every parent wants to take better pictures of their kids, right?  right.

in this blog series i will give you some insight to what i believe makes a great photo.  you don’t need a fancy camera or a photography business to take a great picture of your child (though if you want to hire someone who has a fancy camera and a photography business – i can make a recommendation… ;) )

but unfortunately i can’t be at your house every day.  so here’s some advice to capturing those really important every day moment like you usually do – but better.  i’ve used my own images of my daughter… some are really old and snapshotty, and some are newer and printed ridiculously large and hanging on my wall.  the point of this blog series is to show you that you don’t have to be a pro to capture great images of your babies for their scrapbooks.

in my opinion, the most important key elements of a photograph are connection, truth, and beauty.  

in this week’s blog i’m going to talk about my favorite element…  connection.

connection can be between the subject and the viewer:

two subjects:

or the subject and basicallyanythingelse:

connection gives the photograph a REASON.  it takes away the feeling of documentation and gives the image meaning.  it makes the viewer feel special, like they are getting a special peek at this great relationship.

imagine a picture that lacks connection… oh wait, i’ll just show you…

is its pretty? yes.  does it make me happy?  of course, it’s my baby.  but do i want to hang it on my wall as much as i want to hang this one on my wall? 

no.  or this one?

no.

the images that really get my heart a pumpin’ are the ones with CONNECTION.  i want to remember how she used to splash in the tub and squeal like a crazy person, i want to remember how she used to think i was the funniest mama EVAHH when i sang old mcdonald and moo’d like a cow.  i want to remember those feelings.

 i’m super thrilled that she has a beautiful profile and elegantly glances down and to the side thoughtfully – but it doesn’t make me feel, it doesn’t make me remember that day.

…and of course there is always an exception to any rule. :) sometimes an image might not exude a “connection”, but instead it will tell a story. and that works too!

story telling is particularly popular in those every day snapshot photos. see below how the trail of baby is evident in the sheets from her slithering off the bed? there’s no real “connection” here to be felt, but instead i get a chuckle out of the story and the memory.

so i hope i explained connection well.  in my eyes, a photo can be a technical train wreck but i still get teary-eyed looking at it because of the connection.

this image was taken with with my arm extended out and a cheap point and shoot camera before i knew a thing about photography.  it will probably always be my favorite picture of my daughter and i.  you can see the love, you can feel the connection.  talk about a happy accident…

——————————————————————-

i hope this has been helpful, to even one person.  every day photography is such a simple and easy way of preserving your memories.  i want to help you not only document what things looked like – i want your images to make you feel a certain way…  THAT is what makes a great picture.

best,

katie davies