At the end of August, I got to be a kid again, spending a WHOLE DAY at summer camp! My little camp adventure was part of a partnership with my daughter's school. The school runs a camp for the 3-to-6-year-olds in the summer months. So I thought it would be fun to follow the kids and teachers around, and document their day in photos. My plan was to produce a PDF e-album to share with the children and their families. I was thrilled to hear that the school immediately took to the idea.

I decided to follow the camp kids around on a Friday. Each week of camp was built around different themes, and that week, the children learned about a different country every day. That day's featured country was Chile. To celebrate Chile and its awesomeness, the kids were scheduled to go on a field trip to Kensington Market for some empanadas. Yum!

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous on the day of the shoot. There were a LOT of kids...at least 15 to 20! Yikes! Well, it turned out that I had no reason to worry. The kids were AMAZING. Seriously.

Visitors to my Web site will know the my specialty is in capturing very natural images. Which means that even when you think nobody is looking, I'll be there, snapping away. Here's an image of two of the children doing some coloring in the morning, before the field trip.

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The kids were absolutely thrilled to have me around. This was partly due to the novelty of having another person around, and partly due to my big camera. Now, being around kids, it's almost impossible NOT to have them pose out of their own accord. I think it's something about this age group. They love to show off! Now, you may be thinking that this whole posing thing goes against the essence of Ümla. But in fact, it's not. Because if posing out of their own accord is totally natural for them, then BRING. IT. ON. My camera is waiting. Check out this picture of my daughter, as she showed off for me.

IMG_2235 As I mentioned earlier, the kids were really curious about my camera. I brought along about 5 different lenses with me, and they were both fascinated by the camera itself (most likely larger than what they were used to seeing). Many of the kids wanted to try out my camera, to which I obliged. I kept the strap around my neck, turned on the LCD viewfinder, put the camera on auto, and helped them hold the camera, telling them where to press for the shutter. They were thrilled to be able to participate in the photography, and I was happy to see how much joy it brought them.

The morning's activities were followed by a snack at school. After that, they started getting ready to go out, by putting on sunscreen and gathering their bags. I took this snapshot while the children lined up patiently by the door before leaving.

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Once everyone was ready, we were off! We took the TTC to Kensington Market. Here's a picture of the teachers and children as they walked to the bus stop.

IMG_2406 While I know that my daughter was gallivanting all around the city for the whole summer, it is still amazing to see first-hand, how organized and well-behaved these kids are. I mean, they they roam about the city, hopping on and off of transit like there's nothing to it! Just amazing.

Once we arrived at Kensington Market, we went to a little café and had cheese empanadas. It was a nice day out, so we all sat in the patio outside. Again, I marvelled at how well-behaved the kiddies were. On a side-note, Kensington Market is an absolute dream for photographers. There are so many vibrant colors, and the street scene is just as vibrant. Here's a picture that I took on my iPhone as we walked along. Who says that the DSLR gets to have all the fun?

After our empanadas, we headed to a nearby park. The kids voted to play a little bit before lunch. I snapped this pic as soon as the teachers gave the go-ahead for the kiddies to go play. Can't you just feel the energy?

IMG_2605 And of course, they played.

IMG_3119 And played...

After lunch, they went to the splashpad. The splashpad was awesome. I think that it was the favorite part of the kids' day. I don't blame them. Who doesn't like running around in the water on a hot summer day? This was a perfect opportunity to whip out my fisheye lens.

IMG_3056 The fact that the splashpad was round and had concentric circles painted on the concrete just made it all that more awesome. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and it was time for us to head back to the school. It was coming up on 3pm, and some of the yougner kids ended up over-tired. Fortunately, the older kids were around for comforting!

IMG_3139 We headed back to the bus stop, as we made our way back to the school. The children held hands with their designated partners.
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By the time we got back to the school, I was pooped. I said my good-byes, and my daughter and I headed home. We had originally been planning on going for ice cream after camp, but we were both so pooped that we just collapsed on the sofa at home. I ended up making us some awesome sundaes instead.

It was a truly amazing day, and I am deeply grateful to my daughter's school to have given me the opportunity to have a glimpse into camp life. The staff were great. The students were a pleasure to be around. And as an extra-bonus, I even got to hang out with my daughter! It doesn't get any better than this.

UPDATE: I have received very positive feedback from my daughter's school principal and from the head of her camp. I printed off a hard-cover copy of the photo album, and it was very well-received. I am so incredibly pleased to hear this, because it was a truly amazing project to be a part of.