My Little Camera Girl

My little girl, Nisa who's not quite three, has taken an avid interest in digital photography.

Not looking at actual photos, mind you, but actually taking shots! It never ceases to amaze me how quick her baby mind works, for she could grasp the technicalities of operating her father's camera phone or my digital camera through the process of observation. And her subject? Things close to her heart, of course, like Fat Cat, her stuffed orange toy cat; like Ginger, her rag doll; like her pink baby doll and of course, her favourite model, 4-year old big brother Luqman!

Well, I must admit that most of her shots are misses rather than hits. Nearly all are off focus and end up being deleted. But her enthusiasm is downright infectious, and antics truly endearing. So much so that one would forget that one is actually allowing a tiny girl of two to handle an expensive piece of equiptment in her tiny, unsteady, baby hands!

There is an old and familiar malay adage - "Di mana tumpahnya kuah kalau tidak ke nasi" - i.e. "the fruit will not fall far from the tree".

For her paternal grandpa was a roaming photographer in his youth, travelling the breadth of Kuala Lumpur with his trusty old Rolleiflex. And two of his children - my husband Hazni and his oldest sister Kak Dada are avid photographers. But while Kak Dada has captured almost every single family event on film from the heydays of her youth until now, Hazni prefers nature and landscapes. My brother, Jimmy, is another keen photographer, and has a number of portfolios compiled over the years, the collection of which is to be proud of .

As for Nisa? Well, its too soon to tell how far or where her new interest will take her. After all, she's not quite three yet!

But for now, her father and I, as do her other doting aunts, uncles and grandparents, revel in the wonder of her digital masterpieces.