Shutterbugs

Every now and then, I’m reminded that these little girls actually pay attention to me.

Back in 2011 when I bought my first DSLR camera (my “mom camera” as my sister calls it), Hannah got my old point-and-shoot on permanent loan. Since then, when we’re out and about and I’m taking photos of whatever catches my eye, Hannah has alternated between rolling her eyes (“Daddy, come on! Stop taking photos!”) and whipping out “her” camera to try to get a few good shots herself. (The latter behavior usually only surfaces when there are cute animals around.)

Hannah’s photography has caused some problems with camera-less Lily, who always wants to be doing whatever big sister is doing. Since the old point-and-shoot is still my camera, I can make sure each kid gets a turn using it, but two kids sharing one item is never easy. We’ve been on a couple of trips to the zoo that resulted in meltdowns over camera privileges.

That all changed on Christmas, however. Lily received her very own camera, a VTech Kidizoom. It’s nothing fancy: 1.3 megapixels, 128 MB of on-board storage, 4x digital (not optical) zoom, and, shall we say, less than stellar light gathering abilities. (To its credit, it is very sturdy and also pink.) But it’s her camera, and she loves it. In fact, Lily loves it so much that she filled up that 128 MB of memory in only five days. That worked out to 328 photos.

I’m fairly trigger happy with my camera, but I can’t remember the last time I took 328 photos in five days.

What I didn’t realize until Lily got her own camera is how much she’s been watching me as I’ve been experimenting with my camera. Sure, those 328 photos include a healthy number of shots of her stuffed animals, but my girl isn’t just taking photos of whatever she sees. She’s experimenting just like her daddy.

She’s drawn to shadows:

Low points of view:

Patterns:

Blur:

(She got that shot by holding her camera and spinning around.)

Light:

Alternate perspectives:

Not to mention shots of her shoes, her food, and the Elf on the Shelf. It’s like she’s already mastered Instagram.

Hannah’s pretty handy with a camera, too, of course. Here’s one of her shots, taken at Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina using my DSLR:

And she has a good eye for sunsets:

I’m not too surprised when Hannah gets creative with her photography. She’s always enjoyed visual arts and crafts. But to see Lily try so many different kinds of shots on day one with her pink camera? I’m impressed with my little four-year-old. And I can’t help but think that my interest in photography has rubbed off on her.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe most little kids are this creative with their camera work. Even if that’s the case, Lily’s new camera means that the two of us have something else to share with each other. And that’s pretty sweet.

(Bonus for photography geeks: Here’s what a pro photographer did with a 2 megapixel kids camera.)