We visited my parents over Thanksgiving weekend, and I went to work using my Flip-Pal mobile scanner to digitize many of their "recent" photos, which include photos from my younger siblings' childhoods. (By the way, have YOU digitized recent family photos from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s? Family historians are so focused on finding and preserving those old, old photos in the family, but the recent snapshots are just as susceptible to damage, deterioration, and loss, so they should be digitized as well.)
Anyway, a lot of these photos I or my brother took when we were kids with cheap 110mm cameras, so they weren't great as photography standards go - we were standing too far from the subject, the subject was way off-center, the subject's face was overexposed, subjects were caught off-guard and making strange faces - you get the idea. But, now, I look at these photos and I am so happy that my photography skills and equipment were inadequate. These photos captured our everyday lives and home so well!
Below are some tips for taking good "bad" photos. Of course, this doesn't mean that EVERY photo you take should enlist the help of these suggestions, BUT, since digital photography allows us to take so, so many photos, maybe take one traditionally "good" photo and one "bad" photo. (See below for suggestions.)
Anyway, a lot of these photos I or my brother took when we were kids with cheap 110mm cameras, so they weren't great as photography standards go - we were standing too far from the subject, the subject was way off-center, the subject's face was overexposed, subjects were caught off-guard and making strange faces - you get the idea. But, now, I look at these photos and I am so happy that my photography skills and equipment were inadequate. These photos captured our everyday lives and home so well!
Below are some tips for taking good "bad" photos. Of course, this doesn't mean that EVERY photo you take should enlist the help of these suggestions, BUT, since digital photography allows us to take so, so many photos, maybe take one traditionally "good" photo and one "bad" photo. (See below for suggestions.)
Tips for Taking Great "Bad" Photos
1.) Take wide shots, especially in homes or in front of homes. Do you remember the details from every room in which you ever lived or in which you spent time? Nope, neither do I. But when I look at some of these wide shots from within my family's old homes, it all begins to come back to me. I look at the wallpaper, the furniture, the little knick-knacks on the tables, and I realize just how much those details are a part of my story and my family's story. Below are two photos taken inside my grandmother's house, the house in which my mom grew up and where I actually lived for about a year, too. There are some really great details in the backgrounds of these photos that trigger a lot of memories for me.
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2.) Put people off-center. Again, this is another technique that helps capture the details of the room in which the photo is being taken. The photo below has the subjects completely off-center, but it grabs a great shot of the artwork and wallpaper, both of which were memorable features of my childhood home.
3.) Change the locations of the photos you take. Do you always have your kids or grandkids sit on one particular chair or couch for photos? Mix it up a little; have them stand in a different location in the home each time you take a photo of them, even if you think those locations are not as aesthetically-pleasing to the eye. Do you always have family members sit on your front porch for summer photos? Next time, move to the side or back of your property. You'd be surprised at how many little details will emerge about your home just by switching where you take photos. Below is a photo of my brothers playing in our old garage. People don't usually take photos inside a garage, but that doesn't mean it isn't full of memories.
4.) Catch people "in the act." I'll admit that, as a kid, I enjoyed taking photos more than the average child or teenager. Because of that, we have a lot of truly candid photos - people in the act of eating, drinking, playing, cooking, watching TV, talking to each other, etc. I LOVE these photos because they say so much more about our family's life than the plain old sitting-on-the-couch-and-smiling staged photos. Here are my brothers taking a break from the superhero life; one eating Club crackers (a staple at our house) and one holding a spoon (pretend weapon most likely.)
My two brothers taking a break from super-hero play.
5.) Photograph a mess. I'm a parent of two young children, so our house is messy, and it's been that way for seven years. However, I know that this period in my life is fleeting and that sooner than later, there won't be Legos and Star Wars figures under my feet or princess dresses strewn across the basement floor. So, I take photos of my kids around the house, and, instead of worrying about how neat the background looks, I actually welcome the messes on camera. (I have also been known to photograph my kids crying and fighting with each other, so maybe I'm just a little crazy.)
6.) Photograph people using technology. Don't think a photo of Cousin Mike looking at his smartphone is that exciting or worthy of family history? It will be in 30 years when smartphones are obsolete and have been replaced by the newest and fastest way of computing and communicating. Check out my brother on this old Apple IIe computer.
7.) Too busy making Christmas dinner to take photos of your loved ones? Give an inexpensive camera to a child and tell them to take photos of whoever and whatever they want. You may get a lot of photos of the dog or the floor, but you may also get some real gems. And, in my experience, I've found that some stubborn adults who ordinarily don't like smiling for the camera, just melt when a child is the photographer.
What I see too often in fellow parents of my generation is a desire to get perfect, professional photographs taken several times a year, usually at some scenic park or in a field of wildflowers. And while those photos will look great on your wall, will they capture the memories of your everyday lives? Take more candid, unscripted photos at home!
Remember that the photos you take now will someday be used by your descendants to tell your family's story, so give those descendants a little extra help and document the family places along with the family faces. :-)
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder. All rights reserved.
Remember that the photos you take now will someday be used by your descendants to tell your family's story, so give those descendants a little extra help and document the family places along with the family faces. :-)
©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder. All rights reserved.
