Get Them Started Early
Vishal Soniji
Camera Film Photo's Founder
I have a 5 year old daughter and last year I gifted her a Pink Konica EU-Mini. My daughter fell in love with the camera immediately as the camera was pink in colour.
She is clearly aware that the camera is a film camera not a digital camera because she growing up seeing me make pictures with film cameras so she was already aware that a roll of film needs to go into it before any images can be captured.
The only thing I taught her about the operation was how to open the film compartment, how to put a roll inside, turning the camera on and turning off and lastly where the shutter button is. That was already enough information for a five year to digest and she got on with it.
She has been taking this camera with her every time we have had an outing or traveled abroad on holidays. No training or any sort was given as I thought she should just have some fun and for us to see what kind of images she created.
Children tend to photograph what they like most, in my daughter's case, she is fond of cats and made series of images of just cats. The photographs aren't perfect but for them they do not have any boundaries so they just photograph what they feel like and I simply left her be and encouraged.
Over Chinese New Year, we holidayed in Portugal and in Spain. Just returned back to the work this week, I had the films processed by our in house lab and was happy to see that my daughter had improved with her photography and thought I would like to share with you all.
She shot a roll of Fujifilm Super X-tra 400 and finished a roll of Kodak Trix that she had already had in her camera. The first set in black and white and the second set in colour..
I am very pleased that my daughter is taking up photography on her own accord and enjoys it. Many of us do photography because we want to capture something spectacular. But for a young child, I believe they enjoy the entire process, from putting a roll to see what they get at the end. And actually a more experinced photography have that same thinking process.
My daughter isn't even eager to see what she has captured like the many of us. They have a complete care free attitude. Letting them be this way helps them create their own style and find their own way.
It will be still be many year until she understands what she likes to photograph but until then, I would just let her be and photograph away.
It's never too early or too late to start photography, most importantly is to encourage them with whatever they would like to try and explore.
May be a year from now, I will have an updated post about how she has progressed! Until then, give your child a camera and let them go make some photos. You can always start with a disposable camera or give them something inexpensive like the Konica EU-Mini.