Welcome to 31 Days of Photo Tips | Day 1

My entire childhood in photos fills about 1/3 of a shoebox.

October 1975. Taken 36 years ago, almost to the day. 4 generations.

How old were you the first time you clicked a camera and froze that moment in time?

Illinois peeps – recognize that lion?

Did your parents or friends take photos of you when you were little? Do you still have those images? Are they tucked away in an album? Are they in a basement somewhere in your parents’ house? In a shoebox in a closet somewhere? What do you do with the images of the people and places you love?

3 years old

I was in high school before I owned my own camera. Film was expensive. I often found moments I had forgotten about by the time I developed my film. We took far fewer images back then – held back by per-frame printing cost. But the few we did get are treasured because they were uncommon and expensive.

my brother and sister – both 3 years, me – 4 years old

While these photos are meaningful to me, none are particularly compelling technically or artistically.

Catholic school uniform, my cousin and me. Ages 6 and 5.

In them my mom is young – younger than I am now. She is beautiful. She wore her hair long and smooth. The fashion is awesome. The wall paper is hideous. My grandmother still has the same head of curls she had in the 1980s. My brothers and sisters were so cute and little back then, before we were separated by miles and states and marriages. My dad had dark hair and a 70s ‘stache! My cousins came to every holiday, before in-laws and their own families demanded more of their time. Pets are youthful, friends are close, family is near.

“Chicken Pops”, kindergarten, age 5

They are precious memories.

my grandma and tying on my roller skates, age 7 or 8

Now it’s your turn to capture the lives of those around you. What if you could both capture meaningful images, and do it better?

You are the mom in the pictures. You’re the dad whose fashion sense will be mocked in a decade or so. Your kids live close, share everything, and are years away from being separated by college, marriage, or new jobs – or not. You are young, healthy, and beautiful… and one day the photos of you and your family will be a nostalgic trip down memory lane. They will remember your skinny jeans, your love of Starbucks or pizza or sweet potato fries, the Christmas tree they wake up to every Christmas morning. They will wonder that you all were ever so skinny, so young, and why in the world you all wore hair like that.

age 9 or 10

I have big plans for our 31 Days together. Most of the topics were inspired by YOU – readers of the 31 Days to a Better Photo. You sent in questions, had requests for topics, wanted clarification and expansion. The 31 Days to a Better Photo was like a 101 Course for new dSLR owners.

But it’s barely the tip of the iceberg. I hope we can go a bit deeper together these next 31 Days. I want to equip you to make your memories beautiful for you and for the generations to follow.

What motivates you to get behind the camera?

No words for this. Gymnastics injury, 7th grade, notice the huge “<3 I Love you Honey, Love Mom” font and center.

For some of us, it’s how we make a living. It feeds our children, pays our mortgage, puts gas in the car. But long before it did that, photography meant something personal to us in order to pursuit it.

junior year in high school – could our waist lines get any higher??

What is it about capturing and freezing moments that has captured millions of photo enthusiasts? I think it’s not actually about photography at all… the root of photograph is trying to make a moment last forever.

Yeah, overalls. My besties and I, the college days. I’m the short one.

Your first kiss. When you said “I Do” to forever. When she wailed her first newborn cries. His first smile. The family trip. First day of school. Plane trips. Birthdays. Graduations. Growing up. Our grandparents. Parents. Children. Grandchildren.

Athens, Greece 1998. One of only a handful of Europe images

You’ve gotten a tour of some of the meaningful images in my life. Now it’s your job to capture them for those you love. Together, I hope we can learn how to make your images great so one day your kids and grandkids will have more than part of a shoebox of images.

See all the 31 Days Series from bloggers across the blogosphere!