Kids and cameras

We bought our digital camera when my daughter was two.  It's a Kodak Easyshare cx 7430, and was a breeze to use right out of the box.  So easy, in fact, even my daughter could use it.

I'd read a thought by someone on my favorite parenting message board about kids and photography, that while many moms hide from cameras thinking they don't look good, or are too fat, what is most important to our children is that we are MOM.  How sad if they don't have pictures of us because we were always hiding in self doubt, behind the camera.  She also suggested how beautiful and valuable it was for our kids to have photos of us taken from their perspective as they grew up. 

And so it was that my little daughter has been allowed to use the camera, though she is getting quite bad about getting it whenever she wants and using it unsupervised.  Many times I try to use it and find the rechargable batteries are drained and it's full of pictures, not how I left it.  It may be time to get her one of her own and teach her how to maintain it.

Her favorite subjects are fascinating to me in what they are.  They reveal so much about what is important to her and give me glimpses into what she gets up to when she wakes up before me, which is when she uses the camera unsupervised.  Sometimes I find photos of me sleeping, strange shots of random body parts, usually her brothers, sometimes hers - we're talking elbows, feet, toes.  Sometimes they're of her favorite cartoons and toys.

One main theme she often goes back to is herself.  She loves to turn that camera toward herself, and we often find the funniest shots and expressions to chuckle over, some of which I compiled here for those who can watch movie-slideshows on gather.  She, herself, has taken some of my favorite photos of her, one of which is in the slideshow and that I also used for this article.

I love to nurture her inner diva and encourage her art.  I've taken it back down since, but I once made an online album of her photos for her and she loved that.  This afternoon as I played with her photos making the slideshow, she was full of such joy and light that I was appreciating her art that way.  In time I want to create a scrapbook for her all of her own photos she has taken.

And now my son is nearly two, and he is wanting the camera, and so the adventure continues.  Maybe I'd better get them both their own little digital cameras.  Anyone have any suggestions for good ones in a kid-friendly price range?  :)