If you're reading this guide, you are probably considering teaching kids photography. While a kids photography camp is a bit more involved than a basic photography for kids class, it’s a great way to really get involved with your community and to get to know other businesses in your area.

This guide will take a look at some things you need to consider when you teach a kids photography camp.

1. Choosing a Location for Your Kids Photography Camp

Choosing the right location for your Kids Photography camp is the first step. Here are a few locations you may want to consider:

• Community Hall or Recreation Center: Every city or neighborhood has some type of community hall or recreation center that can be used to teach classes at a minimal cost. If you don’t know of a location like this near you, check into any community colleges in your area as they generally also offer classes during the summer months.
• Co-Op Space/Studio: Many co-op work spaces and photography studios are the ideal location for small workshops and classes. Turn to platforms such as Facebook to identify co-op spaces in your area. Keep in mind that most studios will need you to have liability insurance before you can hire the space.
• Local Schools: Local schools often have summer programs available for kids in the area. You may be able to find a school that will let you use one of their classrooms for a minimal fee.
• Tip: If you can find a location that has easy access to a park or an open outdoor area that is safe for kids to go out and take photos, even better.

 2. Price Your Kids Photography Camp Appropriately

Now that you’ve decided on the location, you’re going to have to determine how to price your photography classes  so that you can start promoting your kids photography camp.

Since you are hosting a camp, you have the option of charging a higher price because a camp is usually of a higher perceived value than a "class".  Plus, you will be with the kids for several hours each day. Many kids camps in general charge up to $300 per child.

Check the kids summer camps in your area to find out what the average camp cost is.

This should give you a good range of what parents in the area are paying for other camp programs.  The price will depend a lot on your area, but on average photographers charge $150 to $300 per child.

3. Choose Your Photography Curriculum

Decide on a curriculum before you start promoting your camp so that you know how many lessons you will be included in your course and how to structure your days.

Start by breaking up your photography lessons into topics. For example, if you want to teach children the basics of photography you could divide your lessons into the following topics: exposure, composition and camera settings.

It also helps to decide on the length of each section so that you can prepare the material accordingly. Keep in mind that most children will not be arriving with an expensive DSLR camera, with many only having a smartphone or point and shoot camera, so prepare your curriculum accordingly.

To help save you time, check out this done-for-you kids photography camp lesson kit.

4. Decide on a Structure for Your Kids Photography Camp

Generally you will want to keep each camp session to no more than 3-4 hours per day. You could offer it 4 or 5 consecutive days with a morning session and afternoon session option, you could offer a weekend option or even on day per week over a couple of weeks.

Here are some options you can use to structure your camp. The first option below is to feature one lesson per week for 8 weeks.

Note: these lessons are taken from the Kids Photography Camp curriculum bundle. Click here for more information on the curriculum:

• Wk 1/Lesson 1: History of Photography
• Wk 2/Lesson 2: Photography Gear
• Wk 3/Lesson 3: ISO
• Wk 4/Lesson 4: Shutter Speed
• Wk 5/Lesson 5: Aperture
• Wk 6/Lesson 6: Camera Settings (White Balance & Basic Settings)
• Wk 7/Lesson 7: Creative Composition
• Wk 8/Lesson 8: Types of Photographers

If you want to double up on the lessons you could make it into a 4 week kids photography camp, or a 4 day camp which would meet 4 consecutive days. Or you could have a 2-day camp intensive and teach lessons 1-4 on day one and lessons 5-8 on day two. You could schedule it 2 Saturdays in a row or 2 consecutive weekend days. It's entirely up to you!

(photo courtesy Picture Perfect Studios)

5. Find Students to Attend Your Kids Photography Camp

The first place to start is social media. Post on your social media accounts that you are planning to host a camp and ask who would be interested. Next, reach out to your photography clients via email. And finally you can check with local businesses that cater to kids or local publications that advertise to parents.  They may be able to advertise for you via their own e-mail list or on their social media outlets. You may also find a bulletin board at local businesses where you could post an informational poster advertising your camp. 

Want to get started teaching photography to kids in 24 hours? 

With Magazine Mama kids photography camp curriculum you can make your first experience teaching  an easy one. 

The curriculum will save you so much time. Plus, you can use the re-use it over and over to teach during your slower seasons, or whenever you need to earn some extra income. 

What photographers are saying...

“I've purchased 3 courses from Magazine Mama.  Camp Photography, Basic Digital and Online and they are great products. I've already implemented the first 2 and setting up the online class.  Really easy to use and incredibly helpful tool to supplement income during slower seasons.”

— Jenny

“I just completed week 3 of my Kids Photography Course with a group of 10-15 year old homeschool students.  Class meets biweekly in my home.  This package has made my job SOOO much easier.  The included material is great but then I also love that I can tweak and adjust as needed.  The kiddos are learning so much and have a great time doing it!  Thank you!” — Melissa

“This made things so much easier to start with and get things going!” — Kimberly