We continue with the interviews in which we are going to offer you the opinion of some professionals who are dedicated to different arts and that they are explaining to us how to make them a means of learning and expression for children. Today we are going to talk to the photographer Rebeca López, also specialized in helping children to master this discipline.
Rebeca López is a photographer and directs Kisikosas, a page aimed at family photography in a novel way: courses for parents and children, photo and design bank for those who start a blog or online business in addition to other web design and image services.
Especially interesting for our readers are their photography courses for children and "Heroes", a course for parents who want to learn to portray their children.
How does creativity promote photography in children?
Photography can be many things, most people use it to keep memories of some moments, places or things, because we like to remember how time has passed, and how we have gone through it. But photography is much more than that.
Thanks to her, children can learn to observe their surroundings with more awareness, to see their beauty, and to capture it in the camera.
In addition, photographic techniques are the most varied, so you can experiment with it in a very easy and fun way.
And now with digital photography, it will be easier for you to experiment, right?
Digital photography has opened a huge door to creativity and popularization of this art. With an SLR camera and some notions about technique, children can create wonders. We can also include the photo editing part, with which the sky is the limit.
Why do you recommend photography for children?
Well, for me photography has meant an important change in my life, it has given me many things that I wanted and believed that I could not own. And I don't talk about material things, I talk about creativity, the desire to play in some way, and above all a very important form of expression for me.
If children get used to telling their own stories with their own visual language, it will be another way of channeling everything that we cannot express on many occasions. They will learn to know each other more, to know what they like and why. A camera can become a personal work tool, a tool for creativity, for expression, for fun, and of course, to save beautiful moments. You can not ask for more!
From what age can we encourage this hobby?
Like everything, it depends on the child. I do not like to force things, so I think that the adult should have, and the child will learn whenever and whenever he wants.
But today children live almost daily between cameras, so from a very young age they may already be very curious to learn. From 3 we can leave them a camera and take out what they want. If you see us continuously with the camera in your hand, you will want to imitate us, as with all other things.
With that age we can even begin to show you some fun things about photography. For example, if they move very fast and the shutter speed is not fast enough (they don't know this, but it doesn't matter) the result is that they are barely seen, and they get a lot of attention.
And later?
But it is from the age of seven or eight when they can begin to assimilate certain things in photography. Get a little closer to this world, learn a little technique, composition, and some simple guidelines on natural light, for example.
What camera should they start with?
I do not support cameras for children. These types of cameras usually have prices very similar to a compact and the result is much better in the latter. In addition, children's cameras occupy and weigh much more. A compact, normal camera is a good camera to get acquainted with. In addition children want the same as us, the substitutes that have been invented for us to buy, they do not usually satisfy them beyond the first moments
How do you focus courses and classes for children?
When I considered designing and writing a course for children I wanted to do it from fun and the game that always involves photographing. The children who sign up for this course are of varied ages, so it had to be a format that was valid for both the little ones, and for those who are a little older. And in my children's courses I always look for fun, above all, later, if you want to continue researching and learning, you can use it and focus it in a thousand different ways. But my goal is to learn the basic knowledge through experiments and games. There is also a technical part, which can be followed according to age, but it is not essential to take pictures.
How can we accompany our children in the introduction of this art?
I think the most important thing, as in any learning, is for the child to show interest in it. That is the first thing, from there, provide a camera that is easy to handle and leave it at hand so you can access it whenever you want. Do not give them many indications, especially as children, with three, four, five years, children can gradually develop their own way of looking. We should not indicate rules of composition, because in addition the most traditional are not entirely true.
There will be time to show you technical things, again, when they show a deeper interest in photography. We can encourage and create an album with your photos. Today we can do very cool things for affordable prices, and surely they love having that memory, and seeing their printed ART.
