How to Make Photography a Family Thing (Not Just Your Thing)
How to involve your kids in your family's photo practice—and teach them presence and gratitude while doing it
I talk a lot about how taking pictures of your everyday life can be a great way to exercise your muscles of presence and gratitude. Recently I was reminded how fun it is to teach our kids these things through using the camera as well!
And truthfully, if you want your family to be down for helping you take pictures, you gotta learn how to make it a family thing. That means creating experiences where everyone gets to learn how to love it in their own way.
In this piece, I’m sharing my favorite tips for helping kids fall in love with photography—so you can start getting everyone on board with documenting your life together (and sneak in a little gratitude practice while you’re at it).
Recently I was out in the yard taking pictures for a guest publication on my favorite daily routines when my 5 year old asked me if she could take some pictures too. I saw this as an opportunity to get her more excited about taking pictures (because I wanted her in some as well) so I said yes!
She very excitedly took my camera and started firing off the shutter. Now mind you, I was using my Canon ae-1 with a roll of film in it, so I said to her, “I love that you’re so excited about this. Here let me show you how to use it.”
I gave her a little lesson on looking through the view finder, explaining to her that what she sees in that tiny little hole is what she’s taking a picture of. I got right down on her level and said, “Do you want to know what the best way to take pictures is?” (she nodded)
“All you have to do is look for things that make you feel happy or you really love, and then you take a picture of those things. Like, do you see anything in the yard right now that makes you happy?”
She looked around and said the roses.
“Okay let’s go stand in front of them and take a picture.”
I walked her to the roses and knelt down behind her. I put my face right next to her face and focused on the roses with the camera strap still around her neck. Then I put it in her hands and let her take a picture.
Here’s the thing, whether your kids are in front of or behind the camera, the secret to getting your kids to love when it comes out is you have to make a really positive association with it.
Like, in this case, I knew that part of the deal to getting my daughter into taking pictures was letting her have fun with it. Even if that meant sacrificing a few rolls for the sake of that.
When I got the roll of film back, most of the photos she took were blurry (as I expected). But there were some genuine keepers in there! Even after just a few times of letting her play with my canon ae-1, she started making progress with it.
But the craziest thing was realizing that day I asked her to look for what was beautiful, when I first showed her how to use my camera, was so much more than teaching her how to decide what to take a picture of. It was actually this low-key way of teaching her how to practice mindfulness and taking inventory of what she’s grateful for.
I realized this a few weeks later when one day we were outside in the backyard and I was letting her play with my camera again. She ran up to me and said excitedly, “Mom I want to take a picture of you!”
“Sure! Where do you want me to stand?”
"Come sit over here. Now hold this flower like this…. I want you to think about what you love. What do you see? What do you hear?”
For all the times you hear your kids mirror back to you things you say that makes you think, oooh I need to work on that… this was of those delightful moments where I got to feel proud for what I was hearing mirrored back to me (one of my favorite ideas I try to remember in my parenting is that my voice and the way I speak about myself, others, about dealing with conflict or stress or life, that will become my children’s voice… and I always try to be mindful of it).
And writing this piece the thought just occurred to me…
Teaching your kids how to use a camera is such a wonderful way to not only show them how to have fun with photography (with you!).
It’s not only a way to teach them gratitude and presence.
It’s also an incredible way to teach your kids that their life and their joy is important. Because every time we take a picture of something or someone, we are saying, “This moment, my time with you, the way that I feel when I’m with you…I want to remember it forever.”
If you want to start getting your kids into photography for fun, here’s some tips to make it fun and successful:
Make it fun! It’s soooo important that you make it really fun and light and easy. If you start reprimanding your kids, 100% this will be the fastest way to get them to shut down and not want to take pictures. Getting them to love being behind the camera is also a double effort for getting them more eager to be in front of the camera.
You can start off giving them something super easy and durable like a disposable camera or a half-frame camera or even a polaroid camera.
I recommend trying the take turns method - you let them take 1-3 photos, you take 1-3 photos, they take 1-3 photos. Make it a fun thing that you do together! You could even level this up as more of an activity by going somewhere together with your child (if you have multiple kids this could be such a fun 1:1 activity with one of them, which side note: I also find to be one of my favorite ways to connect with my kids now that I have 3. Having 1:1 time with them, even if it’s just going for a walk around the block with each one before bed time, has been the best thing ever for my connection with my kids. Click HERE to read this beautiful article my friend Jamie wrote about How to use your camera to connect with your kids).
Make sure you have a strap on your camera so your child can put it around their neck and minimize the risk of dropping it.
When you first give the camera to your child, tell them to simply look for what makes them happy and take a picture of it. A pretty flower, some sunshine, a bug, a person… what do they see around them that makes them happy? Walk them through this kid-version of gratitude and mindfulness and as they’re taking pictures, ask them questions! “Ooh what did you just take a picture of, can you show me? Wow that is so beautiful, I love that you noticed that! You have a really good eye.” Etc.
Okay most important - you have to be okay with the fact that your kid might drop your camera. I watched this video years ago of a guy on Oprah who said when his nephew puked in the back seat of his brand new car and started crying because he felt bad, the guy poured his soda all over the seat and said “Obviously we want to try and take care of our things but things are NEVER more important than the people in my life. I don’t care about my seat. I just want to make sure you’re okay.” And I carry that sentiment with me in all aspects of my parenting. So when it comes to my cameras, I never give a camera to my kid that I would be really upset or mad if they broke it. If the idea of giving them your camera makes you squeamish, get some disposable cameras or a half-frame camera for them to play with! (even though it’s not film, I also loooove this Camp Camera which is a screen-free digital camera with a very disposable camera vibe, it’s such a great beginner camera for a kid to use).
The best part about teaching your kid(s) how to use a camera, eventually they’ll start to take your picture too! (which, as my family’s main picture-taker, I am so grateful and excited to have yet another person to give my camera to).

Would you ever let your kids play with a camera? (or have you?)
Drop a comment below and share with me, conversation with other people who love photography is what makes this so much more fun!
If you loved the film pictures in this email and you want to learn how to master shooting with film more yourself, click HERE to join my How to Shoot Film 101 class. Or if you want to learn all about how to photograph your own life and your kids, click HERE to sign up for my Photographing Your Family class. (use the code GRATEFUL2025 for $100 either class off as a thank you for being here with me on Substack!)
Ways to connect more with me:
I started a podcast finally! I would say this is for parents, photographers, anyone interested in all things growing and noticing (or just hearing more about my process as a photographer).
I love this, Suzy! I’m currently in Hawaii with my three kids and asked my 10 year-old to photograph my daughter and I in front of the sunset last night. With pretty much zero direction, he lined our bodies up in front of the sun and nailed a perfect silhouette. I was ecstatic, and I could tell he was really proud of making such a beautiful picture. ❤️
“All you have to do is look for things that make you feel happy or you really love, and then you take a picture of those things. Like, do you see anything in the yard right now that makes you happy?”
This is probably the best photography advice I’ve ever heard! I’ve always tried to explain it but I over do it. This is the most simple, basic form of photography.
Well written, great advice, and what a beautiful journey!