Taking Pictures
Back when we only had the twins, I was careful to take frequent pictures. If I took a photo of one twin, I immediately took a picture of the other twin. I kept all my scrapbooks up to date.
When my youngest son was born, I zoomed in on him and photographed him extensively, to the neglect of my older boys, I admit. Taking pictures of three kids was tricky. And six-year old boys aren't thrilled about being still, especially for a photograph.
Since my daughter was born almost three years ago, my picture-taking has dwindled. She is an uncooperative subject, ducking her head like a celebrity avoiding the paparazzi. Last year, when I attempted to photograph all four children (at the same time!) for a Christmas newsletter photo, this is typical of what happened:
And now, I'm behind in all my scrapbooks. Instead of documenting their lives through photographs, I'm running behind, trying to keep up.
By the way, I have to say that I find people who are videotaping experiences instead of experiencing the experiences kind of make me shake my head. At Disney World, for instance, more than once, I saw someone videotaping something instead of just opening their eyes wide and watching it. What's the point? (That also goes for children's school performances, though in that case, I can see why you'd want to get it on videotape. Simple reason, really. Blackmail.)
When my youngest son was born, I zoomed in on him and photographed him extensively, to the neglect of my older boys, I admit. Taking pictures of three kids was tricky. And six-year old boys aren't thrilled about being still, especially for a photograph.
Since my daughter was born almost three years ago, my picture-taking has dwindled. She is an uncooperative subject, ducking her head like a celebrity avoiding the paparazzi. Last year, when I attempted to photograph all four children (at the same time!) for a Christmas newsletter photo, this is typical of what happened:
And now, I'm behind in all my scrapbooks. Instead of documenting their lives through photographs, I'm running behind, trying to keep up.
By the way, I have to say that I find people who are videotaping experiences instead of experiencing the experiences kind of make me shake my head. At Disney World, for instance, more than once, I saw someone videotaping something instead of just opening their eyes wide and watching it. What's the point? (That also goes for children's school performances, though in that case, I can see why you'd want to get it on videotape. Simple reason, really. Blackmail.)
posted by Melodee at Wednesday, July 27, 2005
9 Comments:
I agree. The photos I did get taken are sitting in boxes in a closet. You can't capture the whole of an experience in a photo,anyway.
I confess, the VCR we got when I was pregnant has been used about three times.
I think we are one of the few families in our area who do not own a video camera. I always laughed when, at school events, the audience was a sea of video cameras.
Suzanne
I've got boxes and boxes of photos too, and some day, my kids will go through them and wonder why there are more of one kid than another. My little sister, for example, can't find many pictures of herself when she was little. Oh well, just one more thing to add to all that Mommy-guilt.
We took lots of pics of kid #1 but then, after kid #2 was born, we almost always used the camcorder instead. Now, we always use the digital camera and all those pics are on the computer.
My youngest two are looking at old photo albums as I type. They are all from at least 7 years ago. The "recent ones" (less than seven years old) are tucked away in the basement awaiting my wife's spare time. (Come to think of it, I'm still awaiting my wife's spare time too!)
I took a lot of pictures of the teenager when he was little and then started dwindling off as he got older. The pictures all sat in boxes until 2 weeks before his 16th birthday, when I did a late night marathon of putting together a scrapbook for him as a bday gift. Doodlebug is 6 months old now and I have a ton of pictures of her... want to come help me scrapbook them?
I agree, about videotaping-- I taped Mermaid Girl's ballet performance last month and was really sad not to have experienced it firsthand, without squinting through the camera lens and thinking constantly about whether I was getting the shot.
Almost all our relatives (including the one who gave us the camera) live out of town, so I feel obligated to record some of these events to help keep everyone connected. I told RW it's her turn next time, though; I want to just be there in the moment.
And our girl is also a photo-ducker!
When my sons were at school, a retired semi-professional used to videotape all the assemblies and concerts and such, and we could order copies for posterity. I thought that a great idea, as we could concentrate on enjoying the shows without technology, and still have a record afterwards if we wanted to.
re: photos - I know how that is, you take fewer and fewer with each subsequent child. It's worth making the effort with the youngest, though; I know someone who's the youngest of four, and said (in her thirties!) that she always felt unloved and insignificant in her teens when she looked in the family photo albums because there were so few pictures of her.
I totally agree with you. I am the photography and videotaping QUEEN, but there are some times when I just feel like EXPERIENCING things instead of looking through the lens...makes more sense and feels more real.
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