Last week I began an after school photography club with 8 enthusiastic 10 and 11 year olds.
I had no idea what to expect from these wide-eyed sponges, other than the fact that they’d be eager to learn and excited to create. We went through our introductions, shared what we each love about pictures, and as expected they all lit up when I revealed that by the end of the afternoon they’d have a camera in their hot little hands and they’d get to BE the photographer.
As we prepped for their assignment, the kids ooooooohhhhh-ed and ahhhhhhhh-ed over snapshots of my yard, my daughter, and my cats. We reviewed basic composition and enough technical knowledge for them to turn on a point and shoot camera and snap a picture.
When it was time, they ran around outdoors arm in arm with a photo buddy and it was invigorating watching them capture the world through their lens.
They crawled around on the ground, got up close and personal with the falling leaves, the tree bark, the air vents, the garden statues, and plastic preschool playground equipment. I answered questions as they asked, but mostly I let them run.
Free to laugh, explore, and snap whatever struck their fancy.
At the end of the club I collected the cameras, sent them home smiling, and returned to my office to upload the images.
I had a moment of panic as I began browsing the outcome.
Blurry. dark. blurry. blurry. bright. blurry.
90% of the photos were technical nightmares.
I took a deep breath. And thought about it a bit. And realized, it didn’t matter. The kids had FUN and the fell in LOVE with a new hobby that will hopefully last a lifetime. I got to see the world through the eyes of a child. And the lesson I learned is that we should all try to photograph more like a 10 year old.
Uninhibited. Raw. Curious. Free.
Less worried about getting THE shot. Just getting A shot to remember this very moment.
Today let’s throw PERFECTION to the wind and snap the FLAWED photo that is just begging to be taken. Share it here. Bad lighting, clutter, blurriness and all. Cheers!
This imperfectly perfect photo was snapped on the fly with my iPhone 4S and edited with the lovely Pixlromatic app. Want the insider’s guide to my other favorite (+FREE) iPhone photo apps and my brilliant ideas for putting them to use? Come join the insider’s club on Facebook and it’s yours for the taking (downloading).