Teaching My Kids Photography: Smartphones to DSLR, Lesson II

After our introductory lesson to creating narrative and telling personal stories with smartphone cameras, I asked my kids to advance their skill set by telling visual stories using a more advanced, more versatile camera. In this case, they’re using my Sony Alpha a6500 mirrorless camera with the lightweight Sony E 16mm f/2.8 lens. As with Lesson I, the only criterion is that the images have to be taken indoors, because we are still sheltering in place and learning from home.

Sony a6500 Mirrorless Camera with 18-135mm Lens

The reasons behind using this compact mirrorless camera prior to working with a DSLR are straightforward. It offers live view and flip-out touchscreen LCD capability, which is an easier transition from their familiar smartphone. There is a viewfinder, which for them “makes it real photography,” and I hope they use it but, primarily, they are using the LCD at waist level or arm’s length to compose. Manual exposure control can be incorporated, and seeing the settings in real time on the LCD will also help the transition to a DSLR and a better understanding of exposure control. Of course, it is also small and has a silent mode, which enables them to just pick it up when the moment strikes and, in one case, create a discreet story in a relatively small New York apartment.