Corbin is 2 years old. Well, 2 and a few months, which in kid world is FOREVER! He considers himself such a big boy, especially when he sees all the babyish things his little sister does like drool everywhere, be incredibly boring, and not play with all the cool toys. (although both he and the dog thought the squeaky teether Anarah recently acquired was a wonderful thing and totally wasted on her.)
And since he’s such a big boy, it’s only natural that he move on past the boring, dated squishy toys and onto something better. A techno-gadget toy. One that actually does something. Like my old camera. It has all those wonderful buttons (oops, he turned on the red-eye!) and the shiny thing in the front (cue Corbin fingerprint photographs.) And it makes gadget noises! Awesome!
Once he got over the shiny not-so-newness of his new, supervised toy, he got down to the nitty-gritty of what you can actually do with it. Since it does have a view screen on it despite being an absolute dinosaur, he’s learning to frame his pictures and hold the camera still while he takes the shot he wants. And he certainly knows what he wants – I was told in definite tones on a walk recently, “take pictures of trees. Pictures of leaves.” Which he then proceeded to do. He’s fascinated with the year rings in tree stumps, and the first time we saw some on our walk, he shot over to them and started snapping away.
It’s terrifying and cute at the same time to watch him hold up the camera and concentrate on the view screen. He’s so serious! I’ve seen that same look on professional photographers trying to get that perfect shot.
House rules: you must always wear the strap around your neck. Problem is, when he bends over the camera smacks the ground. I’ll have to get a smaller strap for my budding photographer. I have a sneaking suspicion that the camera won’t last that long though – after all, he is two!
On our last photo shoot in a visit to Shenandoah National Park, I pulled out my camera to get a shot of him sitting on a log. He immediately hopped up and said “Corbin take pictures!” Um, no! Mommy’s camera is off limits!
Humor aside, I’m fascinated to watch him take pictures. What he decides to shoot, the viewpoint, and the angle are all uniquely childlike. What we wouldn’t consider worth a second glance he finds interesting. He generally shoots it from the viewpoint that catches his interest – a child’s eye level, and up close. I’m super proud of him, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he does with this in the future.
The depressing thing is, with an auto setting and decent lighting, you can’t really tell a 2 year-old took the shot. Digital: so simple a toddler can do it.
MP Photography 