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52 Weeks of Us

52 Weeks of Us

52 of Him: Six

I wanted to capture his eyelashes.  My child has amazing eyelashes.  The kind of long, thick eyelashes that mascara makers use to peddle their wares, but he’s got them all without a drop of mascara.  It’s just not fair.  He’s even from my gene pool which makes this super amazing not fair.  Do eyelashes skip a generation?  Because I sure as heck didn’t get any.  I can only assume these came from his father’s side.

There is no mascara on the market today that would give me eyelashes like this, no matter what their marketing claims.  My recent Audrey Hepburn portrait stands as clear evidence of this.  It may look like I have lots of dark black eyelashes, but in reality it’s all just editing (Note: remember this when looking at glossy magazines, it’s all just editing.  These people are not real).  In order to achieve a look similar to the Karsh photo, I applied what I consider to be gobs of dark black eye makeup, an amount of eye makeup I’d be uncomfortable wearing in public because heavy makeup is not my style.  But even with all that makeup, I still looked like I had no eyelashes in the photo.  So in the end I resorted to something I rarely do with my photos and I Photoshopped myself some eyelashes.

While I might wish I had lashes as gorgeous as his, I am reminded that all any parent wants is for their child to get more out of life than they did.  And if it all starts with eyelashes, than so be it.  So I’ll continue to gaze longingly at my son’s eyelashes, not because I want them for myself, but because they’re one of those little details that I want to hold tight and remember.

February 14, 2013
52 Weeks of Us, Photo Tips & Tricks

52 of Me: Five

This year I started two 52 week photography projects, one with more intentional photographs and portraits of my little man and one a series of self-portraits.  But I’ve realized this week that if I just take pictures of him and pictures of me, our story is incomplete.  There need to be pictures of US.

As the one behind the lens, I know it takes a little effort to get in front of the camera in and the frame. It’s easy to be self-conscious about how we look.  It’s easy to make excuses about how we don’t have the right tools or know how to work the camera.  It’s easy to just put it off and forget about it.  It’s easy to say we don’t have time.

But just as your kids grow and change so quickly, so do you.  And it’s just as important to capture your story and the story of the connection you have with your children.  Tracey Clark gets it spot on in Elevate the Everyday when she writes:

Every photo of you with your children will be a precious and priceless gift for them in the future.  …There is no more valuable photograph in any collection than a mother with her child. Not a single one.

So it’s actually not that hard to get in the picture.  Here are some suggestions to get you started.

Don’t have a fancy camera?  Not a problem.

If you’ve got an iPhone it’s a simple as using the forward facing camera.  I’m not a fan of the forward facing camera’s low resolution so will turn the phone around and use the main camera with the technique I mentioned in this post.  If you want to give yourself a little more flexibility, you can also install one of the camera apps such Camera+ or ProCamera.  Both have a self-timer feature which is super easy to use.  All you need is a steady surface on which to rest the phone.

Learn to Use Your Camera’s Self-Timer

If you do have a fancier camera like a DSLR (or even a point and shoot), they will have a self-timer.  Dig out your camera manual and learn how to use it.  This is not hard.  It will probably take you more time to find the manual than to actually figure out how to use timer.  Some cameras have a fixed time delay, others will let you adjust the delay but they all work on the same principle.

  1. Rest your camera on a steady surface.  Could be a tripod, could be the floor, a stack of books, a shelf, whatever.  For this shot, my camera was simply sitting on top of the TV cabinet in the living room.
  2. Frame your shot and focus.  On my camera, after I’ve focused I will set my camera to manual focus so that it doesn’t try to re-focus the shot when I push the shutter.  Depending on your camera and how you’ve composed your shot, you may not need to do this.
  3. Press the shutter to take the picture.
  4. Run out from behind the camera, get in the shot you’ve composed, and then watch the blinking light until it snaps the picture.

And viola!  Just like that you’ve started capturing memories that tell the story of you.  And if you’re not going to tell it and document it for future generations, who will?

So this is my story this week.  The everyday me with the baggy sweater, the jeans with holes, no makeup, glasses on top of my head.  Spending a day at home playing silly games with my sick child.

What’s your story this week?  Why not capture it in pictures?

February 8, 2013
52 Weeks of Us

52 of Him: Five

You know what he never does for me?   Pose sweetly like this.  He’s wary of the camera.  Getting old enough now to tell me to put it away.  Was it luck that allowed me to capture this fleeting moment?  Or that I’m always prepared, always with the camera near and ready to capture those moments when opportunity strikes.  I’d like to think it’s a combination of both.

On this morning, a lazy Sunday, I wanted to remember him thoughtful and reserved during a brief interlude of playing the game he called school.  And I wanted to remember his hair in its constant disheveled state because his mother can’t be bothered to break out a comb.  Neatly coiffed hair is a sure sign he’s been visiting the grandparents.

And even though he might get tired sometimes of the pictures (and I do put it away when he asks), I am reminded of something Tracey Clark wrote in Elevate the Everyday.

Photographs are the only history we have besides our memories and our stories, and it just reminds me that I will never regret a single picture I ever take.  In fact, I will only celebrate them more.

I can barely remember what I ate for lunch two days ago. Memories and recollections fade quickly. Time passes quickly.  Without the photographs to preserve these moments that make up his life, how will either of us remember?

So I’ll continue to snap away, capturing as many little moments and details as I can.  Learning every day how to make it more fun for him so that he starts wanting to play along.

February 7, 2013