It's easy to just pick up your smartphone or camera and take photos of your kids doing all the cute things. But most of these photos will be pretty literal. Don't get me wrong, these photos are a great way to document family life. I take literal photos all the time. They normally get sent to my hubby to say, "Look, we are enjoying eating strawberries at the beach! How jealous are you right now?!" 😎😉 But when it comes to capturing real moments and the little things that make childhood messy and magical we have to dig a bit deeper. This can often be done by looking at the details, which when photographed, can turn out to be beautiful.
Here's an example from today.
Yael adores painting, so this morning, I set her up with her easel, a selection of vibrant paint colors and a set of shiny new paintbrushes in the hopes of sending a few emails off while she was distracted. It wasn't long before she came to show me how she had painted her hands a bright florescent green. She was so proud! My camera is never more than an arms reach away so off I went. I usually start with something obvious.
"Yael, show me your hands." But the background was so cluttered. So I got high and took it from above. Better background but still missing the magic of the moment. So we went back to the easel. More obvious painting shots, then I started to hone in on what I was after.
That gorgeous paint squished between her tiny hand.
What ended up being the winner was the super close up shot of her hand on the painting palette with that green gooey goodness coated so thick between her fingers that it actually created a webbing. This image would look amazing framed on the wall as a piece of art itself, and she would love it!
Go on, try it out! Next time your wee ones are being adorable....or not.....try getting up close and capture those details.