RobertH

I’m curious if anyone has any good ideas or resources for photo projects / assignments that would be good for a novice 8 y/o?

I recently picked up a used Nikon D3100 with a 55-200m lens for my daughter to shoot/learn with, in the hopes of getting her more interested in photography. She has expressed a moderate interest, and has brought an old iPhone on outings to shoot with previously.

I have a D7500 with a few different lenses, so I’d like to find things we could go pursue together. I could always use the practice as well.

FYI, we live in Central Florida.

Quixdraw Loc: x

Here are a few ideas. Things that begin with the alphabet letter... / X number of animals / looking in a different direction / Oldest and Newest of any set, buildings, cars and trucks, etc. / Pictures like postcards / Fast moving things / Tasty foods / Biggest and smallest flowers / Weather, good and bad / Attractive photos of cooking gear (or tools of any kind) / Things that use strings, etc. / Design a photo scavenger hunt with a list of items to capture.
Some of these can be readily cycled - could, should be fun, and to see the output as well!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Approaching the issue of increasing an interest level from 'moderate' with the attitude of 'assignment' to the young learner is probably not going to be successful. Why not you taking the 'assignment' of learning how to be successful with an old iPhone, and then sharing / teaching that knowledge?

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

I'm old fashion. I would start her out with a 50mm and when she's out with you that's what you should shoot too. Subjects, anything she wants to take a picture of. If she is really interested she will take more pictures than you can process. I would never assigned subject. Take her places: The zoo, the park etc. and let her pick the subjects. She will be taking pictures not creating photographs. If she doesn't have fun she'll quit and never go back.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

I'd start with what is interesting to her. Any particular animal (that you can pursue safely)? Plants?

wjones8637 Loc: Burleson, TX

I agree with CHG_CANON, learning to use the old iPhone is a worthy assignment. If she shows interest in something more advanced the Olympus Tough series is a good option for a youngster, designed to take a licking. At eight I would be a bit concerned about the camera/lens weight. Also, on the crop sensor this lens is a telephoto not the field of view she is used to with the iPhone.

For topics, follow her interests and invite her along when you go out. Her slightly lower perspective might produce some interesting results.

Bill

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

It is interesting to me that folks on the forum are so adept at taking all the possible fun out of an attempt to learn photography and replacing it with work, then complaining that young people aren't interested in the discipline? Why the opposition to letting her work with a camera like the one dad has? So what if it gets heavy. Let her rest a few minutes. So what if it is a telephoto lens? I was fascinated with my dad's binoculars by the time I was 8 years old. Give a kid a break.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I received the first camera wehn I was 7-years old. I fell in love with the camera as a really neat (toy) device- perhaps in that respect, I never grew up! Because I never could draw beyond stick figures and really wanted to express myself by making pictures. I remember loving to take pictures of things that interested me- not necesseralyy what my parents and family thought was a particularly good )traditional) idea. Seemed that pictures of OTHER that family members and friends, were a "waste of film". I was more interested in the cat, dogs in the street, and objects with interesting shapes like the ironwork on the readings on the outside stairway, fire hyderants and lamp posts with interesting shapes and designs and a few "pretty girls" in the neighbourhood.

I did manage to persevere and as long as I shot a few frames of mom, dad, grandma or my kid-cousins, I would be allowed to save up my allowance to buy rolls of Verichrome 127 and pay for some drugstore photofinishing. Occasionally my parents would subsidize my artistic endeavours.

Nick, a neighbourhood mechanic and service station operator was an avid amateur photographer. I would show him my pictures and he would advise me as to improvements- he really taught me the nuts and bolts and the basic of framing the image, not to shoot too far away, and not having the "pretty girls" squinting in the sunlight and shooting instead in the open shade.

At 10-years old the Bakelite Kodak Baby Brownie Special was upgraded to a 2 1/4 square Brownie Hawkeye with a flash holder. A year later came the Poney 35mm and I got to learn all about f/stops. shutter speeds, depth of field, and flashbulbs. I had a Kalart flash holder and a K-2 cloud filter. Nick gave me an octagon-shaped Weston exposure meter.

Luckily, I did learn the rudiments at an early age. I would write letters of technical enquiry to Kodak's Sales-Service Division and they would send me free Databooks. My adult friends did instill the disciplines but I considered all of it great FUN! Learning the technicalities does not need to be tedious, boring, or strenuous on a young person. The trick is that each time a method or technique is learned and it yields good, better or improved results there is intrinsic encouragement.

I have never had any pedagogical training, but I ain't a half-bad instructor or teacher of photography. If you are trying to teach a kid, just put yourself in the kid's shoes and think back to your own childhood and schooling. Which of your teachers motivated you, encouraged you and stimulated your interests. Which teachers were frustrated "drill instructors" and with put you to seep in their class or made you wanna play hookey. Just be the first kinda teacher.

