If you are anything like me, you have been spending A LOT of time home with your family over the past few weeks. As the world is impacted by a global pandemic, most of us find ourselves at home the majority of our days trying to do our part in 'flattening the curve'. We will be spending the next several weeks immersed in family life. Being a photographer, my brain defaults to capturing what is happening. I want to capture who my family was during this historic moment in time. Below are a list of 5 ideas for capturing your family's everyday moments, the big, small and in between.
1. Photograph each member of the family doing their favourite activity.
Whatever your loved one likes to do, capture it. Photograph it. Video it. Maybe it's your husband playing guitar. Or your daughter painting a picture. Or your son baking cookies,. Or your wife dancing around the kitchen. These are valuable memories and people tend to not mind having their photo taken if they are doing something they enjoy!
2. Photograph your child with a beloved toy.
I think we can all agree that our kids grow too fast, right? If there is a stuffie or toy that is an important part of your child's life, photograph it so that you will remember this special moment in time.
If your child is 'too old' for toys, photograph them with their favourite instrument, craft or game. All of these interests can be fleeting so now is a great time to capture it.
3. Complete an hour by hour project
This is exactly what it sounds like. Take a photo each hour that you are awake to capture your day. This is a great way to capture 'mundane' moments that you would otherwise miss (breakfast, teeth brushing, etc...)!
Leave your camera/phone somewhere handy so you can grab it when it is time to take the hourly photo. If helpful, set the alarm on your phone to go off every hour to remind you to take a photo. When you are done, make a grid as a visual display of what you did that day!
4. Get in the frame
Taking self portraits or 'selfies' is so important! You want to remember time spent with your children and you want your children to see you when they look back at family photographs!
If your camera has a timer, this is a great way to grab a self portrait with your family! If using your phone, just grab a traditional 'selfie' - as long as you are in the picture!
5. Snag the details.
For me, it's all the little things that I want to remember most! From little toes to big smiles - these are all the details that are important! Zoom in and fill the frame with these details so they can be remembered for years to come.
I hope this post inspires you to capture those big, small and in between moments. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the day to day and forget that moments are fleeting and our family is ever changing. These five tips are great to put into practice not just during this time of social isolation, but when life returns back to normal as well. Stay safe everyone!