Thursday, May 9, 2013

Little Days: Embrace the Camera

When Piper was born, I took pictures of her every day. Probably every hour. Ok...sometimes every minute. I constantly had a lens- whether it was my big girl camera, or just my iphone- in her face. I didn't want to miss a moment of her little life. I wanted everything documented, recorded, captured.

We joked that if we ever had another baby, we were going to have to hire a photographer to make sure he or she wasn't neglected- living in the shadow of the constantly immortalized First Born. It's a cliche, but a cliche for a reason, that the oldest child has a baby book the size of the yellow pages, with every blink and coo recorded for posterity, while the second baby has a few snapshots (with the older sibling included of course). The third baby is lucky if he makes a cameo in the family Christmas card, and after that I think you pretty much give up taking pictures and just hope the kids can remember things for each other. Sure, I exaggerate, but still, with the constant snapping of her early days I was worried that I had set a prescient I couldn't keep up with.

And it turns out...I was right. Just much sooner than I thought.

You see, I've fallen off the photography wagon. But our second kid isn't due to arrive for another month and a half. I thought I'd be exhausted caring for two babies, and get a little lax on the picture taking, but before I even got there, this pregnancy has pretty well wiped me out, making it harder and harder for me to find the energy to shoot our first born....our only born. As the months go on, each computer folder has fewer and fewer pictures in it... In the beginning, I'd take a series of shots if it just seemed like she might yawn. Now it pretty much has to be a holiday for me to get out the camera.

I know Piper isn't going to complain that she doesn't have enough pictures. I still take plenty....and it's probably natural for the pace to slow down a bit to coincide with her more subtle growth now. But still. I want the pictures. I want to remember how blonde her little mullet was. How long her baby lashes were. I want to have a record of her gaped tooth grin, and her tiny elbow dimples. I know that I'll never forget these things...she is, after all, my baby...but these stages are fleeting, and I want to make the effort to freeze them for as long as possible- even if that's only possible on film.

So I'm going to make the effort. I'm going to lug out the DSLR. I'm going to roll my big belly on the floor to get a better angle. I'm going to try to rely on my iphone+fancy filters a little less, and attempt to grow my skills to get the really good shots.

I'm going to prioritize memory keeping, as much as I hope I'm prioritizing memory making.
For her. And for me.












6 comments :

  1. I completely relate to this post - my daughter is 10 weeks old and my camera is glued to my side incase anything I want to remember happens. Which is pretty much everything.

    The picture of your daughter on her Daddy's shoulders is absolutely adorable!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, Michelle! I want to remember it ALL. Sometimes I have to force myself NOT to take pictures, so I can just enjoy the moment, but lately, it's good for me to actually drag out the camera.

      Delete
  2. those pictures are awesome! great job capturing the joy in this day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It was a beautiful day....makes it easy!

      Delete
  3. For real, a nice "big girl" camera is one of the first things I want to buy after I start working as a nurse next month!!

    Good luck on getting all those skills down with your DSLR!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a great investment! Takes some practice, but I'm so thankful for the quality pics I end up with (or luck into!)

      Delete