The Things I Have Learned About Taking Pictures

1. Take a lot. They are wonderful gifts to look back on, and they truly do say a thousand words.

2. Be wise when taking pictures. Be respectful of other's personal space. No need to start an uproar because you want to capture the moment but your five year old doesn't want to stand still. You're better to let the moment pass, with the camera turned off, and your mind fully present on remembering it.

3. Sometimes there is no reason for a camera. I love taking pictures, I always have. But, when I was in grade 11 I learned a good lesson. I went to the Dominican Republic on a mission trip & we weren't allowed to bring a camera. The reason: they wanted us to be present. The entire trip. Sure, taking a million photos will create a nice scrapbook to look back on, but if you aren't really present in the moment because you're hidden behind a camera then you're missing the entire experience of the trip. So, it's okay to not have a camera.

One person was designated to bring a camera, and snapped
pictures of the trip, thankfully :) The children were trying,
fairly unsuccessfully, to teach us better Spanish.

4. Print them off!! In this age of digital photography it's so easy to save the photos on computers, flash drives and memory sticks. That's great to have for back up. But, nothing beats pictures in an album. So, send them off to the photo lab, buy yourself a good ol' photo album & print them!

5. Don't push it. If someone says, "No", that means no. I am not just talking about a child whose game you've interrupted with your camera. Some adults don't want their picture snapped every thirty seconds either. This is especially true at things like family reunions, where every second person as a camera snapping a hundred pictures of the same thing. It isn't always fun.

6. Don't forget about you. Sometimes we get so caught up in taking the pictures that when we get home, load them onto the computer & look through them, we realize there isn't a single one of you. Make sure you have someone else snap pictures of you, so you can be in the memories too.

7. Less is more. This is true of how many pictures you take, about how often you take the camera with you and of how many shots you have to take of the same thing. Remember, the world will not end if you don't get the perfect shot. You will have the memory, even if the photos not their.

Say Cheese!

Emily xo