During the holiday season, it's easy to remember to take photos so you can remember special moments and fun times with family and friends. In fact, many families begin planning holiday photo shoots the minute the leaves start falling, but what about the rest of the year?
Are you making an effort to capture those milestones and memories that occur on a regular Thursday in spring, between changing out the laundry and starting dinner? If you find yourself missing out on filling those baby books and family albums, here's your reminder to take more photos and why you should.
Don't just do it for the 'Gram
Now, we all know that social media is addictive and sometimes we even post photos for no reason at all; just to "share" with the world what we're up to, or the cute thing our child did. Let's be honest, much of it could be perceived as bragging. Many of us try to make ourselves look better on social media. Which ultimately makes us feel better.
Studies have been done on this science behind our obsession with social media. We get a quick dopamine hit every time someone responds to or "likes" our photo, it's human nature. We know this. And yet, we get stuck in a "FOMO" loop sometimes. We look at other people's photos and compare and contrast our lives against what other people are doing.
Take more photos for you and you alone
So, here's the thing. Don't just do it for social media. Take more photos because you want to capture moments with your loved ones. These moments are for you, your family, and future generations. Don't do it for that former mean girl in high school. Because, underneath your grown-self body, clothes, and attitude, you're still subconsciously waiting to be acknowledged. Come on, you don't need that validation anymore.
Take More Photos: Quotes to Live by
The best thing about a picture is that it never changes; even when the people in it, do. - Andy Warhol
Mr. Warhol was spot-on with this observation. Looking back on photographs can help you remember what you were like at various stages in your life. The same holds true when we take photos of our parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and children. Everyone changes and yet looking at a photo reminds you of who they once were. Before the kids were born, when they were first married, before they got sick; take more photos so you can remember loved ones in the various stages of their lives. That's where the true stories live.
A camera is a SAVE button for the mind's eye. - Roger Kingston
What better way to describe a camera than with a digital correlation, like the "save" button? There are moments in your life that you'll forget, it just happens. There's only so much space in our memory; literally and figuratively. So, taking photos allows us to save and remember those special moments that we'd otherwise forget. That time the kids ran through the sprinklers in their clothes or the day you made your very first successful turkey dinner. Or even that holding-hands hospital photo that memorializes the very moment you said goodbye to a special family member. Save those memories, with photos.
Memories are made in those unexpected moments
No place is boring if you've had a good night's sleep and have a pocket full of unexposed film. - Robert Adams
Robert Adams was born in 1937, so of course the reference to a roll of unexposed film was relevant at the time he said this. But, the sentiment holds true still today, as we've moved away from tangible film and replaced it with digital memory.
If we are just content enough and inclined to see the beauty of the world around us, there is magic everywhere. Beauty can be found in even the most unexpected of places. You just never know what life is going to bring to you.
So, whether you're hiking in the woods or standing in line at the DMV, there's something amazing, waiting to be photographed. A child's triumphant smile as they tie their shoe for the first time in a gray-stuffy office building or a post-hike rosy-cheeked grin, it's all the same. Vow to take more photos, and be ready to capture those moments.
An Easy Way to Make Time to Take More Photos
So, what can we do to take more photos without vying for online approval? Well, there's an easy way. Often we find ourselves, as mothers, on one side of the camera. We're rarely in the photos. And when we are, when a partner or family member, does remember to take our picture, it's often not the most flattering.
Now that's not to say that you need to be put together to be in a photo, but it is nice when we're captured looking cute-cute, vs. just rolled out of bed comfy. This is where a professional photo shoot comes in. Take more photos by scheduling regular family sessions with a trusted photographer. This is a great and easy way to be sure you're capturing your best family moments.
Of course, yes, take more candid photos. But, do it for the right reasons; for memories and milestones, not likes and follows. But also, take more professional photos. Not only will you have beautiful images suitable for framing or gift-giving, but you'll also be in the photo yourself; that is one of the best gifts you can give your children.
