Advice For Teaching My 12 Year Old Son

[martinf]

Hi,

I have a 12 year old son that is showing an interest in film photography. I am self taught (not very well) and want to get him off to a good start.

I am an OM user, and have just provided him with the use of my old OM-10 and 50mm 1.8 lens with the intention of letting him free.

So, what is the best way of giving him a good grounding in photography?

Thanks

Martin

 

[Rick A]

Just exactly what you did. Then take him shooting every chance you get. Make it fun and do not put limitations on him.
My kids all started earlier, I gave them each a p&s and all the film they could shoot. My youngest (daughter, 13yo) now shoots a Mamiya C-220(and my C-330 when I;m not looking) , has her own Calumet cc-401 4x5, and has her own OM-1n and borrows my lenses. She's an accomplished printer and kick-butt assistant.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

You have no idea how lucky you are. Having a father-and-son project like this is valuable far beyond the beauty of photography. He will remember these moments for the rest of his life. Make sure it's fun and emphasize his successes, while utilizing all 'failures' as learning experiences.

All the best and enjoy it!

 

[pbromaghin]

Give him a page explaining the sunny 16 rule. He will then believe that photography is simple and easy to understand and will have no trouble learning from there.

 

[Rick A]

You have no idea how lucky you are. Having a father-and-son project like this is valuable far beyond the beauty of photography. He will remember these moments for the rest of his life. Make sure it's fun and emphasize his successes, while utilizing all 'failures' as learning experiences.

All the best and enjoy it!

Amen, Ralph!

 

[lns]

My son started with a manual SLR at 11 or 12, and my daughter at 9. I gave each an old Nikon with a 50mm lens, explained f stops and shutter speed very simply, explained exposure even more simply as lining up the dots or the needle on the in-camera meter, and just let them shoot. They each enrolled in a summer class at the local art center, where the teacher showed them how to process the film and then how to print pictures.

Truly, each of them picked it up the shooting and exposure very quickly. Each child gets a bit frustrated at film development. Each loves the magic of printing. It was the printing that hooked them.

-Laura

 

[SafetyBob]

How about the two of you review your work together, then read the book, The Negative together and try to improve your photography together. I can tell you from practical experience, they will most likely pick things up quicker than you (ask me how I know).....

Most of my kids were into the digital thing for MySpace or Facebook years ago, but I was able to get their pictures to look much, much better until they started surpassing what I could do. Darn kids!!

Bob

 

[keithwms]

I would say do anything you can to encourage experimentation... and that means shooting a lot and feeling comfortable trying a lot of different things just for fun. That has to be foremost at that age, I think. I base this response on helping two youngish kids around the same age get started... I simply emphasized to them that it'll take some time and patience to get the best results, but that they should try whatever comes to mind and feel free to shoots lots of film. In other words, I don't think economy and efficiency should be their priority at that age.

As for formal lessons... I think the very first thing to understand, arguably, is how to meter.. how to figure out how much light you have on your subject. And most kids get that very quickly- it's pretty intuitive even if the numbers (1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6) don't yet make mathematical sense.

After that, a good first lesson would be simply to shoot the same subject at a lot of different apertures.

After that, I'd say why not learn how shutter speeds correspond to actual motion.... unless he is musically trained, he probably won't have a sense for what 1/8 sec means... never mind 1/100 or 1/500!

At an older age I'd serve up a more technical intro (tone curves and log plots and all that) and get into all the many ways to optimize results. But at 12... kids that age have a lot of curiosity and many ideas of their own... let him run wild and start getting a sense for the creative things that matter most.

 

[Jeff Kubach]

Are there local museums nere by?

Jeff

 

[2F/2F]

That is great news! You should also increase his allowance (and chores) so he can better help to keep film around!

The most important piece of photographic equipment and understanding is an incident light meter, IMHO. Learning how to meter will necessitate learning to look at light first and foremost, and it will prevent most of the frustrating exposures that an in-camera meter will provide. I actually suggest meterless cameras for beginners, but I know I am weird...

If he learns how to use that meter, learns the "seesaw" of shutter and aperture and what the choices of each will do to the image, and learns to make the connection between what he sees in the viewfinder and what he gets on the print, then he has learned more than 95 percent of photographers ever know.

