Tips for Photographing Everyday Life
Capturing photos of my family’s everyday life is something I’m passionate about. And while it isn’t always easy, I promise you that pulling out that camera and taking a moment to photograph the everyday details that make your life unique, beautiful, and special is totally worth the effort.
Need some real-life photo ideas to capture today? Here are five photography ideas to get you started.
Photo Idea #1: Photograph your routine.
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Capture a moment that is part of your everyday routine. Eating breakfast, getting the mail, a landmark you pass on the way to work. All these details that can so easily go un-noticed in the bustle of everyday life will hold significance later on. These little details tell the story of who you are and what you did each day—and they definitely deserve a spot in your photo albums.
Photo Idea #2: Photograph yourself.
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Mom & Daughter |
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Take a moment to step in front of the camera yourself. Hand the camera over to someone else or play around with your camera’s self-timer to get a shot with you in it. Years from now, when you’re flipping through photos, the imperfect hair days and little details that are preventing you from stepping in front of the camera now will no longer be an issue. You WILL appreciate these photos and memories captured, as well as the evidence that you were a part of them.
Photo Idea #3: Capture the milestones.
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Riding Bikes
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Capture the milestone moments, the big ones as well as the small ones. Celebrate the firsts {and lasts} by capturing them on camera and remembering to embrace them in all their imperfection. I’m talking about simple firsts, like first tooth lost, first bike ride to school when the warmer weather returns, or the first short haircut you’ve had in a decade.
This photo of my kids riding their bikes to school for the first time this spring was a fun day for them, and I wanted to snap a few quick pictures. It was a cool morning, and I was out on the driveway in my housecoat. In my hurry to get back inside before the neighbors spotted me, I inadvertently focused my shot on the houses on the street instead of my kids, leaving them a bit blurry. This photo is a good reminder that photo mistakes happen sometimes and that’s ok. The photo still captures what I wanted it to, despite its imperfection.
Photo Idea #4: Photograph a current love.
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Reading Time |
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Consider taking a photo of something you’re enjoying right now. For me, it’s those little Reese’s peanut butter cup minis. (I can’t stop eating them!) For my kids, it’s a pile of old books that I recently got from my mom’s house that I used to read as a child.
My kids have loved reading them, and I’ve loved sharing them with them. I took a photo of all these childhood books, so that long after their pages yellow and they’ve fallen apart, this image will be there to recall fond memories of enjoying these books with my mom and with my own kids.
Photo Idea #5: Photograph connections.
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A Walk With Dad |
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Capture a moment of connection between loved ones. Lag behind the group or try using a zoom lens to record these moments without being noticed. Maintaining the spontaneity of a real-life moment sometimes means pulling a 007—be a little sneaky and see what you can capture.
Capturing life as it happens helps me see things differently. Boring becomes beautiful. Ordinary becomes extraordinary. Life can get so busy and crowded with distractions that it’s easy to forget what matters most. Pausing to take photos along the way helps me slow down and just enjoy my life exactly as it is. I hope these ideas will help you do the same.
For more help capturing your everyday life, I hope you’ll check out my three eBooks, Real.Life.Photography., Don’t Say Cheese! and 40 Top Tips for Better Photos My third eBook, Real.Life.Photography., is due to be released in early June.
Rebecca Cooper is a 32-year-old wife and mother of four. As a professional photographer, she’s captured thousands of beautiful portraits, but she finds the most joy and fulfillment in snapping everyday photos of her own family and documenting her ordinary life. She believes that pausing to take these shots increases her appreciation for the details of her life, making them seem almost magical. You can read more about Rebecca and her family’s adventures on her blog, Simple as That.