what have I created?

I was killing some time with my oldest son and I wanted to go outside and take some pictures. At 3 1/2 years old he wasn't really that interested in my idea so I had to come up with plan b. I pulled out my Canon Powershot and offered to show him how to use it. That got him going and 202 pictures later I think I created a budding photographer.

He created some cool abstracts, interesting portraits and documented some things that I would have never thought to shoot. Most interesting to me was a project that he thought of himself. He took a picture of our mailbox then turned to me and told me that he wanted to take a picture of all of his friends mailboxes. So, we walked up and down the street and took pictures of many of the mailboxes on our street. His compositions were pretty good and I offered no help along the way. He was pleased with the results and so was I.

Photographers are often best served if they approach their photography with a project in mind. It helps the creative process and keeps you focused. I am certain I am making too much of his decision to approach his photography as a project. I hope the creative process comes easy to him and his brother. It will be a major advantage over their old dad. Only time will tell, but my son reminded me that I need to work on more projects with my photography.

He dropped my camera only a couple times. Now the memory card door isn't closing but it is still working fine. I have already decided this camera is gone and it will be inoperable by the time he tires of it, but that is fine. If he can keep teaching me to be a better photographer it is worth it.