Works for me Wednesday

Pictures!!! I have a 3.5 year old that has thousands of pictures documenting her life! My husband thinks there are to many and well maybe there are but when she is older and these days are gone I know that I will be glad to have them. Back in the day we didn't have digital cameras and I have very few of me and my hubby when we were dating or even early on in our marriage. I hate that cause I am a picture-a-holic!

Doctoring Pictures - The pictures I do have from back in the day are not great quality. They were just point and shoot kinda pictures and were not doctored in any way. Today there is no reason to have a picture that doesn't look good. First of all if it is on the digital camera delete it if it is NO good! If it has potential take it into Picasa and tweak it! This is a free program that you can use to brighten a picture or darken a picture. Crop it and a number of other things. Use this program so that your memories are clear in years down the road. Of course, you can use photoshop or some other expensive program that is better but Picasa is a great alternative for those of us that don't have it and can't get it!

Up Close and Personal - My next photo tip is to get down and close with your little one. Don't be afraid to get on your knees to get the camera on their level. Of course, sometimes when I do that Anna thinks she needs to get on her knees but hey lol. You don't always have to center your little one in the picture. Like if you are at the beach you can let the water take up one side and your little one be on the other side. You don't always want to have your pictures taken from the same angle. You need to switch it up a little. You can do one with them looking up or profile pictures or even from behind. Some of my favorite pictures are taken as Anna walks away. I can get her hair swaying or the little bounce in her step. I also like to get pictures of her little hands and feet. Not typically alone lol but I do let them stand as a sort of focal point. And most importantly don't be afraid to get close ups of their face! Their precious faces change so fast when they are little even if we can't see it now we will be able to tell when they are 8 the subtle little changes. Or catching a glimmer in their eye or a twitchy little smirk or whatever. You don't want to miss out just because you think you always need the full body or are afraid to zoom in.

Posed vs candid - I do a little bit of both posed shots and candid shots. I get a lot of candid shots when we are playing outside. Climbing her favorite tree or blowing bubbles (a great way to get giggles) sidewalk chalk or any number of activities. I get a few posed out there but they usually have that fake smile that we obviously learn to do at a young age. Every now and then I can get a good posed picture but usually I have to rely on my candid shots.

Take a lot of pictures! - Don't be afraid to snap away. When you are relying on candid pictures you have to take a lot of pictures to catch the perfect one. Snap away and just delete the ones you don't like. Or if you are like me you will keep a lot of the outtakes because they are funny or cute or a good way to remember a particular day! All of your pictures don't have to be perfect!

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