I would judge his work from the print back, always basing the judgment on what he wants from the print, and on what effect he wants it to have on viewers. Saying simple things, like "It's not sharp" or "You missed focus" are easy, and true. But they will not help teach anything. I suggest taking the time to explain what his technical decisions are doing to the prints and how they are interpreted, and encourage artistic thought about whether or not this is desirable. That is not just for kids. That is for everyone. My two cents.

And, of course, how to respect your tools is always good to teach, to anyone of any age.

 

[Diapositivo]

Find a good introductory book to photography. It must contain technicalities beyond the shutter speed / diaphragm choice matter. It should raise interest in aspects of photography that are not in his scope now: developing, printing, studio work, macro subjects, wildlife photography, different perspective rendition of different focal lengths, movements, etc. Let him explore some theory (even if he does not make full use of it as of now) and let him see the many "worlds" of photography that exist. One of these worlds might catch his interest more than others.

When he begins using a computer daily do teach him the digital side of photography. Digital is very good for learning. Don't forget to make him notice the differences between digital and film, and appreciate the best that each world can offer.

 

[N467RX]

Encourage him to photograph what he likes, and not what is considered worthy. A lot of people ask me why do I take photos of old cargo trucks and things like that. And let him learn from his mistakes too.

Do you do your own processing?

And try explaining him the basics. Not long ago one of my friends bought a 2nd hand DSLR, and told me that he was looking for a lens that had good light gathering abilities and wanted some advice. Mind you, he's always insisted that I shoot ISO800 and small apertures for great DOF. I had to give him a 30 minute explanation that an f2.8 lens wouldn't do anything for light gathering if he was planning on shooting at f22 like he insists on doing (always drove me nuts that he played with my camera and then wouldn't return the settings back to where I had them.

 

[blockend]

In youngsters, technique is the death of creativity. My teenage son has no interest in photography except the camera on his smartphone, his 4 year old brother takes a Konica Big Mini everywhere. He gets shots no adult could hope to, children relax around each other and he's their height.

We have a developing session once a week, he waits for the dev to reach temperature and counts the minutes off. If he sticks with photography he'll have a record of his whole life, but pushing F-stops and shutter speeds too early kills their interest IMO.

 

[Steve Smith]

but pushing F-stops and shutter speeds too early kills their interest IMO.

You can't generalise about these things as people are all different. When I was ten I was given an Agfa Isolette and a Weston light meter and shown how to use them. It didn't kill my interest.



Steve.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Watch with them Citizen Kane / Orson Welles or Zone from Tarkovsky and tell them what is important at the frames.

I dont know how much cost to buy a big roll of old 35 mm movie film but examining the frames and watch at the home theater could make very much difference.

Ara Güler is Master of Leica and Magnum Photographer and his childhood story told at tv. Try to buy them a 8 mm camera and let them watch whatever they took at home.

There is more money and fun at Hollywood than APUG.

Umut

 

[RalphLambrecht]

In youngsters, technique is the death of creativity. ...

Maybe, but I'm convinced, if it wouldn't be for the technology, many people wouldn't even be in photography.

 

[benjiboy]

If you give him an OM10 be sure to get him the manual adaptor for it, so he can learn to set the shutter speeds and apertures manually to learn the relationship between the two.

 

[jp498]

I started out with an OM-10 + 50/1.8 at about that age. I think it's a great camera to start with. The aperture priority and built in meter make it easy to properly expose photos, but you still get to learn to use the aperture for different things like depth of field, blur, altering the shutter speed, etc... It has exposure compensation via adjusting the film speed dial. It has 1/60 for flash sync. It's classier and lighter weight than a pentax k1000 or a nikon.

I eventually got suckered into the marketing hype of autofocus and creative flash and bought a new om-77af which was a severe mistake. I then bought a Nikon f4s (not a mistake) in high school with a whole summer's work savings and proceeded to shoot lots of sports and still have the camera today. The om10 was just as good for non-sports use like macros, group photos, people photos. I kept it around loaded with different film.

I really don't think the manual adaptor is that important, as just twisting the aperture ring will make plainly evident the relationship between shutter speed and aperture.

While kids really do well with digital, keep in mind film is cool among young people, and young people emulate their role models, which you are as a father. So essentially, dad is doing something cool.

 

[Markster]

I say start with the basics... How do you operate the camera. Just the basics. I.e. Cover all the contents of the user's manual. Like anything, driving a car, assembling a bed frame, etc... You really need to know how to do the basics (i.e. change a flat tire, or unlock the bed frame arms so you can reposition the frame wider).

