Photography with Children

One of my favorite ways to get my kids out and about in nature is to hand them a camera.  It totally cuts down on the whining factor that occurs when I say that we are going on a hike.  Granted, that sometimes means that a camera gets dropped in a swamp and then ruined....but still, I'm sold on the idea. It's always a lot of fun to get home and compare photos -- we take such different things!  My eldest son is still  figuring out the basics of the camera, but he has definite ideas on what he likes and what he does NOT like.

This past fall, we went on a photo walk to the American Horticultural Society, one of the most beautiful places around.  I ended up taking the following photograph:

My son carefully took this one:

This is a beautiful photo, but I probably never would have taken it.  In fact, in all my photos from AHS, I never have.  I simply don't see the way my son sees.  That's what makes art so special.  And, because I went on a photo walk with my son, we have photos of both perspectives.