Give a kid a camera

My kids are used to having camera equipment lying around the house. Almost every night sees an army of batteries from flash units, remote control equipment, and cameras being charged for the following day’s jobs. They’ve been successfully trained to never touch my stuff, which is an amazing feat as any parent will tell you, as anything in view becomes a toy to any child. We actually adopted the same attitude towards other things like the fireplace, stairs, & kitchen cupboards. Way cheaper and easier than buying all the shite that was never needed until the media decided that kids would die without them.

My eldest – who is aged 8, went on a residential school trip to an outdoor pursuits centre in the wilds of Northumberland during the summer. She asked if she could take a camera to take pictures of her pals when they were doing their activities. The school wouldn’t allow digital cameras on the trip, but disposable film cameras were permitted, so I bought a couple of cheap ones from Fuji (which was always my film emulsion of choice when it was an option). They had a fixed shutter speed of about 1/100th sec, and an f8 lens, with ISO 400 colour negative film within. A couple of test shots to show how to use it, and a guide (completely ignored) to filling the frame with interesting stuff, and she was ready to go. There were a good few frames left over, so these were used up on a well-deserved family holiday to North Yorkshire in late October, and a Cubs trip to a remote Scottish border campsite.

I’ve selected a few shots to scan. Here they are. Chip off the old block, or don’t give up the day job? I’ll let you decide.