as possible saved the family a lot of money in its time, with the advent of digital photography, it has ceased to be particularly relevant. A large number of frames is no longer so expensive, although there are still some costs for storing information now in digital form.

Capturing lots of images is a great way to learn different photography techniques, get your hands on it, and develop your eye. While you will probably urge your kids not to take 100 shots of the same thing - encourage the child's desire to experiment with a lot of different photos over time, and over time you will see that the photos will get better and better.

12. Striking the right balance

Darren recalls how he returned from his first school trip abroad as a teenager and showed his parents the photographs he had taken. The first thing that caught my eye was that the boy practically did not take photographs with people.

All of Darren's photographs initially consisted exclusively of images of buildings. While some of the architectural photographs were interesting, he missed one of the most important aspects of the trip - those he traveled with.

Some children are too focused on photographing the views, while others, on the contrary, are photographing only people. If you see that your child has decided to join one kind of photography, you should explain that photography is multifaceted and show your child its other visual possibilities.

13. Find a point of interest

Interesting photographs contain interesting things - they need a visual point of interest (focus). Teach your child to identify what such a point is before pressing the shutter button. After the child understands how to look for a point of interest, move on - tell me how to visually highlight it (changing your position, using your zoom, etc.).

The main thing to remember is that the more fun the tasks that you set for the child, the more interesting it will be for him to take photographs. And in the near future, you will get yourself a companion and like-minded person for leisure and general family activities.

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