A picture is worth a thousand words. We are all familiar with that quote. Babies don’t keep. We are also familiar with that one too. So how do we pause time and capture memories that seem to fly by so quickly? Photos (thank heaven for smart phone cameras)! Hundreds upon thousands of photos. Photos to capture a moment or have the ability to look back and reflect on the occasion years from now. Photos help fill in the gaps to the times we would have otherwise forgotten. Photos bring you back to an exact moment in time and allow for others to story tell younger generations. While every photo you capture will not be a framer, every photo tells a story. Good or bad, these photos will someday be all we have left of this time in our child’s lives. Or at least this is my justification for having 13,000 photos on my iPhone.
Celebrating Everyday Moments
I think what I love most about photos is that it truly can capture the magical, everyday moments. Most of us have our camera in our back pocket at any given moment that makes capturing these sort of moments convenient. I used to put so much focus on capturing events- birthday parties, first time riding a bike, bigger milestones. But some of my most treasured childhood memories aren’t the bigger milestones, they are some of the seemingly small interactions that are more meaningful. The unplanned moments that happen in the middle of the kitchen- those are the memories I want to capture and hold on to. The big milestones and the posed family photos are great, but I have a hope that photographs of ordinary, yet magical moments of their lives will always be treasured.
Everyday Moments to Capture
Halfway through writing this, I paused to scroll through the photos in my phone (reminisced some) and chose a few photos to inspire you to capture more everyday moments.
YOU AND KIDS
We are no strangers to the fact that mothers aren’t in nearly enough photos. We are the ones behind the camera and even if we aren’t behind the camera, we come up with a thousand reasons why we don’t want to be captured. I am not going to harp on being in photos, but I’ll leave you with this; your children and grandchildren will want to see you in the photos too so just take the picture.
ALL TUCKERED OUT
I absolutely love photos of sleeping babes. They are so still, so peaceful, so lovely.
LITTLE DETAILS
Going back to one of the opening sentences, babies don’t keep. Especially in the first year, they change so much! Take photos of all the tiny details. Eyelashes, ears, toes, tiny hands, all of it.
CRACK THEIR DOOR AND SNAP
This one is one of my favorites. It is so candid and truly shows who they are in the stillest of moments.
DOUBLE TROUBLE- MELTDOWN
What, take a picture of them crying? Yes! Because these moments are a part of the motherhood journey. Not all moments in motherhood are glorious but they’re worth remembering.
EXTREMELY UP CLOSE
Taking photos close up is one photo that I try to take at least every few months. Sorta goes with capturing the little details but for older kids. I am obsessed with these type of photos, especially in black and white!
FAMILY TIME
Yesterday I snapped a sweet photo of my husband snuggling with our older two children. These are the moments I want to remember forever and to share with our children.
To create photos of everyday moments, don’t try to stop your children to get the photo. Don’t say “cheese.” Just capture who they are right now. You don’t even have to be “good” at photography, you just need to be able to capture moments that mean the most to you.
What are your favorite everyday moments with your children?