In digital photography, there is instant gratification or disappointment so it's easy to teach kids to do this right and have fun at the same time.

At 6-years old- take it slow and easy. Firstly, set the camera on an automatic mode and let them get the feel of handling it. Some kids are more technically, scientifically, and/ or artistically inclined. You will soon find out. Everyone learns at a different rate so be patient. Introduce the manual adjustments according to the kid's progress. When they see how they can change things- they will get a kick out of it and catch on rather quickly.

Most importantly, encourage your 8-year-old to photograph people and things that interest her and to express her ideas in her pictures. Show here how to tell stories with images. Eventually introduce her to seeing light, textures and perspectives. Perhaps do a project such as a slideshow to preset to the family.

JustJill Loc: Iowa

What does she like? Food? trees bugs? her friends? Even shoes or clothing .... anything to get her interested. I don't know if it is a good comparison or not. Our son started off reading comic books and still loves to read.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

1. Lots of exposure to pictures of things she says she likes - ask, don't lecture find pictures on line or a book to look at.
2. pick a subject that "she" wants to photograph - ask her - and take her where that subject can be found
3. start with the camera on A so she just has to worry about getting it in the view finder
4. "simple" composition rules only one or two like "rule of thirds"* and leading lines, maybe natural framing/fill the frame and turn her loose to try on her own
5. then import them into a computer (or let her do it) and let her view them, do not start lectureing about which are bad, which are good and why, let her decide and then answer questions "I don't like this one." "Why?" xxxxxxxx, OK what could you do differently then? If she asks explain it "briefly" Or "I really like this one." "Why?" xxxxxxxx "Then remember to do that in more pictures."
6. Later get into things like exposure triangle and ease into it with the P setting and only change one setting at a time. Manual is far in the future.
7. still later you can get into more technical stuff, advanced composition etc.

MOST OF ALL JUST LET HER HAPPILY SNAP AWAY AND THEN VIEW HER IMAGES.

And most importantly be patient, the time line can vary up to several months to cover these steps. And if she loses interest do not try to force it. Let her go watch Paw Patrol or My Little Pony, play with her toys, etc. etc. etc. She may or may not come back to it in a day, week etc. Being forced is an almost guaranteed way to turn her off to the whole thing.

*I got out a selection of 8x10 and 8.5x11 prints and two sheets of clear overhead transparency film with dry erase markers. One had the rule of thirds grid printed on it and one was blank for marking. I then laid the printed one on images to show the rule of thirds, the blank one got laid on prints and I let our special needs son (at the time 26 with the mentality of a bright 5 year old) use the dry erase (I used it also) to mark things and then discussed them. And later I printed a few of his images and let him do the same things. His mother took the "classes" with him. Comment on our first trip to the park to take pictures "Why didn't someone show me this stuff 40 years ago?" (our oldest was 43 at the time-I wonder who "someone" is???) Our oldest isn't into photography - just casual snapshots etc. and the baby Jasmine won a T2i selling girl scout cookies in 12th grade and took it to UCLA where she learned by being one of the few girls in the photography club - lots of volunteers to teach her, some of whom could design and build digital cameras if they wanted to take the time.

Oh, I am a retired classroom teacher and taught photography one year and ran photo clubs several years while teaching history/geography/government.

Mac Loc: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia now Hernando Co. Fl.

At 8yo just let her go out and take pictures of whatever she wants to take pictures of. The best way to take the fun out of it is turn it into a chore.

RobertH

Sure, maybe the word “Assignment” is a poor choice. Activity? Experience? Objective? The objective is to make it fun, interesting, and a learning opportunity. There’s plenty I could learn too.

There’s certainly nothing wrong with learning to use an iPhone, but in doing so, I would still have the same question for the group. The reason for the DSLR is so she can have a camera like mine, won’t need to use mine (call it insurance, if you like), and we both can shoot.

RobertH

Thanks, those are some useful ideas that can be suggestions to try and spark creativity and make it fun. Of course, if she wants to do something else, that’s OK too.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Kids are natural learners. They are made to learn, in fact. (That's a little less true now than when we haven't had a pandemic going for a year and a half.)

I think you will be surprised with what her eyes see and her brain composes. And I'd strive to ask her questions, not offer critiques. The hardest thing to do is going to be just biting your tongue when she places all of her subjects under that 'bull's eye' in the center of the frame. After all, there is a mark there, right in the middle of the viewfinder. But centering her subjects does not ruin her images. She's 8.

Exposure doesn't have to be just right, either. She's 8.

And if there is a little camera motion to emphasize action, so what? She's 8.

The more fun this experience is, the longer she will stick with it. The more fun she has with you, the longer she'll keep doing it with you. Excellence will come with time. For now, she's 8.

cmc4214 Loc: S.W. Pennsylvania

Yes, "assignments" can deter a child's interest, but if approached as a challenge (let's see how many you can find) can be very motivating...It depends on the child, not all are the same.