As the holidays approach, I want to encourage all moms to stop and capture the moment. I love seeing family photos and find it calms my kids down to shuffle through our Flickr account of baby pictures. We could easily waste an hour of our time cuddling and looking at old photos. Kids love to hear stories about themselves and things they have long forgotten. I find this works best when we have a long wait somewhere or someone is sick and can’t sleep. My kids are so manageable if we are focused on something they like.
Now you are probably thinking “I take tons of pics on my phone all day” but I challenge you to try to capture the moment on an actual camera. I’m not a camera salesperson and I get nothing from telling you which camera to pick. But if you don’t have a nice little point and shoot camera, put it on your wish list for this holiday season. Then drop major hints to your significant other and let them know what you’d like. Personally, I have a very tiny camera that has all DSLR capabilities that I am able to use and it fits nicely in any purse. I found it pretty easily after asking friends, who took great photos, what camera they had and reading a little product review on Amazon. Sometimes people tell me I take really great photos. The secret is I take average photos on auto focus. I just have a great little camera.
As our cell phone photo capabilities quickly evolve, I think parents feel like those photos are good enough. And while I love the possibility of posting a photo RIGHT NOW, I also like the idea of having photos I can enlarge, print on canvas, or simply have in a high resolution. Because how precious are these little humans we are raising? I need some high def baby cheeks as my 7 year old goes tearing through my clean house wielding a light saber and wearing no pants. I need to remember those long eye lashes and baby blues that I would watch get sleepy as my child tells me I embarrass him in front of his friends. We need to capture this busy life because parenthood is a blur.
Not only do I challenge you to take the photo, but I also want you to take candid photos. Those are simply the best. While I love a cute, posed family pic, nothing beats a candid moment you can look back and smile at. How adorable are these two brothers?
They aren’t fighting over a toy or a girl or whatever kids fight over these days. They are simply living and loving in the moment! Get it on camera. A cell phone can’t always capture the moment without blur or bad lighting. A higher definition image will show so much more. You would never guess they were wiggly or giggly at this moment.
Now, parents, get in the photo! Hand your camera to someone and tell them it’s OK to pop off 25 photos. We live in a digital age. One of those twenty five photos will come out good. It’s OK if you don’t have on make up, or maybe your make up is two days old. No one really notices that but you. Your child will grow up and see a loving, engaged parent when they look back on childhood photos.
Get down on your kids’ level. Whatever level that is, squat down and get that photo. You will see so much more and from the viewpoint of your child. Even if the viewpoint is a pout fest or major chocolate face. That will make for a cute picture when you look back on it.
How sweet is this moment in the pumpkin patch? You can’t see their posed face, but you can see the excitement from the day. Don’t be that mom screaming for your kids to both look for ONE second. <slowly raising a guilty hand> Snap the photo anyway. You’ll love the gems you’ll find later. If you get a photo of both of them looking at the same time, just consider it a success.
Whatever camera you choose, just remember that putting them on your computer is great, but backing up images on a third party site is priceless. Don’t lose those fun memories because of a computer crash. Get them somewhere else where you can recover them. I’m a bit paranoid and I back them all up on two external TB hard drives, and a third party site that is free. You can’t beat it. I have the peace of mind that my photos will be seen for generations to come. Once you are in your camera groove, bumping them to a computer is so fast and the overall image is incredible.
During this season of sweet moments and special memories, be sure to take the photo so you will always remember them!
