Monday Ramblings- My Memory Keeping Dilemma, Annoying Snapshot Photography, and My Solution to the Problem

Oh, it’s just a typical Monday here.  Nadia’s home from school (she only goes 4 days a week), but naturally, she got up earlier than she would’ve if she DID have school.  I’ve officially given up on my dream of sleeping in a day.   That being said, if this post sounds like I’m being a little grumpy, it’s cause I’m tired.  😉

She was being particularly cute this morning, and because this past week- after the arrival of my new Click magazine– I committed that I’m going to keep growing as a photographer, I pulled out my “big girl” camera with my heavy-as-heck lens and decided to take the harder route to capture Nadia being… well, Nadia.

Recently I’ve been pulling out my tiny point-and-shoot camera much more often, simply because it’s smaller and much easier to carry around and snag a few snapshots of our day.  And if you’re cool with “snapshots” then that’s great!  But I’m not.  I know I can do better, and I didn’t invest in thousands of dollars of photography equipment years ago to grab a dang snapshot every day.  Know what I’m saying?

I’m a storyteller.  That’s just simply it.  I tell stories through words, videos, and above all, photography.  It’s my art.  If you’ve been following along with my memory keeping journey this year, you know I’ve been doing a different album every month.

It’s going great…. except… well, it’s really not.  😉  My albums are nice, but personally, I feel that my photos leave room for improvement.  (I know, I know.  There might be some people out there that are thinking “What is she TALKING about?”  Please know, I appreciate your sweetness about my photos- I have people that message me all of the time telling me how much they love seeing them.  So do I.)  😉  But as I’m looking back at my albums from this year, I’m just not feeling like the story is being completely told… and I think it’s mainly because I only have room to pick and choose one or two photos from each day in order to stay in only one {small} book for the month.  And I have to keep the books small because otherwise 12 bigger ones for just ONE year won’t fit in my already overly stuffed bookshelf.  So, with that thought always in the back of my head, I just throw in the towel and take just a snapshot or two because what’s the point of getting out my pro gear just for one picture, right?  So wrong.  But that’s honestly where my head has been.

I suppose what I’m saying is, the picture isn’t totally complete.

One other problem I’m having is this:  When I DO take a totally awesome “professional-looking” photo, I tend to want it to be a 4×6 at the very least!  Believe me, I know I act all sheepish when people compliment my work, but I know when I take a killer photo, and I certainly want it to shine in my albums, too.  😉  So the smaller size of the books I’m using is limiting the photo size for me, as well.  I know I could just print the good ones larger and put them in a separate album, but then that adds even more work into my already overly jam-packed schedule.

Sooooo, here’s my solution.

When I use a larger album, I’m able to print my photos larger and share more of them in a spread.  I originally didn’t want to continue using the 12×12 Project Life albums because they are very big, very bulky, and have been known to throw Nadia’s back out of place when she takes them off the shelves and drags them to the couch.  Ok not really, but you should see her struggle to carry some of them.  Her tiny little biceps start bulging.  It’s both sad and cute.  😉

Yes, I’m eating my words only a few months in.  Starting this month, I’m going to partially compromise on the size and use a 9×12 album I snagged from Studio Calico.  The size should allow me to print more of my photos from each day in order to tell a whole story (at a decent size!  None of this 2×3 nonsense I’ve had to do- haha!), and I will still be able to make a beautiful mess out of it with all the bits and bobs I add into my books to make them interactive and fun to flip through.  🙂  I’m actually pretty excited about it.  I think I needed a few months off from traditional Project Life in order to really appreciate the simplicity of it.

So that’s that.  And you know what else?  I can always just make a mini album for fun when and if I have the extra time… or if I start to feel uninspired by this bigger album.  That’s the beauty of memory keeping… we don’t have to play by any rules.  😉

And for you, I’ll be sharing some tips and tricks to taking better and more interesting photos to add in YOUR books.  🙂

I’ll be back to share my April album in a couple days!