By Tina Gallion. Aug. 16, 2018. I have a five number password to get into my phone so my boys Cole (9) and Quinn (7) can’t get in to it. After seeing how addicted they got to “educational” games I removed them from my phone and got rid of the iPad, that was 4 years ago.
One thing they can get into without a password is the camera, and they love to use it, when given the opportunity. So when Columbia Insight said they were having a nature photography workshop for kids, I thought it would be a strategic way to channel their energy into taking beautiful pictures of nature instead of 100 selfies.
On Saturday morning July 21, Cole and pals Gabe and Ben joined eleven other 10 to 12 year-olds at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center’s cafe, where Jurgen Hess gave a short introduction to photography. The fourteen listened, but they were eager to get OUTSIDE.
Columbia Insight’s intern Lauren Church and high school student Sebastian Rogg quickly divided the student photographers into three groups; each took a group and assigned one to CI publisher Susan Hess and to parents like me. The students headed OUT with their phone or tablet or camera. They crouched down to get take a picture through the reeds along the pond’s shore. They aimed up through trees to capture sun the bursts. Took close up shots of wildflowers with bugs on them. Leaned out over the pond to photograph tiny fish.
The photographers practice their skills taking pictures of a red-tailed hawk. Gorge Discovery Center volunteer Teri tells them about this raptor and why it came to be in GDC’s raptor rehabilitation program.
Then it was back inside as Center volunteer Teri began the raptor program. The 14 photographers learned about the Center’s raptor rehabilitation work. Up close they got to take photos of a kestrel, red tailed hawk, and great horned owl.
Once more they headed back outdoors for a photo-scavenger hunt. The kids loved it all.
Sponsors NW Natural and Columbia Bank provided scholarship funds for any who couldn’t afford the $30 fee.
The reality is I will not be able to hold off getting my two boys a phone forever. Phones are a fact of life now. But perhaps they can use it as a tool to capture the beauty of nature. The workshop was empowering for all the kids. See a sampling of the students’ incredible photos below. Tina Gallion, parent & guide to youth photographers
