harbrack Loc: Delaware, OH

My 13 year old granddaughter, Fiona, inherited her mom™s IPhone a little more than a year ago, and she has really gotten involved with the camera aspects of it. She posts some of her photos on Instagram and I am impressed with her self-developed talent. She does not know that I copied the attached photos from Instagram. Occasionally, she will search the Internet for an appropriate quote and include it with the photo she posted. The photo with the eyes included the quote: œBehind the most beautiful eyes lay secrets deeper and darker than the mysterious sea.
I have been a member of Ugly Hedgehog for several years and know that members are always eager to offer suggestions and assistance. I am looking for your help into how I can help Fionas photography talent continue to grow. Right now, school and field hockey are keeping her busy, and soon basketball will replace field hockey, but I assure you that her Iphone is always close at hand. So please, if you have ideas on tutorials, challenges, books or websites that will help her continue her photography skills, I am listening. If you wish please email me at rgsidder@yahoo.com.
Thank you so much.

MFTVGirl Loc: Baltimore, MD

Terrific images - she is already quite developed as a photographer!

mdougc Loc: Sarver, PA

1. Good
2. Really good.
3. Great, but I would crop down to remove the upper left corner.
4. Wonderful. Fiona should experiment more with portraits. With her eye, she can do good things with creative lighting.
Thanks for sharing.

harbrack Loc: Delaware, OH

Thanks a bunch for your comments and encouragement.

harbrack Loc: Delaware, OH

Thanks for your quick reply....I will share it with Fiona.

harbrack Loc: Delaware, OH

Thanks for your quick reply....I will share it with Fiona.

cmc65

It looks like a young woman who would like to tell a story. Be available to listen to what she's saying. Let her continue to shoot as she is until the questions start on how to tell that story ' better'. You can always teach the mechanics but never the innate imagination the she has demonstrated. At some point there will probably be a pattern to her thoughts regarding certain subjects that interest her the most. Enter passion and the need to group those photographs together .its just the beginning.

SeamusMac Loc: Walla Walla, WA

Hell, she could teach me about composition! She's good! And I think she's hooked on photography. (be sure and show her these posts) Seamus

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Excellent composition skills. I wonder what she could do with a real camera?

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Nice pictures for a telephone. I am a purist, however. Buy her a real camera and watch her skills develop.

insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida

Don't forget there is a wealth of information/tutorials for free on YouTube.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

I would be more willing to let her work her compositions as she is for now. I would be concerned that she might get distracted by the technical aspects of photography and be thinking about that instead of continuing to work her 'eye'. As she has questions about how to accomplish something she imagines or why something came out the way it did, the answers will be a part of her development. Your critiques of her images can spark that curiosity.

Perhaps looking at photos from accomplished photographers and talking about the how and why of those would be a good way to go with her. I am not saying she shouldn't learn the details of exposure with a camera, but let it develop in her. She has time to learn.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

I agree with your thoughts with the exception of the last paragraph. If it were me I would for now let her continue to develop her own eye and style. Down the road when it appears she has done that, then use the work of accomplished photographers to help her to 'fine tune'.
Introducing the work of others to soon can cause the beginner to imitate. Imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery, it is the surest route to mediocrity.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

That is a great observation and I bow to that logic. You are right about undue influence and I should have thought that out more before putting it down in my post. Timing is everything.