My daughter recently asked me to teach her photography. Of course (internal exclamation points), I said. We started with a fun photo walk. I wasn’t concerned with teaching her lines or perspective or composition. Not yet. This photo walk was pure play. She opted to use the native camera of her iPod in lieu of one of my cameras. Perfect, I said. I suggested we hunt for circles.
So on a humid summer morning, we stepped outside our front door and made our first pictures. And then we walked down the street, eyes peeled for more circles. In a mere twenty minutes, we found lots of circles, and had lots of fun.
We often made shots of the same circles though sometimes a particular circle inspired one of us but not the other. And, even when we shot the same circle, there were differences in the way we each chose to frame the shot. She never compared her shots to mine, just delighted when we happened upon the same.
As we walked, I didn’t point anything out, and I didn’t make any suggestions. I just let her wander and snap; I did the same. We came home from our photo walk very happy and then had fun sharing our photos with each other. I’d forgotten how fun a photo walk can be. Thankfully my sweet girl came to the rescue and reminded me. Next photo walk, she’s requested that we focus on color, so color it shall be. I can’t wait.
In closing, I invite you to have a photo walk with someone. Perhaps your own child or a niece/nephew or a grandchild, or a child living next door. Kids are fantastic with photo walks! It needn’t be a child though. A good friend will do nicely as well! And, if you’re in the mood for some solo time, then by all means, have some time to yourself with camera in hand. Look for circles (or any shape) or hunt for the rainbow (see Alison’s post) or look for lines (vertical, horizontal, diagonal) or maybe look for hearts…the list is endless. Pick one thing and go hunt for it. You might be surprised by how much you find once you’re looking. Happy snapping, my friends!