I love taking photos , taking my Sony A7cii wherever I travel. Although it’s a relatively small camera, I recently got a Ricoh gr iii to be able to carry a good camera with me everywhere, even when I don’t travel.
Documenting my own life and the events influencing me and the people close to me is one of the main reasons I love photography, but I haven’t spent enough effort on doing this. That’s why this blog post from 2018 stood out to me, which offers a few tips on how to create memorable photos.
It’s fine to take pictures that capture a moment for those who were present. But if anyone could have taken that photo, don’t expect anyone to care.
People pictures matter the most. Especially the non-staged ones. The formal pictures of special occasions, where we kids are lined up like we’re in front of a firing squad, are not the ones that bind us.
The best family photos are the ones where we’re clowning around and laughing, or where we’re doing something together, or a moment captured without the subject realizing it. The most precious are those where the family is putting up a pup tent, or using the water pump, or packing the car for a trip.
In general, try to capture your family when they are actively doing something, ideally an entire process. Let it be a photo essay: “Mom making Thanksgiving dinner” or “Daddy taking the kids to the petting zoo.” Don’t choose only the “reveal” moments such as Mom presenting the turkey to the table; include a picture of her hurriedly putting on lipstick before Grandpa arrives, or the kids conked out, asleep in the back seat, on the car trip home.
Include the photographer. I have few pictures of my father, because he was always the guy behind the camera. When he did ask someone to take a picture it was always posed, such as “Mom and Pop standing in front of the Grand Canyon.”
Take photos of daily life. I’m stunned by the pictures my father didn’t take. There isn’t a single photo that represents what my parents did for a living. They weren’t the type to attend company picnics, fine. But I found nothing indicating “take your daughter to work” or “Mom typing up a report” or “the building I worked in” or “the woman Mom commuted to work with for 10 years.” That would be more understandable if my parents disliked their jobs, but both of them were passionate about their careers.