Fun with Flashlights and a Camera

More fun from the bonfire the other night...

Anyone else ever done this "trick" with a flashlight and a digital camera? It's a great nighttime activity to do with kids...particularly when at a bonfire or camping.
Make sure the flash is off on your camera...tell your child to make big circles with the flashlight, or to shake it up and down or back and forth in a big line. Older kids (or a fellow adult) can do figure eights and other shapes. Take a picture while they are moving the flashlight and see what happens!

(up and down)

(figure eight)

Then we tried it with the light sticks. They create a different effect.

The kids (as well as the adults) love seeing how the pictures turn out. And it can be an educational experience, since you can explain to the kids about how cameras work and why the picture comes out that way because of the slower shutter speed because the camera is trying to let in more light. An early photography lesson!