Introducing the Digital Camera: Keep It Simple to Start

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Today's cameras offer many elements and features, but the last thing you want to do is swamp kids with them right away. Stick to the basics in your introduction, and let the kids explore the more advanced features on their own over time.

The key elements to introduce are the on/off switch, inserting and ejecting a disk, the shutter button and the viewfinder. Depending on your schedule, you may want to introduce only one or two of those elements in a day, or all at once, but be sure to consistently review everything you've done before at each new introduction.

At this stage, you'll also want to introduce saving files to the hard drive if you haven't done so already in another context. 

Activity Steps: 

Step 1: First, review and re-model how to hand the camera to each other, as described in the article on teaching digital photography.
Step 2: Using the three-part pair-share process, demonstrate how to turn the camera on and off, and how to insert and remove disks. Remember to pass the camera as you modeled before, and make sure that all students do it the same way when they hand it to each other. Have them all try the on/off and inserting/removing the disk activity.
Step 3:

Before moving on to the viewfinder, try this activity: Have all the kids take a sheet of regular white paper and tear or cut out a rectangle in the center, leaving a frame of perhaps 1.5" to 2" on each side. Demonstrate creating the frame first, of course.

The reason why you don't want to rush into using the viewfinder is that kids' natural reaction will be to use it to restrict their vision, and our goal is to expand it. If you have been using the camera throughout this process to occasionally take spontaneous pictures without focusing through the viewfinder you've already modeled that the viewfinder is not the center of the camera.

Now have them walk around the room looking through the paper frames. Have them hold it closer and farther away from their faces, and talk about how the scene changes. Try getting right up close to an object, then backing away, all while looking through the frame. The principle you are trying to communicate is that we must think about what we are going to take pictures of and that we have to observe the "big picture" first. When we're too focused on the viewfinder, we can miss a picture.

tip Have kids try drawing activities before and while introducing photography. They're both about images and ways of seeing. Have them take the frames they created above and look around the room. Then have them draw just what they see through the frame, and talk about what's missing.
Step 4: Now demonstrate the shutter button using the three-part pair-share process. Have the kids take a picture without looking through the viewfinder, just to get the feel of it. If you want, bring the photos from the disk into a computer and let the class look at them. Model the process of saving the photo to the drive, renaming it and opening it in PhotoShop or a similar program. Explain clearly, and remember that you'll be modeling this important process several times along the way. 
Step 5: Review everything you've done before, and introduce the viewfinder in the three-part pair-share process. Once everyone has tried it, give the class a simple assignment, such as taking a picture of their pair-share partner. Make sure that they first take their frames and experiment with them before taking the pictures. Have them save their photos to the computer, and make sure that you model this process again.

tip Try taping over the viewfinder until you're ready to introduce it so that kids don't focus on it sooner.
Step 6: From here, you have two choices:

    • You can go on to teach the techniques of basic photography.
    • You can begin a basic introduction to image editing by having the kids open their photos in Photoshop or a similar program and add things like the names of the people, a frame or other simple adjustments you specify. This should take only one or two sessions because it's merely to acclimate the kids for later work. You can then work on the basic photography techniques in the following sessions.

Both approaches are equally valid. The first gets you more quickly to the important conceptual and decision-making aspects of photography, whereas the latter gives the kids a more creative intermediary project to take home along with a taste of what they'll be doing later. Use your own judgment.

tip Having trouble with the flash being too bright in the room? Here's a trick for dealing with it before explaining more sophisticated concepts like lighting and autofocus. Simply hold one finger slightly over the flash to diffuse it. By the way, as the kids use the camera more and more, let them explore the additional features, introducing them yourself only when necessary.