Photo editing does not simply occur at a computer, even as the photo is being taken children can experiment with zoom, wide lens, flash or no flash. The digital camera is revolutionary for photos, no longer do you enjoy your day at the beach then waste the last 4 photos so that you can get the film out, take it to a photo shop and anxiously leave it overnight. Then you return only to discover the film has somehow overexposed half the photos while a remaining quarter are too blurry because of the brightness of the sun, another couple are fuzzy because people were moving and there is a big blob that could very well be the photographers thumb as they accidentally place it over the lens – And that will be $12.50 thanks.
The nice thing about digital photography is you can look at the screen immediately and decide whether it is a keeper or not. Don’t like that one of the children in the background is picking his nose? Well just take the shot again. Children who are doing this may reason, justify and debate whether or not to keep the photo. We can also be more lenient about what pictures we take, not being confined to a 36 or 24 role of film, children can snap away to their hearts content (or until the lunch bell rings) in order to get that one photo that’s above the rest.
My original print
Once the photos have been captured children have the ability to edit their photos using computer software. If they are instructed children should be able to grasp the basics of nearly any photo editing software such as cropping, altering contrast or brightness, resizing and rotations. Children are able to edit photos or images in Microsoft Word in order to add detail, decorate a piece of school work, or add captions to images. Using other technology such as iPhoto, Paint.Net or Photoshop children (And their teachers) can go one step further. Images can be altered, colours can be inverted or changed to black and white, additional photos may be layered on top of each other, and of course numerous special effects to play with, once you teach the children no photo will be safe!
Photo editing could easily fit into a creative arts lesson on printing (only your print will be the first photo copied and pasted a few times), it can also be used to help children find that particularly desired look ie the photos they took of the cubbyhouse do not look magical enough to portray the setting for their story, but behold, a fiddle with the brightness, a new back round and it could be an enchanted cottage! In science the photo of the ladybug on a leaf may need to be magnified and cropped to get a better focus on the insect.
Frog Print Repeated
- Distorted Frog Print
- Frog print coloured and layered
This could also be a springboard into other technological exploration such as creating web banners, gifs, or simply finding a nice profile photo for the classes (extremely secured) web forum where they discuss books with another school. With appropriate direction these children could be the graphic designers of tomorrow… or at least know how to edit out your double chin and whiten the old teeth in the school photo!
Some Links:
Youth Learn – Some general information for kids about digital photography
Incredible Art Department -Art suggestions incorporating photography and editing
The Alphabet Project - A lesson plan using digital photography and editing to create an alphabet book for lower primary
Ann-Marie, what program did you use to do all your editing? Maybe I missed it when I was reading? The frogs look great and it is a really great art lesson! The only problem I would have is then printing – colour printing costs money, but I guess you could reduce all the artwork and print four to a page if it was that dire!
By: samibz on October 1, 2008
at 2:56 pm
It is really hard to believe that technology has advanced in so many ways. Computers have developed, software has improved, the availability has increased and even cameras have developed.
It is brilliant to see just how much you can do from just a basic picture of a frog. I loved the image where you had multiple frogs and the coloured background. I think if students have positive experiences and enjoy doing tasks on the computer it may very well encourage them to focus and be more career driven.
Graphic designers, interior designers, artists, web designers and creators were very foreign terms to most children decades ago. Now with this advancement in technology and the countless experiences students are having with computers and publishing software, they are more likely to be exposed to the technical career terms. There is nothing more satisfying than hearing a student say ‘I want to be a…… when I grow up’.
Has technology changed the lives and career pathways of students from an earlier age?
By: nay83 on October 10, 2008
at 3:26 pm