The title of this post? Amy Poehler was recently quoted saying it while she was discussing her viewpoint on social media.
A friend of mine put the below quote on facebook and oddly, I completely agree with it. Yes, I participate in social media. Yes, I like to blog and love to take pictures. And yes, I agree with Amy Poehler...
When I was a kid, you'd go to a party or a punk rock show and you'd have fun, and you'd bring a camera, and you'd take pictures, and those pictures would stay inside the camera. Pictures were an addition to the experience. Now the picture is the experience. If I'm hanging out with a friend, and they take a picture of me, it's like "Ugh." I mean, I hate looking at pictures of myself. It immediately takes me out of the experience.
- Amy Poehler -
"Pictures were an addition to the experience. Now the picture is the experience."
Making the picture the experience is something that I've noticed myself doing less and less. I can thank Trace for it. Because of Trace I find myself living in the moment so much more. Pictures of Bryan and I naturally interacting with him are my favorites. I also love Trace's action shots - him playing with toys, self discovery and smile. I love to take pictures more than ever, but I now prefer to capture the candid moments as opposed to the posed moments. As a matter of fact, the picture that I chose to send out on this years Christmas card is a totally unplanned candid. We took so many posed pictures, but the random candid one portrayed the real us so much better than any hand-on-hip picture could. I still struggle with disrupting a real life moment by going to grab the camera, but I'm working on it. Working on staying in the moment...
We took the below pictures this past weekend. The weather was cold, it was dreary outside and we had a cozy lazy few days at home. Trace is interested in discovering everything lately. He's so curious. Grabbing at and pulling my lips is his new thing and I love that Bryan was able to capture it... when I didn't even realize he was. In the 2nd picture, Bryan and Trace were watching the Steelers game together. I was in the kitchen, picked up my camera and snapped them interacting without Bry even realizing. I hold these two pictures so very dear to my heart. I like to think that they were taken in addition to the experience...
Making the picture the experience is something that I've noticed myself doing less and less. I can thank Trace for it. Because of Trace I find myself living in the moment so much more. Pictures of Bryan and I naturally interacting with him are my favorites. I also love Trace's action shots - him playing with toys, self discovery and smile. I love to take pictures more than ever, but I now prefer to capture the candid moments as opposed to the posed moments. As a matter of fact, the picture that I chose to send out on this years Christmas card is a totally unplanned candid. We took so many posed pictures, but the random candid one portrayed the real us so much better than any hand-on-hip picture could. I still struggle with disrupting a real life moment by going to grab the camera, but I'm working on it. Working on staying in the moment...
We took the below pictures this past weekend. The weather was cold, it was dreary outside and we had a cozy lazy few days at home. Trace is interested in discovering everything lately. He's so curious. Grabbing at and pulling my lips is his new thing and I love that Bryan was able to capture it... when I didn't even realize he was. In the 2nd picture, Bryan and Trace were watching the Steelers game together. I was in the kitchen, picked up my camera and snapped them interacting without Bry even realizing. I hold these two pictures so very dear to my heart. I like to think that they were taken in addition to the experience...
What are your thoughts on this topic?
This is something I constantly struggle with especially now that I have Miller. I find that I want to capture everything so he can look back on it one day but I also don't want him to get so used to seeing the iphone in his face that he doesn't know me without it. While I take a lot of photos of our day by day activities I find myself taking less at big events because I'm usually busy with him or just enjoying the moment with him or family. We barely have any family photos of the 3 of us but I'm ok with that because it usually means I was enjoying the moment too much to stop and pose it for a photo. My husband is also a big help on this front because he hates social media and being me "on my phone" so we have a no phone rule when we go out or do certain things which helps.
ReplyDeletebut with that camera and your tripod...think of all the wonderful OOTD pics you can have. sorry...this doesn't answer you question. i'm just concerned about OOTD's.
ReplyDeleteLove that photo of hubby and Trace! Great one and much better than a posed one any day! I would love to learn more about taking photojournalistic photos but it's really hard to capture I've tried...
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see you at the meet-up tonight!
ReplyDeleteI'll have my camera and probably be doing a little bit of both.
ReplyDeleteI'm generally the only one ever taking pictures and a lot of times when I pull it out people screech.
I find the IPhone is the best way to capture in the moment pics because of that.
See you tonight!
Great post!! Something to really think about!
ReplyDeleteI think it's ok to have our cameras out to capture sweet memories once in a while. But when the pictures become the experience, well, that's when it becomes a problem. I have friends who literally care more about taking pictures to show how much fun they're having and how great their lives are than about actually living great lives. It makes me sad for them! I'm glad you've made a conscious effort to be present for Trace. After all, that's what our babies will care about one day - the memories we made with them. Not the pictures!
ReplyDeleteI agree that photojournalistic photography leaves such a bigger impression on me than posed. Almost all of my favorite photos are just moments captured on film that I was unaware of while they were being taken!
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower of your blog (and new to charlotte) and loved this post. I had a last minute emergency so had to miss the get together at Beth's but look forward to following your journey! Xo
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower of your blog (and new to charlotte) and loved this post. I had a last minute emergency so had to miss the get together at Beth's but look forward to following your journey! Xo
ReplyDelete