Once he knows how to load film, unload film, look through the view, focus, remove lens, clean viewfinder, take a picture, read the light meter, etc... once he KNOWS how to operate it, that's the important stuff.

The fun starts after that, IMO.

Then you cover the interesting stuff.. the need to know stuff like Sunny 16, or "Never blow on your mirror/lens" rules.*

Now, I'm guessing here, and projecting my own past, so take what you will, buuuuut..... 12 year olds don't always have the greatest focus or attention span. While we may see photography as a passion or a hobby, it might just be something he does once in a while. I wouldn't push it. Give him the foundation, the respect for photography. Even if he isn't as prolific at shooting as you or I or folks on this forum, at least there's a better chance he'll get into it later as he matures.



* For those unaware, it ends "...because right at that moment is when you'll have too much spit in your mouth"

 

[Worker 11811]

I'd say the best thing to do is teach him how the camera works then load it with film and let him take pictures.

Teach him how to develop, post a recipe chart on the darkroom wall then, again, just let him go at it.

Same thing with the enlarger. Set him up and let him print.

Yes, there will be spoiled film and fogged prints but that's to be expected. Mistakes are part of life. Embrace the mistakes as "teachable moments" and just keep moving forward.

Then, when you talk about the finished product be sure to tell him WHY one photo is considered better than another.
Say something like, "I think this photo is better because the subject is more in focus." Or say something like, "This photo could be better if you added some exposure." In other words, keep the focus looking forward toward improvement, not backward to dwell on mistakes.
It's okay to make the occasional comment like, "This isn't one of your better photos," try to stay away from saying, "That's crummy," unless the context is right.

One thing that adults forget about teaching kids is that most learning is experiential. You can read about things in books or you can write things on the blackboard but most things aren't truly learned until the student actually does them. You and I have taken hundreds of photographs or even thousands. Your son has taken only a few dozen. If he had your experience, if he had taken as many photos as you have, there would be no point in learning. Would there?

The bottom line is to let him gain the experience. Once he has learned the basics, your job is to be the guide not to be the Lord and Master.

Then, one day, if he comes to you and says, "How come I can't make this picture look like one of yours?," you know you've got him hooked!

 

[N467RX]

I really don't think the manual adaptor is that important, as just twisting the aperture ring will make plainly evident the relationship between shutter speed and aperture.

While kids really do well with digital, keep in mind film is cool among young people, and young people emulate their role models, which you are as a father. So essentially, dad is doing something cool.

For some reason there is a good number of teenagers going back to film, or shooting film and digital (but I doubt there's any teenagers going back to 3.5" floppies!). Personally, I re-took it shortly after turning 20, and another friend did the same last Christmas.

If the manual adaptor works the same as the one on the OM-88/101, but the lenses allow for manually setting the aperture, then he might be fine for now (I always found the settings a bit confusing on the 88 when using a lens with an aperture ring)

 

[jbbooks]

In youngsters, technique is the death of creativity. My teenage son has no interest in photography except the camera on his smartphone, his 4 year old brother takes a Konica Big Mini everywhere. He gets shots no adult could hope to, children relax around each other and he's their height.

What he said.

I started with a 120 Kodak Brownie. I would not be as limited as that, today, but you do not need more. Spend the money on B&W film and don't clutter his mind up with equipment and technique. Let him concentrate on seeing, composing and timing the shot.

 

[keithwms]

Well... just remember that [effective] teaching is an interactive process. You can take all these thoughts and keep them in mind, but you have to see what motivates him and what does not, and tailor your plans accordingly.

Again, I'd let the creativity lead the way at this point, rather than numbers and dials. But I also don't know this particular young fellow...

 

[PeterAM]

My daughter was always into art and picked up on photography at that age after seeing the old man with his camera. I got her a Pentax K1000 and took her shooting with me a few times and then let her go off on her own. She was far more interested in the picture than in playing with the toys, but learned the technical parts to get the results she wanted. She then got a BA in art/photography and an MFA in photography and worked on the gallery and curatorial side of things for a bit.
Quite a few years later (she's now 42) we occasionally go shooting together and have a terrific time. Interestingly enough, some of our "vision" is very similar.

I would suggest taking him with you a few times so that you can answer questions and then let him go on his own, and see where it leads.