The cold, bleak days of January can be tough, especially when you have kids at home bouncing off the walls. While I love the warm, care free days of summer, there is something to be said about nestling in during the winter months. Now that all of the holidays madness has ended and we have some time before the next big celebration, save for Valentine’s Day, why not take advantage of the down time to document the little moments you treasure as a parent.
Here are a few tips on how to use photography to document your family’s little moments and make the winter months a bit easier to “endure”.
1.) Pay attention to the light in your house.
Light is the most important element in a photograph. It can turn a seemingly boring moment and make it magical. Watch the light in your house and see what rooms get the best light and what time of day it occurs.
For example, light floods our kitchen around lunch time. Thankfully the light caught my eye when my son was being silly and my daughter wasn’t having it. 🤣
You don’t needs tons of light pouring into the room in order to create a pretty image. Below is a picture of my daughter having a bath in the sink, before she grew the wonderful curls in the image above. The light coming in from the window to the left lights her just enough to highlight her expression and minimizes the distractions in the background. To give you an idea of how much lighting affects a space, this sink is actually located just to the left of my son in the picture above. The image below was just taken later in the day so the sun was above the house.
2.) Document the everyday moments
Quite often we tend to photograph the big moments (birthdays, holidays, graduations), which are important, but it is the little everyday moments that we will truly miss when the kids are grown. These everyday moments better represent the current interests and personality of your child at that specific age.
3.) Act like a fly on the wall.
Trying to take a picture of your kids together can be very stressful. Screams of “look at me”, “put your arm around your sister”, and “please just smile for Mommy” don’t make for a good picture and end up with very forced smiles at best. Instead, acting like you are a fly on the wall allows you to capture genuine moments and expressions between siblings. I have often hid behind a sofa or around the corner so they didn’t realize I was taking their picture. Just let life happen and photograph the moments that make you smile without your family being any wiser.
4.) Change up your perspective.
It only takes a few moments to create a lot of variety in your pictures. Get down on the ground and take pictures at their level, filling the frame with their adorable face. Get back up and take an “aerial” view. Move around and try from different angles…you may surprise yourself with an unexpected point of view.
5.) Photograph evidence of their presence.
Does the constant mess that comes with having little ones around drive you crazy? Do you long to have not worry about stepping on a lego or breaking your arm slipping on a random ball? You are not alone.
A few years back I was part of a photography project called “Kids Were Here”. This was a group of moms that photographed the toys, messes, and little reminders left behind by their children. To be clear, there were no children in the pictures. The best part of the project was that it helped us moms be more patient with the chaos that comes from having little ones. By seeing these “messes” in a more artistic way helped us mentally plus helped reminded us that we will miss these little things when they are grown and the house is neat again. It sure helped me when my son drew all over our sofa.
So there are a few quick tips to help you enjoy the long, dark days of winter a bit more. Trust me, your future self will thank you.
For those that want to take advantage of the winter calm, I am offering $100 off your $200 session fee when you pay for your session fee in the month of January 2022. No need to select the date at the time of purchase. We will work together to select a date together. Click the link below to get direct access to the sale:
