3 top tips to photograph a day in your family life

How often do you photograph the little, everyday moments with your family?

I mean, I bet you have thousands of photos on your phone of your children but how many of them really capture your family life as it is right now?

How many photos do you have of the mundane moments?

The routines that are so, well, routine, that they don’t seem worth recording. The little details that are just part of the furniture at this stage in your life, that it feels like they’ll always be there.

Because, believe it or not, these are the things that you’ll absolutely love having photos of one day.

One day, when your children are older and the Jumperoo has been swapped for a Nintendo, and they read chapter books to themselves at bedtime instead of cuddling up with you to listen to Room on the Broom for the hundredth time, you’ll be grateful for photos of these days.

I love the 10 on 10 project for forcing me to take a look around my everyday family life and photograph the little things that will look different a few years from now.

But another way you can do it is with a day in the life project. Don’t limit yourself to just 10 photos, take as many as you like over the course of a day to really capture what your family life looks like right now.

If you’ve never tried anything like this before, here are my 3 top tips:

1. Make a plan

Before you even pick up your camera you need to have a bit of a plan in mind for your day in the life photography project.

A few days in advance start making a list of the things you want to photograph.

What is it about your life right now that you want to capture?

What things will be different a year from now?

Will your baby have moved on from their highchair and be sitting up at the table? Will the days of doing the school run be over as your child gets old enough to walk on their own?

What phases and stages are your children in right now that they might have grown out of in a year’s time?

Write all of these things down and keep the list handy so you remember to take photos to capture these moments and details.

Related – How to find moments in your daily life to photograph

2. Look at your normal routines

When you’re making your list of the things you want to record, think about your normal, everyday routines.

These are the things that are so mundane to you right now that you don’t ever think to photograph them.

It could be:

• Packing up lunchboxes in the morning
• Giving your baby a bottle or a cosy morning breastfeed
• Heading to baby-group with the buggy or baby carrier
• Walking or driving the children to school
• Playtime and crafts at home
• Homework after school
• Afternoon snacks
• The bathtime routine
• Books at bedtime

Mentally run through your routines and think about all the little things that you do day-in, day-out.

These are the things that will change over the years as your family grows. And these are the things that you’ll look back on with such a sense of nostalgia one day.

Related – Photograph the normal moments too

3. Keep your camera handy

It doesn’t matter if you plan on taking your photos with your camera or on your phone, just keep whatever you’ll be using nearby at all times.

You want to be able to capture these little moments as they unfold.

So keep your camera handy and ready to go throughout the day.

And don’t forget to take it out with you, so you can photograph those walks to school, trips to the park, even the trip to the supermarket with your baby in the trolley seat.

Hopefully these tips have inspired you to pick a day and photograph all the little routines and in-between moments that make up your family life.

Just remember that the photos you take don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to be for anyone other than you and your family.

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