Avery's First Photo Shoot

This past weekend, I bought our five-year-old granddaughter Avery Grace a little $15.00 digital camera, and for about half an hour she happily went around taking pictures of everything in sight. Needless to say, when I downloaded them to my laptop, the pictures looked like they were taken by a five-year-old running around with a $15.00 camera. NOT a pretty sight! I didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm, though, so I gave her my little Canon Power Shot camera and we went outside. I told her to just look around and find things she'd like to take a picture of — and away she went! I was pleased that she was drawn to some of the same things I've captured with my camera in our yard, and I think her pictures turned out remarkably well for her first "photo shoot" (I did not edit the pictures in any way, except for cropping them). Her first stop was to capture these bedraggled little pansies that survived our harsh winter. And next, she stopped at my little girl statue that is beside the path leading to the backyard. Of course, the gazing ball caught her attention, and she asked me if it was a "future ball," meaning a magic crystal ball, I assumed. Next came a Birdhouse ... Armillary ... Rooster Weather Vane ... And Sundial ... She took this picture of a little rooster statue, which is okay. But after I showed her how to get down on the same level with her subject, her second picture was much better. Her attempt to capture the first blooms on my Lady Banks Rose vines was a little shaky ... I'm proud of Avery's first pictures. She is going to spend a few days with us this week while on "spring break" from kindergarten, and I'm looking forward to letting her discover more of the world as seen through a camera lens. I hope she will love it as much as I do, and I have visions of us sharing many happy hours together as we capture the world around us in pictures — and the sweet memories we'll capture in the process will be the greatest lagniappe ever!