Resolutions, smesolutions. We all have them – some we follow through with, others get lost on the wayside of daily life. Lose weight, get more financially stable, be a better friend, blog more, the list goes on and on. Something I’m committing to this year (one of many new commitments I’m making) is to take my camera out more and photograph my family. I know, I know what you are thinking – and if you know me in real life or have followed me for any amount of time you’ll know I take quite a few photos, ahem, quite often. However what I’m referring to is intentionally picking up my camera and simply capturing my kids, our family, in our every day element – without expectations, perfect smiles, or awkward poses.
Twenty years from now, will I want to only remember the intentional trips to a location I set up for their Christmas photos, or will I want to picture their shared bedroom at the ages of 1 and 5? The color story, the transportation theme, the inevitable pile of clothes my 17 month old pulls out, without fail, all the time. How about the way my husband and oldest like to build block towers just to see my youngest knock it over and then burst out into laughter? As a young, busy, working-at-home-mother of two I often overlook the beauty that is here, in our lives. I ’shoot’ children and families all the time, capturing them in their element – why not my own?
How about you, do you snap photos of the every day? Do you pull out the camera during family breakfast, en route to Starbucks, or even during the mid-afternoon meltdown? What about your teenagers messy room, the afternoon cup of strawberry milk that brightens your child’s day, or your husband’s work boots by the door. Often we don’t think of these as prime time to take pictures – when ultimately they are the tiny moments that weave the fabric of our families. The beautiful, organic, sincere pieces of your life.
I hope that as you leap, glide, or saunter into 2010, your camera will be nearby and your eyes open. Happy New Year!
{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
I carry a compact camera around in my daughter’s nappy bag so that I am always able to snap the little moments I wouldn’t ordinarily take with my larger Canon camera. I love the thought of snapping the daily grind stuff too. I always think I’d love to take a photo of her as she’s about to start crying, cause that’s the cutest face, but never have. I will make the effort though…
I’m so glad you posted this!! I used to be good at it, but have REALLY slacked off!! But in addition to this, my goal is to be IN some of the photos, and carry my p&s more so I don’t have to strive for perfection (just enjoy the moment and be mommy)!! Time to pull out the tripod ;) Thanks for all you do Angie!!
AmyC you are absolutely right on. Another great goal is to be IN more photos with your family. It seems I am always behind the camera, so I’ve been trying to be more mindful of handing it over to my husband so that there are some images of the kids and I together. Great point! :)
Ah, being IN the picture – I’m trying to be better at this!
Great post! Thanks for reminding us of the everyday little things that may go undocumented. For example, my husbands dirty, nasty work socks that he likes to leave by the couch every single night! I just don’t understand it and probably never will but that’s who he is so why not take a picture of it!? : ) I have enjoyed reading and being inspired daily here at TCM. Thank you to all the writers who contribute and strive to be an inspiration and just for being you and opening up your hearts to us! Hope you all have a wonderful 2010!
Carla thank you for your kind words and boy are you ever right about the socks! I deal with this same issue in our BED. Truth be told I’d miss those socks should they not be around…
Happy New Year to you!
I love to take those impromptu photos…most of the time my kids (or subjects) are not even looking at the camera. My kids are so use to me taking pictures of random things at random moments, that when we leave the house my eldest usually asks, ” Mom, do you have your camera?”…LOVE that!
Thanks for your dedication to preserving FAMILY moments!!
I am just the opposite, I get so many of the every day but rarely get those formal shots. In fact it has been over a year now since I have made my kids sit down for a formal picture. So we need to somehow mix and it will be perfect.
I was just looking at our photos from last year and I was sad. No much of every our every day and no much of mommy in the photo.
Questions:
Angie, how do you organize your photos?
Also, I’m saving for a better camera this year. My budget $is 1000.00, What do you recommend
Thank you so much, you inspire me!
Right on as usual! I’m right there with you! It’s so hard to not worry about the messy room, or uncombed hair…..twins that aren’t wearing matching clothes! I know…….pretty bad huh? I was just telling my husband the other day that I wanted to get a little p&s to keep in my purse……I’ll try!
Angie thanks for share this with us! This is a wonderful idea and in the back of my mind I have thought of it and never do it. There are so many times I wish I would of and regret it and now I am going to try (key word) to be more aware of it! We take life sometimes for granted and we need to step back and look at what we have! So capturing the real life time moments that we can treasure forever is a great thing to do! thanks and happy new year to all!
Perfect post Angie! I think I might jump on the “photo a day” bandwagon…or at least try to.
Gladys, here is a link to a post I did on organizing photos. Hope it helps! http://thecreativemama.com/were-living-in-a-digital-world/
As far as type of camera to get, a great place to look is B & H Photo. I’m really only familiar with Nikon & Canon – but a few I would suggest looking into would be:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/589104-REG/Canon__EOS_Rebel_XS_a_k_a_.html
and
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/615725-REG/Nikon_25454_D5000_Digital_SLR_Camera.html
Both are great entry level DSLRs. Good luck to you!
I need to do more of this, plus the trying to actually be in it part! I’ve also started carrying my flip video recorder with me. Love to see all the random moments the kids capture!
Thanks for the reminder Angie! I have been terrible about carrying my camera with me lately. I need to get a cute camera bag just to hold my camera & a single lens. I\’m thinking that cute bowling bag you posted about a while back or a jill-e bag. Hummm… Thanks to you and everyone here at TCM. I come here everyday & continue to be inspired by all of you! Thanks for everything!!!
Could you please tell me where you got the Woody and Jessie with the horse dolls? My son would love, love them. Thank you! love you photos ! bal93@aol.com
What a perfect post – this is my goal for 2010 – to push myself to shoot the ordinary details of life…I always enjoy reading your posts – thanks! :)
I’m with AmyC on trying to be *in* more photos! This will sound morbid, but if (god forbid) anything was to happen to me I’d want my kids to have some photos of us all together.
I’ve got a compact camera that I try to remember to take out with me, but sometimes my 4yr old son takes it out of my bag to play camera man, lol!
Happy New Year to you Angie. :) xxx
What a great reminder that pulling out the camera doesn\’t have to be a chore! Sometimes I get caught up in the idea that when I pull out my dslr, I have to do a full-on photo shoot with my boys. They get annoyed, I get stressed out, and the camera goes back in the bag until the next session. Remembering the little day-to-day moments will be treasured … they grow so fast!!
Happy 2010, Angie!! xoxo
I totally agree on committing to it! After 2 years of love with my dSLR, my family has finally learned that it’s here to stay and to just ignore me when I have it out (unless I ask for a posed shot, of course…then the bargaining chips come out). :) This is why I love Project 365 so much – it keeps me shooting the everyday! Small events I’d forgotten about, the way my dresser top was organized, etc. are chronicled for me. I did it for the first time last year and have committed to this year too just because I loved it so much!