Ha! I fooled you on that one, we are almost as far from hunters as anyone could be. However, we did go on a scavenger hunt, a photographic scavenger hunt to be exact! It was the last day of Christmas break (which was supposed to end a week ago) and the weather was gorgeous! We had done nothing memorable over break and also after the cold and ice, we were ready to get out of the house…uh I mean the kids, the kids were ready to get out of the house. My husband had a wonderful idea of arming each of our kids with a camera, minus Gavin who enjoyed a ride in the stroller, giving a list of subjects that they could creatively interpret and setting them loose on the little village of Gatlinburg.
Our first stop after paying an arm and half a leg for parking, was the restroom. It was…thrilling. We then gave them instructions and a handy little list, and showed Chloe and Elijah how to use the cameras. Going off the mantras “the best camera to use, is the one you have with you/know how to use,” they were given cameras they could easily manage and use based on their age, and were somewhat familiar with.
Addie used a chunky kids camera that she received for Christmas. Elijah used Bobby’s iPhone with a life-proof case. 😉 Chloe used a Nikon Coolpix.
I used a Canon Rebel with a 50mm f/1.8 lens. As we started our hunt we were welcomed by a bluegrass band filling the air with upbeat music and laughter. One more bathroom run and we were on our way! The point of the game was to see the different perspectives and interpretations from each person. You will notice that not everyone chose to do each challenge. We had a wonderful time wondering around Gatlinburg, TN, and we also enjoyed watching the uploads-oohing and ahhing over each persons masterpiece.
First on the list-hopefully in alphabetical order still:
Animal-I really like Addie’s perspective and Elijah’s catch of the deer.
Candy- I love Chloe’s angle and bokeh!
Car-Elijah’s photo struck me first, the shadows are great and the light peeking in at the top, awesome! Bobby also has an awesome shot of the aged logo!
Cupcake- I. Just.Cannot. Pick. One. Thank you Gigi’s Cupcakes in Gatlinburg!
And neither can she…
Ice Cream- Thanks to Baskin Robbins Gatlinburg for allowing us to get these photos and even supplying props for the kids.
Light-This was my favorite, I had a hard time cutting any out. Addie took photos of every bulb on one strand of Christmas lights, but ultimately her motion blur is what got me!
Pizza- Let’s just say, Chloe’s photo had us going home to make our own pizza. Mmmmm. My photo, I love the faces which almost get lost in the edges, but it is my favorite part.
Taffy- Thank you to Ole Smoky Candy Kitchen, the kids loved the free samples of the vanilla taffy, which is free of food coloring!
Tire-I assumed the kids would take photos of a tire on a car…
Tourist-Chloe was afraid to snap a photo of a tourist, I tried to convince her to think outside the box and look for touristy things, then she had me play the part- I felt like Superman, but I left my clothes on. No changing in public from me.
Transformer-What I did not expect was for Elijah to get scared and stop participating at this point. He still had fun, but the larger than life Optimus put a damper on his excitement.
I suppose it can be rather intimidating though.
Water-This one I had thought would be a favorite of the kids, again I was wrong. Notice Chloe and I took a nearly identical shot, I love the colors in hers though. Also he fountain photo-simply scrumptious!!!
Honorable mention goes to Gavin, who happily relaxed in his stroller through the whole thing.
We had fun and I highly recommend trying this out with your kids, even in your own backyard, all you need is a basic camera or a phone that take photos and a list of your “prey”.
