How hard can it be?

I took my two grandsons to Southern Oaks Training Stable today and let
them take some photographs. Nikolai is 5 and Anton is 4.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/galler...58551472_NRJEo

All of the shots, except the first one, were taken by the boys. They
picked the scene and composed the shot without any suggestions from
me. A Nikon D40 was used; a camera without "live view", so all shots
were composed through the optical view finder.

All shots were uploaded without any cropping, straightening,
adjustments or manipulation of any kind.

The biggest problem the boys have with the camera is focus point.
They don't quite get the idea of the red brackets. I set the camera
to single focus point rather than closest subject, but some shots are
not in focus. I culled out 15 for this, but over 80 shots were taken.
A lot were duplicates or near-duplicates.

Also, they don't yet get the idea of the sun and shadows. I wanted to
tell Nikolai to move to the other side of the horse being hosed down,
but decided to let him do it completely on his own. It is funny to
watch him twist the 18/55 lens to frame the shot.

If a 4 year-old and a 5 year-old can manage a D40, I guess I should be
able to eventually take some good shots.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

"tony cooper" wrote in message
...
I took my two grandsons to Southern Oaks Training Stable today and let
them take some photographs. Nikolai is 5 and Anton is 4.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/galler...58551472_NRJEo

All of the shots, except the first one, were taken by the boys. They
picked the scene and composed the shot without any suggestions from
me. A Nikon D40 was used; a camera without "live view", so all shots
were composed through the optical view finder.

All shots were uploaded without any cropping, straightening,
adjustments or manipulation of any kind.

The biggest problem the boys have with the camera is focus point.
They don't quite get the idea of the red brackets. I set the camera
to single focus point rather than closest subject, but some shots are
not in focus. I culled out 15 for this, but over 80 shots were taken.
A lot were duplicates or near-duplicates.

Also, they don't yet get the idea of the sun and shadows. I wanted to
tell Nikolai to move to the other side of the horse being hosed down,
but decided to let him do it completely on his own. It is funny to
watch him twist the 18/55 lens to frame the shot.

If a 4 year-old and a 5 year-old can manage a D40, I guess I should be
able to eventually take some good shots.




You just wanted to brag about your grandchildren.
Why not! I would do the same thing.
Enjoy them and I wish you many years and things to brag about with them.


--
Peter

tony cooper wrote:
I took my two grandsons to Southern Oaks Training Stable today and let
them take some photographs. Nikolai is 5 and Anton is 4.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/galler...58551472_NRJEo

All of the shots, except the first one, were taken by the boys. They
picked the scene and composed the shot without any suggestions from
me. A Nikon D40 was used; a camera without "live view", so all shots
were composed through the optical view finder.

Kids, from the earliest ages "get" composition. The very first
drawings of a child have balanced compositions. They know what they want
in an image and where the components of that image should be.

Their technique is primitive, of course. Somewhere in the process of
learning technique, they lose composition.

There may, or may not, be a lesson in there for you.

Jeff


All shots were uploaded without any cropping, straightening,
adjustments or manipulation of any kind.

The biggest problem the boys have with the camera is focus point.
They don't quite get the idea of the red brackets. I set the camera
to single focus point rather than closest subject, but some shots are
not in focus. I culled out 15 for this, but over 80 shots were taken.
A lot were duplicates or near-duplicates.

Also, they don't yet get the idea of the sun and shadows. I wanted to
tell Nikolai to move to the other side of the horse being hosed down,
but decided to let him do it completely on his own. It is funny to
watch him twist the 18/55 lens to frame the shot.

If a 4 year-old and a 5 year-old can manage a D40, I guess I should be
able to eventually take some good shots.

If a 4 year-old and a 5 year-old can manage a D40, I guess I should be
able to eventually take some good shots.




Quick get me a 4 and/or a 5 year old.

--
Peter

Jeff wrote:
tony cooper wrote:
I took my two grandsons to Southern Oaks Training Stable today and let
them take some photographs. Nikolai is 5 and Anton is 4.
http://tonycooper.smugmug.com/galler...58551472_NRJEo

All of the shots, except the first one, were taken by the boys. They
picked the scene and composed the shot without any suggestions from
me. A Nikon D40 was used; a camera without "live view", so all shots
were composed through the optical view finder.
Kids, from the earliest ages "get" composition. The very first
drawings of a child have balanced compositions. They know what they want
in an image and where the components of that image should be.

