When I look at photos that were taken of me when I was a child I notice that there were not many action shots. While I realize that it wasn’t as easy to take action photos with dated film cameras, I still wonder why there were not more candid photos taken.
My old photos seem to always feature me holding something or standing beside something, and it’s obvious they were all posed. It’s too bad because some of the best photos are ones taken when the subject isn’t aware the camera is shooting him or her. I wish my family had taken some of me when I was playing or not paying attention to the camera.
Can you remember doing something in particular as a kid, but there are no pictures of you doing it? I can. I spent a lot of time writing and reading. It would be great if there were a picture of me, as a kid, sitting at the kitchen table writing or sitting in my chair by the window reading a book.
While posed photos are great, they often look contrived. The subject’s facial expression is often different and the smile is often fake. I often think that the best pictures I have of my son are those taken when he was playing and just happened to look up, smiling, while I had the camera pointing at him. His smile was natural, and you could see the happiness in his expression. These are the photographs that I love.
Do your kids play sports? If so, think about photo day. Every kid lines up and the photographer poses them with props. That is great to have, but wouldn’t it be great to capture your child throwing the ball? If you have a good digital camera, you can capture action shots of your child’s game. Set the camera to the sports setting. This is sometimes marked by a photo of a person running. Snap the photo right as your child throws the ball, is about to catch the ball, is sliding onto the base or whatever the case may be.
If you have a daughter taking dance classes, arrive early to pick her up. With your camera in hand, snap some shots of her as she is practicing her routine before she notices that you are there. These are the photos that are full of life.
I love photographs that show personality. I like capturing fun moments when my son is trying to catch bubbles. The bubbles show up in the photo and it makes a great shot. Photography is an art form and your pictures are art. They capture memories and preserve the moments in life that we treasure.
A picture is worth a thousand words. I want mine to tell stories of the activities going on when the photo was taken. When it comes to my son’s childhood, I want to capture as many moments as I can. I also want to look back at his photo albums once he is grown and reminisce over all of the fun we had.
Have you preserved your children’s hobbies and interests in their photos?
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