My parents didn’t take a lot of photos while I was a kid. I don’t think I realized this until I started dabbling in scrapbooking as a teenager, and there just weren’t a lot of choices for photos. I asked my mom about it one day after my aunt had sent over a scrapbook page with photos of my brothers, and her answer has stuck with me all these years. I believe the conversation went something like this:
Me: This page is really cute. Aunt Becky sure knows how to take a good picture. She got all those little boys to look at the same time.
Mom: Yes, she’s good at it.
Me: There aren’t very many pictures of us. How come?
Mom: I made a choice. I chose to be in the action playing with you instead of behind a camera.
Me: Oh. I see.
I had never thought of it that way before. But she was right. My memories of growing up may not be captured in as many photos as other people, but my mom plays an integral part in almost all of my childhood years, and she wasn’t on the sidelines watching.
What I learned from my mom is that there has to be a balance in all things. There’s a time to take photos, and there’s a time to put down the camera and just enjoy the small moments. Your family will still have the same memories, just in another form.
I realize that this isn’t the typical blog post on photography. I don’t have any camera tips for you today or ways to improve your shots, but hopefully this post will resound with someone out there. This is a family-centered web site after all.
I take a lot more photos than my mom ever has (I blame that partially on digital and partly on my fascination with the hobby), but I hope that as my family grows I can remember her wisdom and choose the right moments to put down the camera and be part of the action.