Teaching photography to the younger generations

dave lackey

dave lackey

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How many of us are actually teaching photography to the younger generations? In all of it's various forms, what information/gear are you passing along?

Being somewhat of an introvert anyway, it is only natural that I turn inward in hard times and evaluate what is truly important in life. So, I have been busy with so many things that have a new priority. One of those endearing priorities is teaching my grandchildren to enjoy photography. For the past year, I have taught my 3-year old grandson to use my D2H, D40 and the F3/T (his favorite).

Richard (Pitxu) was kind enough to give away a N60 and in a couple of weeks, I should be able to give that camera to my grandson (now 4 yrs old) for him to use when he visits us on weekends. My goal is to cultivate the artistic side of him as, without a doubt, he has the "genes". Also, I want him to enjoy the creative aspect of life.

With photography changing everyday, I think it is important for us (the old guard) to pass along our knowledge and appreciation of all things photography related.

So, has anyone else consciously begun to mentor the younger folks?:angel:
 
I bought my kids an old digital P&S each after noticing their enjoyment out of taking photos using my phone's camera.

I have also given each of them an old Yashica 35-ME to play with (no film in it yet). They love the film winding action, the framing, the timer, and the shutter actuation sound.

When they understand "film", I might put a roll in each camera and show them how to make the pictures come out :)
 
Family should alway be first when there is an interest. My daughters love to snapshoot, and my oldest has an ability to take good photos when the mood strikes her. I have given her several of my better cameras. I am ashamed to report she has recently convinced her boyfriend to get her a nice P&S digital. :D :D Actually, I am glad they both take any photos. I believe photos are the best end result of photography. Digital or film is just a matter of preference.

The high schools in my area often have photo clubs. I keep meaning to offer my assistance, but haven't yet found the time. I guess I need to correct that. It may be worth anyone checking into what they may be able to offer the public schools.
 
As soon as my nephew in law is old enough, we'll be sticking a camera in his hands and teaching him.
Already he grins from ear to ear when we bring out the old cameras as opposed to the digital ones his parents sport. We think it's the "clunk" sound the shutter makes, and they look entirely different.

We don't have kids ourselves... yet... but I can assure you they'll be inundated with the arts in general. It's in the family, both sides. My partner is a model & photographer, and I come from an extremely heavy art background myself.
 
My "kids" are 5 years apart and grown up now. When my daughter Elena was about 6 I bought her a Sawyers Mark IV 127 TLR made by Topcon. I was still shooting a lot of 120 back then in my Rollieflexes, so it was "just like Daddy's". A step stool in the darkroom let her print and develop. A few years later she had a Minolta SLR with normal, 35mm Vivitar and 90mm Series 1 Vivitar.

My son Jonathan was never all that interested until college. I started him off with a Rollei 35 for a trip to Israel, followed by a Leica CL, 40mm Summicron,and a 90mm Elmar-C. He soon talked me into a 21mm Voigtlander for it.

I always carry a camera and live within a couple of miles of four universities, so I'm always running into students asking me questions. Several of them have used my darkroom. It seems that booking darkroom time at school can be a problem. I tell them to supply their own paper, and if they want something more exotic than D-76 or HC-110 they'll have to buy their own. Their biggest problem is finding used film SLR's to use in their classes. I gave one of the baristas at my local Starbucks a Minolta X-700 when she asked me if I knew where she could find a film SLR.

Females studying conventional film based photography seem to outnumber males at least two to one.
 
Females studying conventional film based photography seem to outnumber males at least two to one.

Hmmm...seems like young men are still shallow and seeking instant gratification...
 
I've had a bunch of friends get into photography lately, some my age, some much younger. So I've started a Photography Basics section on my blog to try and get the basics across. I'd love it if some of you could take a look at the first lesson I've posted on Aperture and see what you think. I've tried to keep it fairly non-technical without being too dumbed down. Let me know what you think:

The Introduction:
http://digitallphoto.blogspot.com/2009/01/photo-classroom-photography-101-back-to.html

Lesson on Aperture:
http://digitallphoto.blogspot.com/2009/01/photo-classroom-photography-101-all.html
 
dave lackey said:
Females studying conventional film based photography seem to outnumber males at least two to one.

Hmmm...seems like young men are still shallow and seeking instant gratification...
Click to expand...

At any rate, young males are a prime target for high-end camera advertising, everybody tries to get them to buy the honking big black penile DSLR of the day. Females, on the other hand, get pink cover P&S with costume jewelry applications pushed onto them. Thanks to that, girls that are seriously into photography have the privilege of a more uninfluenced decision - and often end up with film...

Sevo
 
I'm 17 and taught myself pretty much everything I know over the past year or so - it's been about that long since I picked up my first film camera, an old rangefinder (Fujica 35-SE - took some great pics with that thing!). Since then I've acquired an (evil) canon AE-1 with 28, 35, and 50 lenses, a canonet, and I'm in the process of picking up used a zeiss ikon and 35/2 biogon. It would definitely have been nice to have somebody help me along, though.
 
I tell small children that traditional film photography steals their souls, and that if they're bad I'll mail the negatives to Satan himself.
 
I found that for my son the best way has been to give him gear, answer when he has a question and let him go searching his own way. That cost me a lot money for developing 36-blurry-or-badly-exposed-pictures-films, but the curve is going upward!
The feeling when I see him see a good subject and use his camera relaxed and cool is hard to beat!
Over that there are only random one to one lessons with people that know me as the photo freak:)
 
Disaster_Area said:
I've had a bunch of friends get into photography lately, some my age, some much younger. So I've started a Photography Basics section on my blog to try and get the basics across. I'd love it if some of you could take a look at the first lesson I've posted on Aperture and see what you think. I've tried to keep it fairly non-technical without being too dumbed down. Let me know what you think:

The Introduction:
http://digitallphoto.blogspot.com/2009/01/photo-classroom-photography-101-back-to.html

Lesson on Aperture:
http://digitallphoto.blogspot.com/2009/01/photo-classroom-photography-101-all.html
Click to expand...


I think you might wanna have this as a link too. Cheers.
http://www.photonhead.com/simcam/shutteraperture.php
 
sevo said:
At any rate, young males are a prime target for high-end camera advertising, everybody tries to get them to buy the honking big black penile DSLR of the day.
Click to expand...

i've just gotten into rangefinder photography more and more but i still enjoy using my film slr and "big black penile dslr". horses for courses i say. :)
 
Well, I try to get my not inconsiderable knowledge across to my younger friends. It thrills me no end to see them discover, understand and create. People know I know more than the average Joe about photography and they also know I like to give answers to their questions.

Recenly I went out with a girl who had borrowed a dSLR from school. She used it from the word go in shutter/aperture priority and a lot of manual as well. 'This way I understand much better what the camera does'. I was dead impressed.
 
I let my daughters use my cameras whenever we travel or go places. We take photos together and evaluate results together. When they were younger, I let them use my 1Ds-Mark II, but now they want to us my M8s. It took some effort to teach them how to focus a rangefinder, but now they get it. The key for me was to make photography fun and age appropriate. Kids like to be praised and encouraged so I tell them how good their work is. I sometimes find myself learning interesting angles and ways of looking at the world through photos that my daughters take.

This is my instruction to my children:
1. Put the strap around your neck
2. Hold the camera properly with elbow support
3. Always take pictures standing (not sitting down)
4. Don't touch lens glass
5. Think of composition/framing
6. Take as many pictures as you like

Attached is my eight year old in action.
 

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This is so cool to see so many younger people being taught photography at an early age. I only wish I had the opportunity when growing up.
 
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