Their technique is primitive, of course. Somewhere in the process of
learning technique, they lose composition.

There may, or may not, be a lesson in there for you.

Jeff


I'd go along with that, when my son was 5 he took a pic of his 3 year
old brother with a cheap digital camera he'd been given. A beautiful
portrait, smiling and tightly framed. Just a shame it was only a cheap
300,000 pixel cam with poor colour and lots of noise.

I converted it to B+W and it works great in a small frame/keyring really
special because my son took it but I'd have been pleased to have taken
it myself.



Mike

Peter wrote:


If a 4 year-old and a 5 year-old can manage a D40, I guess I should be
able to eventually take some good shots.




Quick get me a 4 and/or a 5 year old.

:-)

"Mike" wrote in message
...

Their technique is primitive, of course. Somewhere in the process of
learning technique, they lose composition.

There may, or may not, be a lesson in there for you.

I'd go along with that, when my son was 5 he took a pic of his 3 year old
brother with a cheap digital camera he'd been given. A beautiful
portrait, smiling and tightly framed. Just a shame it was only a cheap
300,000 pixel cam with poor colour and lots of noise.

Going a bit OT, but I remember a photo in a book by Andy Rouse where he was
in Zambia photographing chimps. There was a chimp called Stephan who had
been watching him taking photos. He pushed Andy's head to one side and
looked through the viewfinder. He then fiddled with the lens (as Andy did),
put his finger on the shutter and took a photo of another chimp called
Louise.

It's quite incredible what can be picked up by watching someone.

Alan Smithee wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...

Their technique is primitive, of course. Somewhere in the process of
learning technique, they lose composition.

There may, or may not, be a lesson in there for you.

I'd go along with that, when my son was 5 he took a pic of his 3 year
old brother with a cheap digital camera he'd been given. A beautiful
portrait, smiling and tightly framed. Just a shame it was only a
cheap 300,000 pixel cam with poor colour and lots of noise.

Going a bit OT, but I remember a photo in a book by Andy Rouse where he
was in Zambia photographing chimps. There was a chimp called Stephan
who had been watching him taking photos. He pushed Andy's head to one
side and looked through the viewfinder. He then fiddled with the lens
(as Andy did), put his finger on the shutter and took a photo of another
chimp called Louise.

It's quite incredible what can be picked up by watching someone.

That's rather amazing. There's been something about awareness on PBS,
ie if an animal looks in a mirror, does he get that it is himself that
he is looking at. Oddly gorillas, elephants and dolphins get this.
Chimps don't, but that doesn't stop them from being a photographer. I'm
not sure what that says!
Jeff

"Jeff" wrote in message
m...

That's rather amazing. There's been something about awareness on PBS, ie
if an animal looks in a mirror, does he get that it is himself that he is
looking at. Oddly gorillas, elephants and dolphins get this. Chimps don't,
but that doesn't stop them from being a photographer. I'm not sure what
that says!

Maybe it's the camera they choose, a P&S or a dSLR ;-)

In rec.photo.digital Jeff wrote:
Alan Smithee wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message
...

Their technique is primitive, of course. Somewhere in the process of
learning technique, they lose composition.

There may, or may not, be a lesson in there for you.

I'd go along with that, when my son was 5 he took a pic of his 3 year
old brother with a cheap digital camera he'd been given. A beautiful
portrait, smiling and tightly framed. Just a shame it was only a
cheap 300,000 pixel cam with poor colour and lots of noise.

Going a bit OT, but I remember a photo in a book by Andy Rouse where he
was in Zambia photographing chimps. There was a chimp called Stephan
who had been watching him taking photos. He pushed Andy's head to one
side and looked through the viewfinder. He then fiddled with the lens
(as Andy did), put his finger on the shutter and took a photo of another
chimp called Louise.

It's quite incredible what can be picked up by watching someone.

That's rather amazing. There's been something about awareness on PBS,
ie if an animal looks in a mirror, does he get that it is himself that
he is looking at. Oddly gorillas, elephants and dolphins get this.
Chimps don't, but that doesn't stop them from being a photographer. I'm
not sure what that says!

It says the journalist didn't do his homework well enough, because
chimps do too. However, that's a much more sophisticated thing than
simply being able to copy what another animal is doing. There's some
specialised brain architecture devoted to that useful facility. Check
out "mirror neurons".

--
Chris Malcolm