Underwater Photography with Kids
My 7 year old loves photography and is currently on his 3rd camera. He broke the first two within a month. After several more months of him begging me for a new one and me saying "no" he asked Santa for one. So, because of his consistent interest in photography and since he is a really sweet boy, I decided to do all the research I could to find a camera that was kid proof. I don't mean one of those toy cameras that don't have memory cards and only take horrible, tiny, grainy pictures. I wanted to get him a camera that took decent pictures, had some memory so I didn't have to unload it all the time for him and could withstand a 7 year old. I found it - the Olympus Stylus Tough met all my requirements. It has internal zoom, so you don't have a lens going in and out (this is what a kid usually breaks first), takes 10 megapixel images, and the best part is that it is shockproof up to 5 feet and waterproof up to 10 feet. So you can drop it and get it wet and it will still live. He loves the video feature too. So far, he's had it for 7 months and hasn't broken it. He has lost it a few times, but hasn't broken it.
I like it too. I had fun taking these pictures in the pool on our vacation. I think it did a pretty good job. At every waterfall we visited, Benjamin had to put it in the water and take a picture of the river bottom. I loved to see other adult faces when he put it in the water, one guy freaked and tried to stop him from getting the camera wet and I had to assure him it was okay.
If you don't want to spend the money on a camera and just want to play around with underwater photography, I found this little $15 camera that looks like fun. I might buy a few for gifts, or give them to the kids as stocking stuffers. It's a film camera, so you will have to get the film developed. Remember how to do that? It's been a while for me. Remember how fun it was to go pick up your developed pictures and see what you had? It was exciting for me anyway. You can find it at Photojojo.
