The Art
of Memory Hunting
by: Rubyellen Bratcher
Rubyellen Bratcher is mother to two girls, Brave and
True. Wife of Benny and designer of
Cakies
 10 practical ways to help create spectacular photographs of
your kids.
The camera is in your hands. You are looking at your kids
sitting on the couch, trying to get them to sit still and
say, “Cheese!” The flash goes off and you look at your LCD
display. The picture looks horrible—the flash makes them
look too bright, your kids are a blur, and it is not the
picture you imagined being hung on your wall. You press
delete and try again… and think, if only I could hire a
photographer, then all my pictures would look like an art
collection of our family.
I am the mom to two darling little girls named Brave and
True, yes, their names are really Brave and True and we like
to go memory hunting. I am not a photographer, but a memory
hunter. Memory hunting, as we like to call it in our house,
is the art of creating and capturing on camera those sweet
memories that often flutter by too quickly.
I have outlined 10 practical tips that will hopefully help
you make the photographs of your children art gallery
worthy. I don’t have a degree in photography, nor have I
ever taken a photography class (minus the one I tried to
read about online, but never completed), but I am an expert
in my kids and what it takes to get them happy to
successfully capture a memory.
Here are my 10 tips to capture a memory:
-
Capture a memory, not a pose!
Imagine for a second those family pictures
with everyone dressed up sitting side by side with hands
neatly folded in front. While perhaps suitable for placement
above the fireplace in some households, posed pictures like
this are not obtained by “memory hunting.” Memory hunting is
capturing natural images of your kids having fun and
candidly enjoying themselves in their surroundings. Rarely
does memory hunting utilize the word “cheese” in its
vocabulary…
-
Give them a break!
As parents, we know our kids’ happiest
times of the day, though we wish it were all the time. Keep
this in mind as you plan your memory hunts. Be sure to give
them ample time to nap and rest, so you will have laughing,
smiling, and enjoyable kids who are ready for a memory hunt.
In return, you will snag the best-looking photos.
-
Fill up their tummies!
Don’t try to go memory hunting on an empty
tummy. I am sure you get cranky and don’t want to do
anything on an empty stomach; well, kids are the same way.
Otherwise, you will get frustrated, they will get
frustrated, and no one will be a happy hunter, which means
that your pictures will have them with wailing mouths and
tearful faces. So moms and dads, please make sure they are
well fed, as this will ensure some good memory hunting.
-
Thank God for sunlight!
Light is necessary for great shots. Try to
avoid those “flashy” looking shots, where all you see is an
overexposed face. Go memory hunting where there is a good
amount of light—that way, you will get the most natural look
possible. Also, allow the light to shine on the subject’s
face, not on just their backs. This will help optimize the
benefits light provides, dramatically increasing your odds
of snatching the best quality picture possible. Another
advantage of memory hunting in well-lit areas is the
reduction of blurriness in photos (and so will adjusting the
aperture and shutter speed, but we’ll have to save that for
another day).
-
Give them props!
We know that kids
love toys or something new. Give them something fun to eat,
play with, or something you know they are really going to
enjoy, and get yourself ready to nab each moment they are
savoring their special prop. On one of our past memory
hunts, I gave True a ginormous slice of watermelon while she
was all dressed up in a white dress and rain boots. Yes,
white and rain boots! Then, I just let her have a ball
eating it outside. She loved every moment of it and I got
some great shots of her having fun, with watermelon juice
dripping all over her face and dress! I now have the
pictures and the stained white dress as remembrance of that
lovely moment.
-
Let’s get creative!
Set up fun and different situations for
your kids that they will enjoy. Remember, it is making a
memory, so make it fun! Dress them up! Take them to a field!
Let them roll around in the mud! Yes, I said the mud! Find
places and situations that will allow them to have fun and
even get dirty. You want them to have fun and then you will
get to capture the most natural photos of them enjoying
themselves. Maybe one day they will say, “Remember the time
you let me roll around in the mud? I had so much fun. I
really liked that.” The goal is create lasting memories and
capture the joy that was taking place at that moment on
camera.
-
Learn from the pros!
Check out professional photographers and
inspiring blogs to see how they take pictures. Thanks to the
internet, the world is literally at our fingertips. People
are so creative and are a real source of inspiration.
Learning from others will help you think of ideas of ways to
go on your own special memory hunt. Looking at the sites of
professionals will give you good ideas on props that kids
would really enjoy and scenarios that make for a good
picture. This will really help provide motivation to capture
an artsy picture.
-
Break it into thirds!
A rule of thumb for photography is
breaking apart a picture into thirds horizontally and
vertically. Break the image you want to capture by creating
a grid for yourself. Google “rule of thirds” to see what I’m
referring to. The eye is more apt to be drawn to one of
these points of intersection rather than the center, so
utilizing your space and surroundings is vital in the
placement of the main object. This technique takes some
practice, but once you get it you will find your pictures to
be much more appealing. You will change from someone just
taking a picture to your own photographer.
-
Don’t forget the details!
Our kids will grow up so fast, so don’t
forget to capture the little things that one day will easily
be forgotten. Take close-ups of the thumb that is constantly
stuck in their mouths, capture the mess they make sitting in
their highchair, and maybe even the blanket they leave all
over the dirty floor. These little things may be such
minor details, but they are so special to our children and
will serve as a reminder of the different stages of their
lives that will help shape who they become.
-
Have fun and don’t be afraid to get grungy!
Last but not least, have fun memory
hunting! Memory hunting is making and capturing memories, so
make it fun for the whole family. Treasure these moments
because they go by so quickly. Memory hunting is not meant
to be stressful, but a time of togetherness—laugh together,
play together, eat together… simply make memories together.
Don’t be afraid to try new angles and get
dirty in the process. Often times I will be lying on my
back in the grass to capture a memory of True doing
something silly. Or I will even be on my belly just to get
the right angle of Brave rolling around on the floor. People
laugh sometimes when they see the different positions I try
to take a picture, but the price to pay is small in exchange
for a wonderful memory caught on camera.
Think of memory hunting as a way to make
your life feel like it is not flashing before your eyes. You
want to capture and record all the special moments that go
on inside your household. These documentations are the most
precious things we will have as our children grow. Also,
thanks to blogs and services like those found on blurb.com,
you can intertwine your captured moments with words and have
records of all your memory hunts. Ever since I found out
that blurb.com allows you to print your blog into a
hardcover book, I have been taking pictures and blogging
memories more religiously.
I love my girls, my husband, Benny, and
try to do all the memory hunting possible. Not a day goes by
that a picture is not taken and everyone knows that if you
are with me, expect to be snapped into a picture to be
uploaded onto my blog. I try to record all of our memory
hunting moments.
The definition of “moment” according to
Webster’s Dictionary is “a complete brief period of time.”
The time with our children is so short, so do all you can do
to capture these moments and have them beautifully recorded.
One day we will be able to look back, laugh and smile at
these moments of time that were seized.
So now think, “What memory do I want to
capture today?”
Happy hunting!!!
"Memory Hunting" is trademark pending.
visit:
memoryhunting.blogspot.com
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