You Can Capture The Every Day | My Little Boy | Erie, PA | Photographer Jen White
Capture a series of images that tell the story!
There is so much beauty in the everyday moments that bring joy to a mom's heart! For some reason I always think that I will capture these moments in my memories and preserve them forever. Only to be shocked when looking back at my kids baby pictures, I think to myself... "I do NOT remember them looking like THAT!" What happened to my passionately in-love with their every detail memory?! It slips away. It fades. What is a mom to do?
Now that your crying (maybe your not... but I sure am! lol).... I don't want to leave you wallowing in your mommy guilt, I want to give you some tips and ideas to equip you to be a faithful friend to your future self. I want to challenge you to pick up your iphone or your camera and make sure that these vivid moments live on forever, not distorted or details lost to the senility of time and busyness of everyday messes and momentum.
Tip # 1. STOP THE "PERFECTIONISM TRAP"!
It doesn't have to be perfect to capture the essence of the moment! In all reality, you are capturing these moments for yourself and your kids... for 2,5,10,50 years from now... you probably will not be selling them for stock photography or displaying them in your home. So relax! Enjoy the process... and cut yourself some slack! And BESIDES, isn't it the imperfect uniqueness that causes your heart to race, to catch your eye, to cause you to thank God that he chose you to be this child's "mommy"?! Just do it!!! (You CAN do it! And I will tell you how..)
“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.”
― Ecclesiastes 11:4
"Bathroom is messy"... so what! If I would have thought that... I would have missed this sweet kiss!
Tip #2 Change Your Vantage Point/ Get On Their Level!
This one tip will not only change the look of your photographs, it will change what you are able to see and it will change how you tell the story! Thats what we are doing, telling a story to our future self... the best story of all, OUR STORY! Dont be afraid to look like a crazy mommy... lay down on your tummy, put your camera next to their face and show the viewer what your kid is seeing. Show the camera what the world looks like from their view!
Dont believe me? lay down on the ground and look up at your baby, and your surroundings, at the world from their vantage point. It's a starkly different experience that what you and I encounter. What a difference!
It takes a 5 year old real focus and hand eye coordination to do even simple things... how quickly we forget. One day he may be using these hands for surgery, or writing books, or healing the sick. But today... they are trying their best to get the toothpaste on the brush without flicking some in his eye. ;)
10 years from today, I will want to jump through this picture and kiss and reassure him that he will be ok, and to keep gently rubbing the eye... that the stinging will go away soon. 10 years from now... when he no longer needs me to cuddle him when a toothbrushing mishaps happens I will be so glad that I captured this image.
Tip #3 Read This Blog In The Future (for more tips to come)!!
:)