Welcome back to the second installment in taking, organizing, and utilizing your photos! If you missed the first in the series you can read it here. Now that you’ve decided to commit to yourself and your family to preserve memories and moments I want to dig a little deeper into some ways to capture your memories!
Making a Place for Your Camera
For a long time I knew I wanted to capture more of our life, but didn’t do it as often as I would have hoped. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about it, I just didn’t have my camera nearby! The times I would think about taking a picture I found it often wasn’t worth the effort to go get it and would pull out my phone, or not take the picture at all.
Now, I’m not saying that I don’t love and appreciate all of my (many) iPhone pictures. Smart phone cameras have made giant strides in the last few years!! A lot of the things I think about when taking a photo with my big camera transfer over to phone photography as well. So much, that there are entire courses dedicated to taking photos with your phone! Obviously, a photo taken is better than an opportunity missed so I don’t want to give anyone the impression that if they don’t have a big professional camera they can’t document their lives. It’s simply not true! Start with what you have and see what works best for you!
For me, my goal was to not only take pictures, but to be intentional in pulling out my DSLR and making sure I was getting those shots that my iPhone just couldn’t produce. To make sure I was able to quickly and easily grab my camera I knew it would have to make it more convenient. Now, instead of keeping my camera in my bag, I have it in a place that is central in my home. Usually, it’s on my mantle so it can be close, but away from little fingers. In our previous home, I kept it out of the way on the kitchen counter. Wherever you choose, find somewhere that you’re often near so it can be easy to grab.
What Do I Take Pictures Of?
We are part of the first generation in history to be able to have unlimited access to take and store pictures. What a wonderful gift to be able to give our children and posterity! Think back to your childhood, your parents and grandparents’ childhoods, and think of the things you’d like to be able to know or see. Do you wish you could see the moment your grandparents met you as an infant? That time you had your entire extended family got together to celebrate your grandma’s 100th birthday? Maybe you’d like to be able to know how your parents decorated when you were a child. What your favorite toy was when you were 3. Or what your first birthday looked like.
What is the story that you would like to tell to your children and grandchildren? What are the things you want to be able to remember 50 years from now? Heck, even 10 years from now! I know my memory is not as great as I think it is. Because of this I like to make sure I take pictures of the everyday little moments. The things that seem to never change often end up being the things that change when you’re not looking. Your baby won’t always snuggle up to you to sleep. Your pets and parents will grow old. Friends and family will move away. The ability to look back on a photo is to take a time machine back to that moment.
Some people enjoy taking part in photo challenges where they take one picture a week, or every hour throughout their day. There’s even people who take a picture every day for a year. Now that’s commitment! Maybe this type of project will encourage you to be accountable to taking photos more regularly. Or maybe it’ll just stress you out! (I tried to take one photo hourly to document our life during the early days of the pandemic and only made it until 2:00. Of one day. No judgment here!)
In addition to the things we normally think about pulling out our camera for – birthdays, “firsts”, holidays, etc. – I find myself gravitating towards moments of connection. Snuggles while reading a book. Moments where my kids are enjoying playing together. (Because some days that needs to be documented so we know it actually happened!) Baking with Nana. Simple moments that come and go without much thought, but exemplify our love for one another. A visual reminder of how much my children are loved every time they look through our albums or see the prints on the wall.
What About Photo Sessions with a Professional?
Want to book a session with your favorite photographer? Go for it! There are so many fun occasions (and non occasions) to have a pro come and do their thing. You can have sessions for:
- Engagements
- Weddings
- Maternity
- Birth
- Newborn/Fresh 48
- Baby’s first year (usually every three months beginning at birth through their first birthday.)
- Birthdays
- Seniors (both in high school and college)
- Yearly family pictures
- Wedding Anniversaries
- Parties
- Extended family pictures
- The list goes on and on!
Having a professional not only takes the pressure off of you to capture all the special moments, but guarantees that you get to be in the pictures as well. As a mom and the one who most often is behind the camera, there’s not as many pictures with me. Hand over your camera so you can make and remember the moments you were apart of!
Today’s Takeaway
Think back to your reason for committing to document your life more fully. What things will you want to be able to look back on? Are there special moments you can preserve in your day? What crazy experiences will you want to remind yourself that you made it through? Think of how you can easily incorporate having the camera in your hand at times. Remember, the only one who can determine the frequency is you! Feel free to play around and find out what works best for your life right now.
Once you know the types of moments you want to capture, I encourage you to find a spot that you can keep your camera nearby. Take your big camera to the zoo, the park, or on a family walk occasionally. Take the opportunity to pull out your phone even if you don’t have your camera with you.
Read the rest of the Heritage series here:
Part 1: How to Take, Organize, and Print your Personal Photographs