Hello everyone! It’s Carly here today sharing how I documented my girls’ birthday this year without picking up my camera at all during the celebrations.
This year I have made a conscious choice to be more present and in order to do so, I have been putting down my camera more often.
I used to take what felt like hundreds of photos a day and when I looked at all the photos I had snapped, I would feel as if I had missed out on the moments I had been capturing. On top of that, I would become overwhelmed by thousands of images I had sitting on my computer waiting to be documented and with no time to do anything with them. Something had to change.
So at the beginning of the year I set myself a New Years goal to put down the camera more and be present in the moment. This in-turned caused me to become much more purposefully with my documenting. Because I didn’t want to give up documenting our daily lives, I had to start becoming more purposefully in what I was going to capture and how I was going to do it.
For example my girls’ birthday. I knew it was going to be a very busy day of celebrations, followed by a family dinner, and I wanted to not be behind the camera for any of it, but at the same time I wanted to capture the day.
The morning of their birthday was quiet and I knew it would be the only time I would have to capture something from that day. Both girls where in their rooms doing that they love to do. Emma was writing in her journal and reading a book, while Abby was playing her favourite computer game. I decided to pull out my camera and capture what I saw.
These would be the only images I would take of the day, but I felt that when combined with some journalling they would tell enough of the story. I used these morning birthday photos and a little bit of journaling to capture their current likes, and for me this would be enough to document the day.
Keeping my documenting simple and purposefully is so important to me. I want to be able to look back and see just enough photos and journalling that will trigger my memory of that time and allow me to replay that day in my head like a movie. After all, don’t we all “take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone.”
Happy documenting!
-Carly
Products used: Oh Happy Day Kit
