By Heather our Globetrotting Mama
The best trip in the world loses luster if you can’t bore your friends with photos when you get home. In the old film days, they would’ve had to nod and smile as I took them through a compilation of fuzzy, over exposed shots of people they couldn’t recognize who were often missing heads or had bodies sliced in half. Digital photography means more of us are snapping more photos more often but that doesn’t mean you can have a photo free-for-all. Here are some tips for keeping the audience in the room at your next gathering.
1. Take good pictures
Stop pretending you know what you’re doing. That manual that came with the camera wasn’t just for extra padding in the box. Take the time to read it. Not all at once (that would just be crazy!) and test out the things you’re reading. Read about “ISOs” then play with them for a week. Read something else. Repeat.
2. Cheese is cheesy:
Some kids get it. They realize that saying “cheese” isn’t really about saying “cheese” but about getting them to smile and they flash their pearly whites in ways that make their mothers happy. My kids are not among them.
On a trip to Hawaii, a Ukulele master taught me a secret. Say “alo-ha” and the ends of your mouth automatically turn up at the end. The other option? Yell at them and threaten to take everyone home. You may not get a smile but you’ll get a memorable picture.
3. Catch them when they’re not looking
This is especially good when you can’t master #2. Some of the coolest shots I have of the kids are with their backs to the camera. You won’t want all of your photos this way (People will start to talk) but a few add to the feeling that you’ve managed to peek into a moment. And moments trump forced grins every time.
4. Get in the Shot!
Q: How do you know a mom is on vacation? Answer: Everyone else is in the pictures.
Don’t get stuck holding the camera. Get a tripod and get shots of everyone. Inexpensive, durable, digital cameras mean even the kids can be put to work. You’ll be surprised at what their perspective might add to the family memories.
Q: How do you know a mom is on vacation? Answer: Everyone else is in the pictures.
Don’t get stuck holding the camera. Get a tripod and get shots of everyone. Inexpensive, durable, digital cameras mean even the kids can be put to work. You’ll be surprised at what their perspective might add to the family memories.
5. Don’t Delete…right away
Yes you could delete those less than perfect shots as soon as you realize you’ve taken them or you could download them, see them on the big screen and realize that off to the side is a perfect moment you almost missed. You can’t (shouldn’t) keep everything for ever (the shot of your finger in front of the lens can go) but give yourself a chance to see them in their glory before banishing them to cyberspace forever.
6. Clutter your shelves, not your computer
Years in the business and you know what I’ve learned? Computers crash. And when you’ve lost all of the pictures of your daughter’s first year, you’ll realize that you do actually have time to figure out a back up system. Save them to an external hard drive or learn to make albums online.
7. Don’t always shoot the big picture
Capture the things that change: toes, fingers, his little hand against yours. They’re the memories that you will be longing for when he’s towering over you years from now, asking for money to buy his own camera.
Heather Greenwood Davis is a Globetrotting Mama. Read her monthly tips at www.urbanmoms.ca or reach her at heather@greenwooddavis.com
Thanks Jen(s). Hoping we can save some parent that “lost all my photos” heartache.
Great Tips Heather! Being professional photographer, I’m always the one taking pictures of not only my immediately family, but my extended family as well as my client families. I can probably count the number of pictures of myself on one hand!
To add to the backing up – don’t just have one back up, have multiple back ups. Something always fails! I almost lost not only the first 4 years of my daughter’s life, but the first year of my son’s also! Fortunately my awesome husband saved my pictures and my sanity!
Great tips, Mama! As the designated photographer I have hardly a single shot with me in it. And I agree, some of the best shots are those captured when the kids aren’t looking. Love the little diaper bum pushing his big brother!