The holidays are a wonderful time for us all to bring out our cameras. There are endless photo opportunities. Smiles, decor, food, family, friends, all full of love and excitement. Many times they’re posed, “say cheese”, “just one more”, “hey, so-and-so, get in the photo” and on and on. And these capture wonderful family memories. Hugs, love, smiles.

But occasionally, we’ll capture a moment that is so raw, so real, so authentic… it makes our hearts sing! Those are the captures that I love. The moments I truly treasure. The memories that make me incredibly happy to be a photographer, a scrapbooker, a memory keeper, a treasured memory sharer.

This photo of my baby is one of those rare captures. She was completely enthralled with the concept of collecting eggs. So curious. So contemplative. I had been trying to get her to smile at me for the photo, but she was completely fixated on the yard. Totally in her own world. And even though at the moment I wanted something completely different, I have to say, this is one of my all-time favorites of my baby. I’m happy I kept snapping away, instead of throwing in the towel or worse, getting frustrated.

We’re so completely blessed to live in a digital age and not have the upfront expense of purchasing film. We can take hundreds, heck, thousands of photos without having to pay a small ransom for film and developing! And going from shooting ~250 photos per year 10 years ago, to over 25,000 images last year (including clients, family, and volunteer work), I can tell you my only regret is not being more diligent in keywording and editing (as in deleting those photos I know I’ll never use). But I can honestly say I don’t have too, too many “man, I really missed the shot” moments. Of course I have my share, but I still have lots of photos to work with!

So my tips to you?

1. Get your camera settings ready before you try to get your subjects attention. Click, click, click as you’re setting up your shot. And once your settings are ready, still keep clicking before you get their attention. Some of the gestures in those shots are pure gold!
2. Take more shots than you plan to need, you can always delete on the backend
3. If possible, get unposed shots, along with the smiles you seek : ) These are great to grab “in between” shots
4. Edit your photos while importing into your photo management software. Add keywords, rate and delete as you go! It’s not impossible, but so much more time consuming to catch up.
5. Remember to live in those moments. Sometimes we get so caught up trying to “capture” the moment, we forget to “live” in the moment. Along with documenting my favorite photos, I really strive to have authentic memories and moments in our scrapbooks. It might not always be pretty, but it’s real, it’s us, it’s authentic.

Thanks for stopping by and have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day! Happy crafting!
xoxo,
/c