Saturday, June 13, 2015

My Advice for taking great summer photos!



Well friends let's get the beach ball rolling and talk about capturing your best summer photos yet! In my opinion photos are shot with your camera, but captured with your heart so let's make it a point to start there. First, I'd like to invite you to think about your own favorite summer memories as a child. In fact, I recommend giving yourself the assignment to pull out some of those old summer photos so you can connect with the feelings they give you.  Are those photos filled with plastic kiddie pools in the backyard, eating popsicles that stained your lips for days or are they filled with days spent at the beach, with wild hair tousled by wind and dried by the sun? How do you feel looking at them? The reason I want you to remember those feelings so vividly is because I believe that if you can connect with your childhood self, you can photograph your family's summer moments even better! You must first see summer thru the eyes of a child to capture it just right.  This year, make it a point to recreate one of your own childhood summer memories (in some form or fashion) to share with your own family. Then while you're enjoying that time together look for the moments that make you feel the way you did when you looked at your photos. Look for the pure joy, look for the fun and look for the beauty. Look for the essence of the moment so you can document it without forcing it. Remember, a photo doesn't has to be perfect to be beautiful, it just needs to be genuine.

My second assignment for you is to make yourself a summer bucket list. I personally don't like to make "Photo Bucket Lists" because it's heavy on the photo aspect and makes it more about getting the photo checked off rather than cherishing the time. So simply start with writing down the memories you want to make as a family and just plan to have your camera handy.  However, remember not to make it all about capturing the moment so much that you forget to enjoy it. I'm constantly reminding myself of that, because I realized a while back that I wanted my son to remember me being in the moment with him, instead of just observing and documenting it all the time. I promise you, the best photos just come by being present in your own life, then deciding that you wanted to freeze that moment forever by quickly photographing it.

I also advise you to take a little break from posting your family photos on social media or sharing your photos with others. Something happens when you decide your memories are just for you and no one else. Suddenly you realize the true motivation behind why you're photographing a moment and it's has nothing to do with showing off a perfect family. Instead, it's primary purpose is simply to document your family's life to enjoy for years to come. It relieves you from the pressure for it to be "look picture perfect".  In my opinion my photography got much better when I decided to do it for me, without fear of having to display it. So friends, I beg you to let your hair be wet and messy in photos, take photos of ice-cream melting all over your son's hand as he savors every lick and just decide to capture true genuine memories for the pure joy of it!

Have a wonderful summer everyone!!






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