Thursday 9 June 2016

Little Photographers #FocusOnDad


I never dreamed that photography would become such a big part of my life. Even when I first started blogging never did I think that I would pick up a camera to capture things as much as I do now. I love it, I really do and I love working on practising and learning how to set up scenes and capture pictures in better lighting; it is amazing seeing my development from what I used to do. 
What comes with me having a camera in my hand constantly means the children become quite conscious of wanting to play with cameras. We have a couple of old digital cameras which they often walk around with. Half the time they don't work, but the kids don't care, they end up making the cute clicking sound themselves and it is nice to see them just playing with them. 
With Father's Day coming up it became the perfect opportunity to start capturing Rob a bit more and finding opportunities for the children to do something special with him. Getting good photographs of the three of them is something I most like to do, so having the opportunity to play about a bit and #focusondad was what our Saturday led to!

When it comes to the kids finding nice gifts for Rob or their grandpas, somewhere along the line of gift buying photos always come in. In fact I think for the last few years we have used pictures in parts of their gifts as it is always nice to frame a moment of time and keep out on display.
This time though, instead of using photos we have already I got the kids to organise Rob and sort out some pictures. 
We are really lucky living in Lincoln that we have a bit of a wealth of RAF glory gracing our skies. None more famous than the Red Arrows which we are lucky enough to see most days practising their routines. In fact, when they are on base at Scampton you even see them twice a day. All the loop-the-loops and colour sprays; we get them every day and we are so lucky. After recreating a few flight outfits for recent fancy dress parties we got them out again for this shoot as a little salute to out Lincolshire glory!




The kids and Rob looked fab and the colours could not be better! What a fantastic opportunity to capture!
I loved taking a few snaps, but it was Raph who really got into capturing some shots on my DSLR and phone camera. It was tricky for them and my camera is bigger than the play digital ones but one Raph had worked out how to hold it he did really well. Well, really well for a 4 year old. I tried to help him set up a shot, encouraging him where to look and talking about what he could see. It was nice, he understood a lot more than Etta but I suppose for this starting point, they just need to enjoy trying to snap anything. They are proud of it no matter how it looks so just encouraging that enjoyment is what is important. Using my camera on my phone was a lot easier for them to see what they were doing more instantly. Our kids don't play on our phones so even this was an exciting opportunity and one that was good to use to help teach Raph especially about capturing a picture.



Raph's pictures




Etta's attempt with the DSLR



When teaching children new skills it is great to share their results. With photos the easiest thing to do is print them off and allow the children to hold them. Then they can really grasp what they were doing, especially when it comes to photography. Even using them to make cards with or gifts with is a great way for them to take pride in their artistic work. We would often make cards so using our own photos is perfect for this. I also love that Photobox offers the opportunity to turn your pictures into gifts. Their collection is great and having the chance to get a picture on a mug, keyring, t-shirt or even cushion seems like a great way to really get a good gift, all from the kids for Father's Day. For me personally, I think I might get these printed up in their Retro prints and peg them up like bunting to help us decorate for Fathers Day. I think the kids will also love one of the Photo Magic Mugs which reveals a picture once a hot drink is poured in!
If I were you I would head to the website and have a look at what they have to offer in the Father's day section and take a peak at the special offers as there are some great discounts.


After letting the kids play around I couldn't help but spend some time getting some shots also. If I am going to be in competition with the kids I need to make sure I keep up with them! 
It is always nice getting some good shots of our little gang and these ones make me smile!






I couldn't encourage you more to get the kids involved in taking some pictures of the main man in their life to celebrate them over the Father's Day weekend. 

Now it's your turn to #FocusOnDad! Fancy a chance at winning a spot at the exclusive PhotoBox kids photo studio, plus £300 to treat him to his perfect day out? Head to Photobox #FocusOnDad for more details. What a great chance for a treat for your Fathers. 

Emily

*This post is in collaboration with Photobox
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1 comment

  1. You can use these picture on Personalized coffee mug capture your memories and see them on every morning Coffee you can also gift them to your family and friends.

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