Family Photography

Mel Hudson

 

How many pictures on your phones do you have right now, right his very minute…. ill wait… go look. I did a backup this morning of my phone. It asked if i wanted to send my images to the cloud, wherever the cheese that is. My iPhone had exactly 3,594 images from June last year of my family & friends.. So while i was waiting for it to upload i looked through my yesterdays. Now i have already ranted about my yesterdays, different soapbox, different day.  Todays soapbox is about me! While i was scrolling through 3,594 images i noticed something missing…. ME!! I had cute pictures of the kids on the first day of school, with Daddy. There are lovely pictures of us on holiday last year by the pool, with Daddy. We have really great pictures of them exploring Carnfunnock Country Park, with Daddy.  Anyone seeing a theme here? Anyone?

Why was i capturing these images, all 3,594 of them?

Because they represent a snapshot of my children’s lives, as they are right now. Some of them will be milestones, first haircut, first day of nursery, last day of nursery. They are important to me, so i can look back in years to come and remember these brief moments in my childs life.  The kids have have runny noses, dirty knees, my daughters hair is never brushed, she likes it that way. I dont care, i want to capture them, because they disappear so quickly.

Fast forward 20 years and im going to be surrounded by all these images of my family growing up.

Albums upon albums, framed images on the walls, little videos of them learning to walk. Im going to love looking at them, having these moments surrounding me. Especially if the kids do as they’re told and vacate the premises when they turn 18! So fast forward another 20-30 years when my time on this planet has come to an end. My children are going to turn to albums upon albums, framed images on the walls and all the little videos we have complied over the years. Im going to be missing from them.

Are you going to be missing from yours?

So lets get in the shot people!!! Lets be honest its a majority of women who are behind the camera, capturing the moment. Are we behind the camera because our face isn’t on for the day, or we dont want a record of the double chin that has arrived over winter? Who cares if you’ve no make up, or the baby / wine weight is lingering (no judgement). Our children really dont care about that stuff, they dont see it. So we need to learn to unsee it too. We have to exist in our family photographs, so our children can see us being by their side every step of the way.

So how are we going to get in the shot?

Selfie

ah the Selfie, im convinced i created the selfie during my time travelling through Australia. I carried my SLR & disposable cameras everywhere and a majority of the time i was on my own. So to give myself living proof i took a selfie. However a Australian young man has claimed the title because he took a selfie when he was drunk…..he was watching me!! Anyhoo i digress, as i do… we all love a selfie, they are easy to take. To make them more natural and unposed try and get close together, give tickles just as the timer is about to go off. Natural smiles are always a keeper.

Hand the camera over to someone else

instead of Daddy being in every shot, get him taking them. If you see a lovely moment coming up get him to take his phone out and you jump in the middle. My daughter loves me jumping in the shot with her. Im never going to look better than i do right now, beside her laughing and playing.

Try a Tripod

this is obviously for those of you that like to play with your DSLR.  Pop the camera on the tripod, set the timer for a burst of shots, and run. Jump in the frame, pull funny faces, hug each other or try and capture the natural moment. I have been working this week on jumping in the shot. Below are some of the images i managed to capture, they aren’t particularly exciting, ive missed focus on a few but im in them. So this year when the family album of 2018 gets printed ill be there.

Professional Family Photography

these are invaluable, and they dont have to cost the price of a small wedding. You can hire me for example to follow you around the zoo for the day. Or an afternoon bowling, we could go for a walk. You can step away from always thinking about capturing that smile and that moment. Being 100% in that moment is what brings the joy to your childrens eyes, knowing they have your complete attention. Ill even remove that pimple that arrived this morning.

 

Lets make a plan for 2018, be present in your family photographs. The quick selfie sitting on the sofa, school run every morning and even the endless dinners we prepare can be documented! Good evidence for when they are older and you invite yourself to tea. Most importantly of all PRINT.THEM. so they can be touched and seen and remembered. If you haven’t seen my blog about printing images then have a read here its all about printing our yesterdays.

 

https://www.melhudsonphotography.com/our-yesterdays

http://www.carnfunnock.co.uk

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