These are the days. The days no one had expected us to be living in. The days before Covid-19 and quarantine were part of our daily discussions. The days with our kids we didn’t know we needed. But here we are. We’re all trying to do our part and take care of our families while keeping others safe.

While this is not the greatest of times, we are living in the days that will be in history books. The stories of how the world stayed apart but came together to help one another. The sadness as families mourned the loss of their loved ones. The family time spent with the whole family over dinners without late night meetings or soccer games keeping us from home. The laughter and tears throughout the days of staying at home. But our children are going to remember how they felt and it is our job to make them feel safe. Will they remember what it’s like to be living during this time? Will they remember the pizza and movie nights? Will they remember mom getting down on the floor and playing with them without her to-do list keeping her preoccupied? Will they remember dance parties in the kitchen? Whatever memories we are making with our kids, we can help them remember through the photos we take with the one thing we often have right in our pockets, our phones.

Kids Just Being Kids

So often we overthink photographs. And it’s easy to fall into creating a perfectly posed photo with an instagram worthy backdrop and a caption that took way too long to come up with. It’s because we are in a social media “perfect life” kind of world. But we can take beautiful and meaningful photos of our kids just being kids. My daughter is almost one and a half years old now and I as I look back through old photos and video footage of her, it’s hard to imagine her being that small. It’s strange how our minds can do that to us. I had always told myself I will never forget these moments, which is why it’s so important to document it all. The kids are home with us right now. Capture them doing homeschooling, running around outside with their siblings, building forts in the living room and playing with their toys.

Take the photos from different angles, holding your phone above them for a birds eye view. Get down to their level and photograph what they are doing. There are so many ways to capturing this time that will tell a story you want to remember.

Photograph or Video A Day in The Life

Photographs have the power to freeze a moment in time so you can remember it forever. It can literally bring back your senses just by glancing at the photo. You remember the way you felt, the cold breeze blowing through your air, the fragrance of the trees while you bent down to feed the ducks with your little one. Take a day to capture the everyday mundane and turn it into a slideshow. Or just print the photos out and put them in a shoebox to share with your kids some day. Is there a song you sing when they wake up? Do they help you make breakfast? Are they learning to put their clothes on by themselves? What’s their favorite thing to do right now. Capture it all. No matter how trivial it may seem, these small moments add up to the biggest moments.

The Details

As an interior designer, wedding photographer and now motherhood photographer I have always appreciated the details. No moment goes unnoticed. I want to remember those chubby little fingers grasping mine as we walk together. I want to remember the way her toes are curled up when she’s playing in the sand. What is a favorite feature of your child? What’s something you do together?

You can capture the same subject but from different angles and get two totally different photographs.

The Family

I’m sure by now you are all going a little stir crazy and having cabin fever. But soon the time will come for life to get back to its old rhythms. The kids will go back to school. Dad will be leaving for work after breakfast. The homework, the dance recitals, the baseball games…when will there be another moment where we are all home like we are experiencing right now?

Capture dad working from the kitchen table, the messy rooms and the kids playing with the animals (who are the most excited for family to be home.) But most important mama, YOU get in the photo. Don’t wait until your makeup is on. Don’t wait until you lose a couple pounds. Don’t wait until you’re not in your pjs or yoga pants. Grab those kids and take a selfie with them. Heck, grab the whole family and take a selfie.

I hope my tips and my iphone photos I’ve shared will inspire you to start capturing your life today, no matter how messy it is.

If you want to learn the basics to capturing better photos, lighting techniques and the prompts I use for capturing REAL smiles - go ahead and grab a copy of my Simple Guide to Photographing Your Kids, so you can start getting beautiful photos today.

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I’m Ambre. I’m a wife, mama and photographer. My days are filled with joy while capturing memories and chasing around my daughter. Join me as I share snippets of client sessions, behind the scenes and what inspires me. Let’s make moments stand still together!

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