Photo Adventures for Kids

2 reviews for Photo Adventures for Kids

1. 

   muellerra (verified owner) November 8, 2018

   This is a fun book for interested young photographers on the art of photography. Aimed for someone about 8 years old and up, it covers the important aspects of how to create a photograph. The reader is offered written descriptions of concepts, with games and easy to do projects to support the lessons. The material is not too technical, well explained, and enhanced with many photo examples to promote learning.

   Topics include: how to choose a subject, composition, cropping and framing, perspective and other topics. Each chapter builds upon the learning from the previous sections. Note: This is NOT a book on how to use your camera. The budding photographer must be already familiar with the basic camera operations. And, some adult guidance might be helpful at times.

   I highly recommend this book for someone who already enjoys running around taking snapshots and now wants to get a bit more serious about learning the creative aspects of photography.

2. 

   Gloria June 10, 2019

   My children are all grown but I do have grand nieces and nephews and in particular one grand niece who loves photography — so I’m eager to review this book for her. To cut to the chase, this book would be an excellent choice for any child. It not only raises the issues in a fun and creative way for the kids, it is not condescending. I have to say that I learned a few things myself in reading through this book

   The first thing to notice about the book is that even the table of contents is imaginatively done and fun to read. Every heading is in a different color and there are fun illustrations for every chapter headings. Great start to a book for kids or even adults 🙂 The author explained to the adult in the child’s life that this book is not meant to teach children how to create postcard images, but to shoot experimentally under the guidance of their own creativity. She even coaches adults on how to encourage rather than criticize the kids work. I think that’s great. I love that she tells the kids that Harry Potter may have his magic wand, but you will have your amazing camera. She gives lots of basic tips on how to keep your camera safe; for example, keeping it at least 8 inches from the edge of the table 🙂 Actually, she taught me something – I often stick my compact camera into my backpack without protection and I really should get a pouch for it. Kids’ books aren’t only for kids 🙂

   Much of the book concerns the framing of photos and many brilliant composition tips for the kids which makes sense. For a young person first using a camera, exposure should be set in an automatic way in my mind and let the child concentrate on framing. That’s what the author does here. The author labels some of her tips “secret weapons“. One section, for example, talks about shooting sand waves on the beach. One of the points of the section is instead of having horizontal or vertical waves, why not tilt the frame? I think this is great for kids because it’s a basic, simple tool yet will produce snazzy results. Also encourages a child to think outside the box on composition. What strikes me is that her secret weaponsarer something a photographer of any level can use to come up with interesting photos. Her book allows children to feel successful with anything they try.

   The thing I like most about this book is that it sets out options for the kid; for example, how do you tilt the horizon or do you tilted at all? She gives the issues, the pros and cons of the different options and then gives a strategy as to how to solve the mystery to get a killer shot. In other words, it walks the kids through your thinking process when you’re framing a photo. I think that’s just brilliant to do for kids and probably would be a good idea for some adult camera manuals, too:)

   The author uses this teaching method especially well in her section on composition. She frames the composition question the form of a jigsaw puzzle. She takes a photograph and cuts it up in the puzzle pieces, moving them around to display different composition strategies. This book is tailor-made for kids and does talk down to them — which kids can usually detect!

   She has a chapter at the end about lines and what to do about those in composition. For example, telephone poles, electric wires, waves in the water… honestly, this section is one adults would do well to read as well as the kids!

   I will definitely be giving a copy of this book to my grand niece who runs around with the camera and a smile on her face. It addresses just enough concerns is to get a kid up and running with a camera, and accomplishes that with humor and ingenious methods, such as using the puzzle pieces to demonstrate compositional options. I would recommend this book to any adult with a child in their life who might be interested in the magic of photography.