Last week P picked up our Canon 40 D while l wasn’t looking and started taking pictures of our house. She worked it as if it was a heavy extension of her hand. D came home a little later and I had to show him what she had done so I asked her to take some pictures of us. The above …..and a couple hundred more is what she cranked out. There was a wide range of great and some more “abstract” but we were both impressed and excited by what we saw. Can you tell? Look at our faces! Sheer bliss!
P would take a couple shots, look at the screen and say “great picture” and then ask us to move in one direction or the other, or have us place our hands in different positions, etc. She was in her element. I think it was her confidence and ease of the whole process that really impressed us.
D and I both had to work hard and save for our camera equipment. Our families didn’t or couldn’t foster our passions. Of course our minds race with hope and wonder of what could happen when talent, passion, support and knowledge of how the industry works all fall together. Of course, then comes the curse of supporting an artist in the making!
Today I’m researching children’s cameras. Even before last week I knew it would be the perfect gift for P’s 3rd birthday. She’s shown an interest and often takes my iPhone to shoot pictures. It seems it basically comes down to the Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera or the Vtech Preschool Kidizoom Plus. Both look like they can handle a beating. The Vtech has games on it….which in my book is reason not to buy it.
Why on earth does every kid thing have to have games on it? Parents wonder why their kids have ADD. It’s because kids have to be entertained 24-7. Externally entertained not INTERNALLY entertained. Once upon a time kids found ways to entertain themselves with buttons, a spool of thread, a wrapper of gum. They used their IMAGINATIONS! Now it’s always with a game.
Anyway, I digress. I’m excited to see if P’s photography progresses if she has her own camera. Or will she get bored of it all if she can shoot when she wants. We’ll see.