Why Photography Is The Perfect Family Activity

This is a collaborative post.

I’ve always loved the idea of being a photographer. In college, I did a course on photography and loved it, but for some reason, I didn’t pursue it any further. Shame really, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give it another go! Last year I bought my daughter her own camera, and despite only being little she absolutely loved it. This year, however, she’s shown much more of an interest in using it properly, and it’s got me thinking about why photography is the perfect family activity.

My daughter loved her kids’ camera from the get-go, but recently we’ve been out on some day trips around the north-east where she’s been able to really make use of it. My camera of choice would be one of these (Professional) Mirrorless Cameras, but given that she’s only six, I think we’ll have to add that one to my birthday wishlist for the future instead.

Anyway, her newfound love of photography has reignited my old passion for it, and it’s also made me think about how a hobby like taking photos can really bring people together. Some of the images in this post were taken by my little girl, and others were taken by me.

We started out by just walking around our local area with the dog, talking about the scenery and what might make a nice picture if we were to draw it. Then we went down towards the beach and the quayside where we live, and my daughter was fascinated by the ships and seagulls.

Then she suggested using her camera to get a picture of the scene in front of her, and I told her it was a great idea. I think she must’ve taken about twenty photos of the same thing, but she absolutely loved it!

Why photography is the perfect family activity

Fast forward to now and things have really developed (pardon the pun) from that first little exploration. My daughter’s love of photography has shown no signs of slowing down, and it’s inspired me to rediscover it too! Unfortunately for me, I’m limited to my phone camera for now, but that hasn’t stopped us from making use of it.

Photography has been the reason that we’ve had more family days out together in the last couple of months than ever before. Just after Christmas, we took an impromptu trip to Whitby. My daughter had the best time taking photos of the abbey, even if she did keep referring to it as ‘the castle’! I wasn’t bothered though, because she actually took some really good photos.

She took this one on her Kidizoom camera, and while the picture quality itself isn’t amazing, she managed to get a nice balanced composition for the shot she wanted here. Plus, it doesn’t have a cartoon filter on, which shows she was taking it seriously!

She even insisted on using my phone camera to take snaps of me in various poses at the abbey and the surrounding areas. I was quite surprised by how good her pictures actually were if I’m honest. Bearing in mind that she’s only six, she seemed to really enjoy looking for the perfect shot to take. More importantly, her love of taking photos really contributed to us having a great day out together. We had loads of fun looking for things she could photograph.

Spending time together outdoors

I’m a notoriously hermit-like person when left to my own devices. However, with an interest in photography, you can’t limit yourself to the great indoors. One of the best things about photography as a family activity is that it forces you to go and explore the world outside together. In today’s busy lifestyle, that’s not always an easy thing to do.

It used to be that on a weekday afternoon, once school was over, we’d potter about in the house, winding down until bedtime. Now, we grab the camera and head out for a walk down to the beach for half an hour! It’s sometimes the last thing I feel like doing after a long day at work, but actually, it does us both the world of good.

My daughter loves to take photos of the rockpools, shells and the tide as it comes in, and the dog is grateful for the extra exercise, so it’s a win-win situation for all of us. It’s nice to find an activity that we can actually do together, rather than me just watching her do something.

These opportunities to spend quality time together actually doing something productive is, for me, the main reason why photography is the perfect family activity.

Creativity Starts At Home

I’ve always been a big advocate for creativity and why it’s so important to encourage it with children. It’s not always easy though, and a lot of parents feel apprehensive about creative activities being messy or expensive. Photography is definitely mess-free, and easy to pick up whenever the mood strikes.

Another good thing about photography is that aside from the initial outlay of your camera purchase, it’s a relatively inexpensive family activity. There’s no mess or fuss with it, and with the advances in technology, there are no issues around actually processing your shots either. My daughter is always really excited to see how her photos turn out on the big screen once I’ve uploaded them to my computer.

I think that’s one of the reasons I always held back from exploring photography further when I was younger. Back then, you had to take your films to a shop to be processed. Then you had to wait a week or so until you could pick them up! Unless you were fortunate enough to access a darkroom, of course. These days, you can take a photo and it’s viewable instantly.

Self-printing is another aspect of this hobby that makes it so accessible as a family activity. You can still use printing services if you’d like to, but if you’ve got a good quality printer at home then you can take care of that yourself. We’re lucky, as I have a professional printer for my art shop at home, so it’s really easy to print out some of our favourite photos.

The next steps

My little girl’s love of photography is something I’m really proud of, and I want to make sure she stays engaged with it. The next step for me then is to invest in a good quality camera for myself. That way, we can head out together on photography days more often!

I’ve actually been considering levelling up my website photography for a while now, so it feels like the right time to finally grab a camera of my own. Plus it’s my birthday soon, so it’d be an ideal gift. It’d also be a solid piece of equipment for me to level up my streaming setup, so I’m definitely going to be looking to buy one this year.

Have you got a passion for photography? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one! Do you have any opinions on why photography is the perfect family activity? Or do you think there are other hobbies that can bring huge benefits to your family? Let me know in the comments below.

As always, you can catch up with me in the comments, and if you’ve enjoyed this post then you might also enjoy some of the Art & Creativity pins over on my Pinterest boards.