Andrew - The Young Photographer

A couple years ago I purchased a “Young Photographer’s Notebook, A Guide to Nature Photography” from the HearthSong catalog for Andrew. The time never came for him to try it out, until now. I just so happened to tuck it in one of the many book boxes I shipped to Hoonah and this week Andrew has started to read the small book and fill the pages with images of Hoonah from his perspective.

Assignment #1:
Take a horizontal photograph of a subject in nature. It can be anything you think would make a good photograph. This will be the starting point of your notebook.

I showed him how to download the pictures into the computer and then how to edit them. He chose to crop some of his shots. Here is his final pick.

He learned briefly about the parts of the camera and Depth of Field, Aperture, Lens, Focal Length, Foreground and Background. He read about horizontal and vertical holds and how to steady your hold by using a tripod or a even a tree. There is a glossary of 37 photography words; including “Hot Shoe,” the bracket on top of the camera where you can attach flash unit and one of my favorites “Fill Flash,” use of flash to fill in the shadows on your subject on a sunny day.

There are ten assignments giving a short introduction to the concepts of Composition, Light, Landscapes, Patterns, and Animals. The thin notebook concludes with some fun ways to digitally manipulate photos and some other ways to use photos; turn them into a puzzle, use them as a gift tag or on a card for a friend.

He played with the camera and took a great shot of Barneby, a secret shot of the neighbor walkaing up the street and even got me to say cheese for the camera.

Assignment #2:
Take a vertical photograph of a subject with a simple background, one that is not too cluttered. Get as close as you can to the subject so you can to fill the frame. Here is what he picked. It will be fun to see the world through his eyes.