If you are taking your family on a much-awaited vacation this summer, you wouldn’t leave your camera behind, right? After all, what’s a family vacation without it? Needless to say, you need to take your camera along with you to record all the precious memories you will be spending together with your family – memories from vacation photos that are sure to last for years to come.
Spending some relaxing and fun-filled time with your family would also be the perfect opportunity to develop your children’s interest and hone their skills in digital photography. So, how do you do it? Here are some tips that can help you accomplish your goals:
Provide inspiration. It will be a great idea to provide your kids with books and magazines that feature awe-inspiring photos of the places you are going to visit before you even hit the road. This will provide them with the creative spark they need to take better and more interesting vacation photos.
Ask them to browse the postcard stands. Letting your kids browse over the postcard stands in gas stations and rest stops will give them yet another source of inspiration.
Play games while you’re on the road. Playing a game while you’re on the road will not only keep your kids preoccupied, it will also help them develop their skills in digital photography. Here are some ideas that you can use:
Play the alphabet game. Using their digital cameras, ask your kids to take photographs of interesting objects that starts with each letter of the alphabet along the way.
Put a twist in the old ‘I spy’ game. Remember playing this game when you were a little kid? Well, to add an interesting twist to this game, why don’t you ask your kids to guess the correct answer to the given clues by using their cameras? If this game doesn’t provide you hours of fun, I don’t know what else will.
Go on a scavenger hunt. Playing scavenger hunt with your kids can be another great idea. If you are going on a nature trip with your kids, you can give them a list of things to photograph. You can ask them to take photos of colourful objects or instruct them to take photos of small objects using the zoom or macro mode feature of their cameras. You can also add fast-moving objects to the list so they can practice using their camera’s ‘action mode’.
Take your children to places that offer the best photo opportunities. So, what are the best places that can provide your kids with the best photo opportunities? Here are some of them:
The beach. Aside from providing your kids with a lot of time to enjoy the sea and the sand and enough scenes that can satisfy every shutterbug, spending time on the beach will also give you the opportunity to teach your kids the basics of using their camera’s self timer feature to take photos of themselves. This will also give you the chance to teach them on how they can protect their cameras from the sea and the sand.
Zoos and aquariums. By using animals as your subject, your kids will surely come up with something unique and special with every click so it really pays to visit these places!
Local festivals and parades. Are you up for some people watching time? If you are, you may want to take your kids to see some local festivals and parades. For sure, the colourful costumes and exciting atmosphere can bring smiles to your kids’ faces and will encourage them to start clicking away.
Teaching your kids the art of vacation photography can be rewarding in more ways than one. It can keep them entertained for hours on end and let them capture some great memories based on their own unique perspective. Is there anything better than that?
Hone your kid’s digital photography skills today,
Ray Baker
