Morkstar Loc: Newcastle United Kingdom

I want to try to see if I can get my son (10) and/or daughter (13) interested in photography, and given that "you never get a chance to make a first impression" I want to give some thought on the best way to go about it.

Of course there are obvious options like:

1. Give them each an old (EOS20d) body and kit lens and let them go and explore with it on full auto

2. Try to teach him a bit about what a camera is and how it works , e.g. the exposure triangle balancing act etc.

3. Think of some subjects that they might be interested in (such as bmx or fashion etc. and go with them and suggest things they could do to take pictures.

The problem I foresee is that they will expect instant magic and invariably won't get it. Gone are the days of darkrooms and that wondrousness of seeing a photograph slowly appear. Kids are also nowadays hard to impress as they're so saturated with high tech.

Could anyone who's done this (and either failed or succeeded) give me benefit of their experiences, and generally if anyone has better ideas please let me know?

They're quite flighty creatures and I don't want to scare them off what could be a lifelong affinity with photography by bodging the introduction.

Cheers

donnz Loc: Auckland, New Zealand

Assuming you are into photography, your kids see your results, have they expressed an interest.

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

I have three sons, single dad, and all are interested in photography, though my 16 year old youngest is not more videography.

Sorry, I totally 100% disagree with dlsrs to start.

ALL of my sons started with something like this, AND STILL use them to this very day.

http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Canon-AV1-+-50mm_62524.html

Go on beat that for a gem of a camera.

and film today is peanuts in cost, get a bulk film loader £15 ebay, film

http://www.firstcall-photographic.co.uk/products/4268/kentmere-400-black-and-white-film-iso-400-30m

Patterson drum £5 ebay and chemicals £20 and for under £100 you will take and process your own, add a scanner £20 ebay and scan them

There is NOTHING worse than giving someone a digital camera, they take 500 photos in an hour and get bored.

Morkstar Loc: Newcastle United Kingdom

Donnz: They do say "wow" every so often but as I say they're hard to impress.....

JR1: That's really great advice - I have some 35mm bodies I can resurrect (or have a look at the one you suggest. Of course I grew up with 35mm SLRs, starting with a Pentax ME Super which I absolutely adored. I always remember the wonderfully slick "thunk" of the shutter and wondering if the photo would be as good as the scene I was looking at. I think you are absolutely right.

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Are you in the UK

Morkstar Loc: Newcastle United Kingdom

Yes I am in the NE

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

If you dont have a scanner I am happy to scan them for you

donnz Loc: Auckland, New Zealand

I feel ask them , how interested are they ? if they don't want to that makes it really hard to push, But if there's been a request to try your camera then by all means ask if they want to play in a darkroom. my dad did slides and we all sat down for hours to watch them from his home made projector,
Was that exciting. not
It wasn't untill I was 21 that I bought my own darkroom gear, I loved it.

Morkstar Loc: Newcastle United Kingdom

Thanks JR1, that's really very kind of you. I have a scanner on my printer and I could even resurrect my Nikon Coolscan III which hwas sat forlornly for 5 years gathering dust.

donnz - I've given them the rig at parties etc. and let them run wild and they've loved it (and on occasion have captured some fantastic shots of people who re it seems totally unguarded when a child is holding the camera). I like the idea of a darkroom although that might be a step too far. I wonder if I can find one locally and go along there and with them watch the process to see if they get interested.

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

Don't forget the cloolscans wont work with windows 7 if you use it

Chris

I wouldn't start with a dslr, at that age its more intant gratification. I would give them a point and shoot and let them take pictures of friends, sports or things at school. If they are photographing their interests they have a better chance of developing the photo bug or not.

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

I have 2 boys 24 and 27. They both got small point and shoots for Christmas a few years back. The kids now days like to use their cell phones. So these fit in their pockets and they use them. My youngest is now going on walks around the yard when he comes home. And he try's to take the same shots as me with his P+S. But when he looks at both, he see's his are nowhere close to the ones I take. He has stepped up to a bridge camera now. The oldest went back to college, so he is busy with that right now. But he does use his camera a lot now. He has a new baby, Harrison, That changed everything.:)
But if they have little interest it will be hard to get them to use a DSLR and all the gear to take with them.
Erv

oldmalky Loc: West Midlands,England.

Both mine started with VTech and Fisher Price and had hours of fun and treated them as toys rather than cameras (that is why they were bought)They have also used my bridge camera but do not think it as good as theirs,I believe it is up to them to decide when and if photography is to be of interest as there are lots of things out there to compete with and beat photography in their opinion.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

It isn't about what camera you hand them. It is about going out with them and spending time with them, provided they have an interest in it to begin with. Take them to places them want to have pictures of. I don't think you can "make" them love photography but you can expose them to it and and let them see your love for it. Hand them your camera once in awhile and trust them to take care of it. Don't over critique their pictures unless they ask. Expose them to other photographers and photography. In the end it will be them who decides if it is something they want to do. I didn't buy any of my three girls a camera, they used mine if they wanted to. They were encouraged to enter photography competitions at the local fair. Today at ages 24,27 and 29, one has gone to college for photography and decided she didn't want to make a living with it, but uses it in her job, one takes pictures of her kids and that's about it, and one is a bit more serious about it.

NikonJohn Loc: Indiana U.S.A.

If they have any interest of their own and see that you having fun doing it, and like your results, they will likely develop an interest without doing any "formal training". When you look at the pictures they took with them I would compliment everything you could and then offer suggestions. Plus I would ask them before I buy them a camera if they would want one of their own, unless you intend it as a surprise. My 12 year old daughter likes taking pictures but does not like anyone telling her how to do something (just her personality). I was going to get her a point an shoot but rather than buy her one I upgraded the one my wife uses and told her she could use the other one whenever she wants. She has shown little interest since then... I think she uses the camera in her (hand me down) iPhone now. She seems not to even notice the quality difference between my DSLR and her older phone. :) Sometimes when we are hiking together she will ask me if she can take a picture of me with my camera. I almost always say yes and I don't tell he "be careful with it, it's expensive" because that will just make her nervous (then she might drop it). :) I still hope someday she will pick up my habit. But if she does my wife will never want to hike with us again. :) lol :)

P.S. I totally agree with Country's Mama as well. :thumbup: Oh, and you to Erv. ;) Oh heck and most of what the rest of you said as well! :)