Feeling overwhelmed with the amount of photos you take?
Not sure how to keep them organized and or what kind of pictures to take to document daily family life?
Maybe you don’t take enough or you miss experiencing the moment because you’re always behind the camera. Or the pictures just don’t look right and you can’t find anything good to send Grandma. I’ve got you! I talked with Jenna Arvidson, photographer and founder of At Home With Kids for simple tips for the best pics of your kids, plus how to keep them all organized!
Ok, so why is this important?
Yes, I usually focus on toxin-free living, but taking great family photos - and managing the images is - something I struggle with, and I thought you might too. Today’s photo technology is amazing, but as Jenna reminds us in the interview, we shouldn’t let picture taking take over the entire experience.
“...we have these devices in our pockets. And this gives us the ability to take unlimited photos. But I want you to remember that that isn't necessary, you don't have to have 500 photos of your kids every day to remember their childhood. And I think sometimes what happens is, we think we have to snap all these pictures at the zoo so that we can show our friends and family on Instagram and so that we don't forget the little smiles. And we don't want to forget all this stuff. But we forget that we are going to miss the whole experience if we're behind our camera the whole time. So learning to take a few good pictures is a really great step in being able to simplify your life a little bit and enjoy the moments and not be behind your lens the whole time.”
A little photo planning goes a long way
You can get some great photos by planning ahead and focusing your photography on certain areas of your life.
Take 10-15 minutes before an event to think about what moments you’d really like to capture. A picture with the guest of honor or special family member, your kids with their favorite animal at the zoo or with their best buddy at the park playdate. Having an idea ahead of time will help you to only have your camera out when you need it and enjoying yourself the rest of the time.
Focus on your child during their birthday month. This doesn't mean don’t take pictures of the rest of your kids! But being really mindful of capturing your child during their birthday month will guarantee that you get some great memories of who they are that year.
Tell a story. Just feeling like you need to catch up on memories? Make a list of what a regular day with your kids looks like. All the boring, messy, day-to-day stuff and make a point to snap some photos throughout the day.
Don’t get caught up in lighting perfection
There are millions of considerations when thinking about lighting but for everyday photography, don’t worry about it too much. Jenna has 3 basic tips:
Backlighting- If you can put the light behind them, even if it's mostly above the head, look for their shadow and make sure their shadow is in front of them. Even if it's a teeny tiny shadow. If their shadow is in front of them, you're going to get a much better picture, without any squinting!
Sidelighting- Some people are afraid to have any kind of shadows, they want to have no shadows at all, which is called flat light. So when light is not making any shadows whatsoever, you don't get a very three dimensional photo, you're not going to connect with it emotionally as much. So try to turn your child to the side of the light so that the light is basically falling sideways. About a 45 degree angle. So there's just enough to cast some shadows on their cheekbones and their dimples and the way their eyelids squint when they smile at you. Jenna recommends positioning yourself instead of your kids so that when they run by you, you can capture them in good light.
Catchlights- You want catchlights in their eyes. Catchlights are when you look in their eyes, if you see light reflecting back at you, that's a catchlight. The best way to get that is to not have your child completely covered in shade. You actually want to pull them a little bit out from those shaded areas into what we call open shade. Make sure they can see the sky in some way or window light if you're inside. Because you want to see those reflections in their eyes. It's going to make a world of difference. If you have those little catchlights in their eyes, it tells the story of who they are. We are drawn to the eyes when we look at photographs. It's the first place your viewers are gonna look.
Detox your photo clutter!
I really struggle with managing photo clutter. My girls play volleyball and after every game, I must have 500 videos and pictures of my daughters serving and playing. Pair that with all the other photos and making the family photo book for our parents at the end of the year becomes quite a project.
Jenna shared a great tip! She keeps her photos organized by downloading all the photos at the end of the month onto an external hard drive or cloud service. You don’t need tons of little folders for specific events or holidays. Just a folder for each month. Download (and backup!), delete from your device and done! When it's time to go back, it’ll be easy to find whatever photo you need.
I would love to see your new photography skills and hear about how you used these great tips! Snap some pics and tag me @themeganmikkelsen
If you want to learn even more about photography from Jenna, she’s got some great courses on her website.
You can also follow her on instagram @jennaarvidson or check out her amazing podcast At Home with Kids about all things motherhood and minimalism.
