Support your child’s passion for photography
The days of simple art classes at school are long gone, especially considering society has been exposed to affordable new technologies like instant photos through mobile, tablet and digital cameras which are easy to use and affordable. In return, it has opened the minds of our new generation of kids to grow and explore and develop their creative talents. Not only does this encourage a child to develop a healthy and often sociable hobby with friends, away from the clutches of sitting behind the computer on social media channels all day, but it teaches them technical and social communication skills that involve both confidence and motivation to explore their curiosities. Children have minds that are very different to adults, they are able to absorb faster, as well as illustrate an “untainted talent” of creative innocence which could lead to being a part of their future growth and perhaps a career path.
As a middle-aged photographer in today’s photographic world, all I wish as a child, was have the support and opportunity to explore my creative side in a more directional way. Instead, I was led towards a corporate and professional lifestyle that my parents had mapped out for me to pursue. Let’s just say in those days, being a photographer was not really recognized as a good career choice. Fortunately for the young people of today, things have changed drastically. Children are being educated in many different ways as well as exposed to forms of new education to discover their “talents and interests’ at a very early age.
Having been in this industry of many years, from both an educator, with a photography school, through to providing photography services professionally both locally and internationally, I have made a decision to open our school to the “children of today” where I will be offering workshops that are tailored to their interests and needs.
Some of the areas that we will be covering are:
Basic camera features and the understanding of all the “buttons, dials and knobs”, when shooting in manual mode as well as how to look after and care for your camera equipment.
All camera gear will be provided, as each child has a different interest and way of understanding and learning that I will assess. In turn, I will advise parents appropriately on what they will require in terms of camera gear.
Composition and creativity is very important from the start, so in a fun way, they will be taught and guided on all the rules and I will again focus on their strengths in this regard.
With much practical application, we then assess each image according to what inspires them and how they have gauged with the rules as well as breaking the rules at the same time to be creative.
As we all know, and have heard that cliched saying of, “photos say a thousand words” really indicates intention to photographers telling a story regarding their subject. This is a great motivator which we will be exploring. In the long term it will assist and direct these children to discover what it is that makes them tick with photography and help them discover themselves as photographers, either for hobby or future growth.
To conclude, don’t hold your child back from discovering themselves creatively, they will not be happy people. Let them shine as individuals.