Kids Photo Resources .. Suggestions Please??

[bwcolor]

Both daughters and my wife received cameras for Christmas. The six year old and my wife are point and shoot only, but the eight year old has a real interest in photography. She wants to shoot film, but I told her that she must start with the basics. She is moving up from a Panasonic purely P&S to the Canon S-100, so she can control aperture, shutter, metering mode and EI. The camera is able to shoot in RAW, so the other side of the equation involves understanding post-processing. For now, we will concentrate on camera basics and shoot JPG.

I would appreciate suggestions as to good online resources for learning aperture, shutter speed, EI, metering, lighting, composition... etc. We had "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson, but my wife 'put it away'. So, I figure that my wife won't toss a bookmark on my daughter's computer.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

You're a better resource than any website or book. Teach her yourself....she'll learn it faster and will remember the time you spent together for the rest of her life. My dad taught me the basics or photography (with film, this was 30 yrs ago), and I did the same with my son when he was your daughter's age. He's 15 now.

 

[bwcolor]

Chris..

Your point is well taken and we (two years ago) read/discussed Peterson's book and shot together etc. Unfortunately, about the time we started this, I opened a second office and had little time. She wasn't old enough to read on her own. Time is freeing up a bit now, so would like to do as you suggest, but I have another objective. She hasn't the motivation to read, but she does have the motivation to read about photography. She has two hot buttons, soccer and photography, so I want to use these topics to get her to read.

I should say that books on the Nook are also perfectly fine resources. Unfortunately, many haven't any reader comments that might provide me with some information regarding the quality of content. My wife would not toss the Nook. Vampires reside on her Nook.

Gary

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Get her a used copy of the Photography book by London and Upton. It's not a hard read at all and goes from the very basics to advanced concepts.

Phil Forrest

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

WHy did your wife toss out a book, anyway? Is she trying to sabotage your efforts?

 

[bwcolor]

Not sure that she did toss it.. but end result same. Keeps house clean.. I hoard. Picked up b&w film processing in 2009. I went to the garage and unpacked my box of darkroom equipment packed in 1971. I'm pretty sure that the book is "put away" somewhere. Wife is very tollerent when it comes to my photography.

 

[Phil_F_NM]

You could also go the experimental route and get her a Brownie. There is no reason that 100 year old technology won't work today. It would eliminate the complication of thinking about all the math and stuff that gets in the way of seeing a photo come together. After that, maybe an oatmeal cylinder, some tape and a sheet of 4x5.
I'm just thinking back to the projects that got my brain working on how to think creatively. Even turn a room into a camera:
http://walbertyoung.com/2010/04/the-william-rossky-lounge/

Phil Forrest

 

[bwcolor]

The S100 is a modern Brownie, but with a more immediate feedback.