What stories do YOUR pictures tell?

Are you still in "point & shoot" mode?

Do you take a moment to really LOOK at a moment as it's unfolding?

Try to think about the pictures that you love to look at most...

I like looking at pictures of my girls when they were younger...as I'm scrolling through them, I sometimes feel like I don't have enough, I want to "know" more...I want to "see" more...

It's often because I've only snapped one picture or one angle of a moment...

it's as if, I started to "read" the book and the next 5 chapters have been ripped out. 

I know, I know...sometimes, just one shot is all you have time for...but, I challenge you to look at your "life through the lens" for just 5 minutes...and see if you can tell the entire story...

just by using the composition tips you've learned in your Snapshop booklet...

Here are some storytelling ideas by which you can practice:

1. Focus in on Food

Perhaps your 10 year old enjoys cooking, or you are preparing to sit down to eat a meal together for the first time since soccer season started, or it's ice cream sundae night at your home.  Whatever the case, it doesn't have to be something huge or forced...those mundane things are sometimes the most special because wrapped in the story is a sense of belonging, security and a sigh of contentment.

2. Try a Hobby or Something they LOVE

My youngest is into legos (we all are at Christmas time with our lego winter village too) My middle girl loves all things music...be it piano, the drums, the guitar.  You can always find her practicing in the music room.  

3. Play Outside

It's finally getting warmer outside now...get out those old scooters and bikes.  If you are more northern, perhaps you still have snow, but it's not as bitter cold...

4. Play a Game

You might remember these examples from the Snapshop.  My girls have always loved to sit down as a family and play a game. 

5. BE CREATIVELY CRAZY

Remember the ALS challenge with the ice water bucket? Or maybe your family gets a bunch of nerf guns and goes wild in your house...

With any of these ideas there are some things that you can do...in just 5-10 minutes.

First, grab your camera (put it on aperture mode if you are just in a super hurry and don't want to have to think too much at first) But remember the technical side...USE your settings to get that bokeh blur, or to catch the action taking place!  

Take a deep breath and really WATCH what is happening...pretend to be a fly on the wall and just examine the surroundings, the voices, the light, their eyes...

Take a couple pictures of just the whole thing (the whole dining room table, the messy floor of legos, the driveway with them riding the scooters, the entire living room with everyone on the floor rolling the dice)

Now, move in a bit, focus in on just a couple of your kiddos.  Snap an image from behind, then move and get their expression from the front.  

Move in even closer and focus in on hands and fingers and fill up the frame with their smiling faces.

My sample pictures are just quick examples...they aren't perfect...we were IN the moment, so they were quick shots that I grabbed before I jumped back into the activity ;)  

It only takes a few moments, to capture the story...

but you'll be able to "read" it for a lifetime...

BE ENCOURAGED!!!  DON'T GIVE UP!!!  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!!