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Fun Summer Project for My Granddaughter

My 10 year old granddaughter has been into photography for several years now, growing her skills with her dad's "hand-me-down" digital cameras. This last Christmas, she got all rigged out with new tripod, new camera bag, memory cards, and a bunch of other great camera gear. Earlier this summer she was showing me some of her photos...lots of them...and I was actually surprised! I mean I have to like them all....she's my granddaughter. But I was impressed with her eye and her skills of working the camera.

Yes - there were the expected hoard of kitty photos - I mean what 10 year old girl wouldn't have that? Then there were lots of baby goat shots, baby pigs, the mama pig, shots of the donkeys, a few of Sam (the Grand Pyrenees farm dog), and lots of selfies. It was obvious she was having fun.

So I thought I would give her a challenge. I opened up my case of Outback Bowies and asked if she would be interested in taking some photos of O'Bear's knives (that's me BTW). I told her that I was interested in getting some new photos to post here on iKC. I also provided an incentive - I told her I would pay her for her photos if they were good enough to post on the site.

At first she was intimidated...but after a week of thinking about it, the money sounded pretty good. (I think her dad had some influence there...)

So she agreed and asked me what I wanted. I told her she had complete artistic license, and that I wanted her to use her imagination. Basically..."if these were your knives, how would you photograph them?"

This is what she came up with:

Outback Bowie Type 1L

Outback Bowie Type 1W

Outback Bowie Type 2L

Outback Bowie Type 2W

OK - so she used the same scheme and set up for all of the shots. But I gotta admit - my initial impression was "wow, these are pretty good!" And when I studied these further, I recalled all those shots of the kitties, the baby pigs, Sam, and the donkeys.....they were all in the same pastoral setting.

OK O'Bear...stop thinking knife collector and start thinking like a 10 year old.

So I asked her about her thought process and how she come up with this particular idea. Here's the money shot...."I wanted to show your knives in their natural setting O'Bear. This is where you use them, right?"

You're absolutely right Addie!

So....whatta you think? Will any of these make it in the 2022 iKC Calendar this year? Who knows...but it was a great time to engage my granddaughter, invest in her skills, and give her a chance to show off a little.

And needless to say, they are good enough to post here on iKC!

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Featured Comment by dead_left_knife_guy on July 31, 2022 at 17:33: Addie's got skill, & an eye for photography. I agree with Jan -- photo 3 is the one for the calendar (though I'd put the 2nd photo a close runner-up)... :)

What I noticed is her ability to take photos of bare steel on a sunny day WITH NO GLARE on the blades. I can't tell you often glare just wipes out a blade's definition in my photos. She's gotten past that problem at 1/5th of my age!

This was a great idea of yours, Lars. I hope you'll get her to take more! And pay her well... :)

Comment by Dennis Hibar on July 31, 2022 at 15:51: Wow ..... just wow!!!

Comment by Lars Ray on July 31, 2022 at 15:40: Coming full circle on this story - like a double-edged knife, the bragging goes both ways. First I shared my granddaughter's photos' here with my iKC friends - then today at a family gathering, I was pleased to share with her both the blog and the comments received. We made it a family deal - so everyone could see what was taking place.

I shared with her that these aren't just friends patting me on the back because it was about my granddaughter - I pointed out that those who have commented so far are important people here at iKC!

I told her that JJ knows a lot about a lot of things - and a whole lot about knives (which is why I hang out with him) and he believed in her just because of who she is.

Then I told her Jan owns the website and that iKC puts out a first-class calendar every year (I showed her the 2022 calendar - and no promises made for the 2023 issue).

Next I showed Dennis' monthly knife photos and showed her that this is my friend who knows what he is doing when it comes to his collection and the photos he takes of them - so his comment has weight and value.

Then I explained who Ben North is and his site and explained that he too not only knows a lot about knives, but that he is also a professional photographer. So he knows what he is talking about too.

Then lastly, I explained to her that when these friends of mine think this much about her photos on this site, it counts as provenance by critics who know their stuff! Talk about a pumped up 10 year old girl today! Who knows, JJ may be right - this little exercise may very well have a serious impact on her life.

As for me - better believe I burned this candle at both ends. I got some pretty good photos of my knives, got to brag about my granddaughter here at iKC, and I got to brag about my iKC friends to my granddaughter while at the same time exposing the rest of my family to iKC in the process!

Let's see - I think there is a solid 4-way win there in this single blog!

Thank you all for helping me to encourage my granddaughter in her interests - I couldn't have done it as well without you.

Comment by Ben North on July 30, 2022 at 9:57: Wow. She did a great job.

Comment by Dennis Hibar on July 26, 2022 at 2:45: Excellent!!!!

Comment by Lars Ray on July 25, 2022 at 19:28: Well you know me...I am not above exploiting my grandchildren if it gets me in the calendar! :-D

Thank you for your comments - I am going to have equally as much fun sharing this with her -

Comment by Jan Carter on July 25, 2022 at 18:38: Ummm, YES!!!!

I was thinking 2023 Calendar before i got to the 3rd shot!!

Comment by J.J. Smith III on July 25, 2022 at 10:32: She may well look back, one of these days, and remember that you helped to launch her career.