10-great-photography-lessons-you-can-learn-from-a-2-year-old

[persephone]

CLICK HERE

excerpt:

The main thing is that kids enjoy what they are doing, all that they care about for the time being is playing with the toy. I’ve been out on the street thinking about what to do the next week, I’ve been on assignment while doing mental financial calculation – exactly what Yoki isn’t doing.

Can you walk a mile? How much less enjoyable would it be if I gave you two nice pieces of luggage to drag while you walk that mile? Unfortunately we do the same thing mentally when it comes to photography. We bring our “stuff” along when shooting and just like dragging real life luggage around, it diminishes the enjoyment of photography.

When shooting, be like a kid with a toy; focus on what you are doing and nothing else. Minor White was adamant about clearing the mind before the act of photography. I listen to music and zone out to zoom into photography. Find what works for you, the important thing is to be lost in what you are doing.

[tdierikx]

Kids can teach us many things, can't they?

Just look at the expression on the face of a child seeing a rainbow for the first time... pure awe... yet we adults don't often stop to look at the amazing things around us...

I know that ever since I started taking photos regularly, I have re-noticed the beauty in so many things... the sky, the scenery going by, etc... I've also become very good at spotting the elusive - from all the experience looking for sleeping/hiding zoo animals... lol!

T.

[j]

Great article and so very true.

Just the other day I suddenly realised I hadn't done my "homework" for the photography course I'm doing, so I set about to do it. (with hours to spare, not much has changed since school really :laugh: )

Only three things - fast shutter speed to freeze something, slow shutter speed to make it flow and a panning shot.

I had some things in mind, so I set about to it.

Got the slow shutter speed shot easily enough with a drop of water from the tap. So then I thought I would freeze a drop of water coming from the tap. I sat there for about half an hour and took a gazillion photos (well, perhaps an exaggeration, but easily a couple of hundred) trying to get the drop just as it separated from the tap. Every single one was a millisecond too soon or too late. I was getting crankier and crankier, so I decided to go out and feed the budgies and calm down a bit.

As soon as I walked into the aviary, I realised I had the perfect subject there, grabbed my camera and got a stack of photos of budgies "frozen" in the air as they were landing or taking off from their perches.

I also thought I had the perfect subject for my panning shot. Max, my dog, running in the yard. What I forgot to factor in, is that Max is the least doggy dog in the world and won't chase anything or run on command. So I spent a good half hour trying to make him run, throwing toys, making him sit at the other end of the yard then calling him, whereupon he would stand up, stretch and then amble towards me. Definitely not a panning speed.

Grrr. Blood pressure rising again.

So, I walked out the front to fill the bird bath and watch the birds, and a truck rumbled past along the road at the bottom of my street. Hah! How silly am I. So I stood there for a few minutes and got the shots I needed.

Homework crisis averted, blood pressure down to normal and all it took was to look around and see what else I could do. Much like the shape sorter and the computer in the article

[persephone]

:D :D great examples, ladies .