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We live in a great age where thousands of photos can be stored on one memory card. We are no longer limited to a roll of film or the amount of pictures available on a disposable camera. We don’t miss a moment of anything as parents. Video cameras and photography cameras have become smaller and offer better picture quality. Then you have more professional cameras which have become less expensive. Just walk through an amusement park like Disneyland and count how many families are using a DSLR camera to document their time together at the park. You will lose count I assure you.
Storing Pictures
Storing pictures isn’t like it use to be. We don’t have to have boxes of photos or huge photo books. We store our pictures on social media, external hard drives, CD/DVD’s and on our computers which doesn’t take up any space in our homes.
It’s quite amazing where technology has brought us thus far. So what is the problem?
I have noticed something happening in my own life and I know I am not the only Dad or parent that is going through this. I purchased my first digital camera 9 years ago after my daughter was born because it was important to me to capture those early moments as much as possible. I am the photographer of the family and I enjoy it very much. I am the one carrying the camera and video camera. I do my best to capture every moment I can when it comes to birthdays or family adventures (sledding, time at the park, amusement parks etc..). There have been times where I have had a camera in one had (shooting pictures) and a video camera in the other hand. It wasn’t pretty but I captured the moments happening. I have like 30 or 40 memory cards filled with memories over the past 9 years.
What’s worse is now with social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc..) I find myself taking pictures of moments just to share them on social media. Yet another reason I end up taking pictures.
The main reason I am capturing these moments is to hopefully share them again with family when my son and daughter are older and have their own families. And then they will have children and I can share those moments and the stories that go along with each picture or video. I am very nostalgic for some reason.
You’re Missing out Dad
I am missing out on the experience that I am documenting. I am so overly concerned about documenting everyone else’s experience in one particular moment that I don’t really get to enjoy it as much as I could or should.
Now I am Conscious of It
What I am doing different now is keeping the big camera and the video camera in the car during our excursions. We recently went sledding and the only camera I took with me on the slopes was my phone. I videotaped and took photos intermittently for 10 to 15 minutes and then spent more time focusing on the moment then documenting the moment.
Don’t get me wrong, I still want to document the fun stuff my family and I do, but I don’t want my focus to just be on documenting it.
My Advice (Because You Know I Want to Give it)
I am all about spending time with the family. But if you are not in the moment with your family then are you really spending time with them? Take some pictures, put down the camera and just enjoy it. That is what I am going to try to do going forward.
