The Magic Mundane
... a year long creative photography adventure, my top 5 tips for capturing digital memories plus a VERY special offer for you.
This is a magazine style post today as I had lots to fit in…
Sweet Memories
They’re here and then they are gone. You feel full to the brim with all the emotion of that moment and then the moment moves onto the next, to the next, to the next…
Photography and video is a portal to connect us back to our most precious moments…
My grandad passed away in 2019.
We don’t have any video of him, no record of his voice. Dave’s father passed away last year (2022) we have reams and reams of video that captures him and his essence.
In only 3 short years we’ve learnt how to capture more not just to keep memory alive but to preserve it in a way that helps us come home to ourselves. They are unbelievable precious to us.
Our digital welly boot print!
There will be around 1.2 trillion photographs taken this year.
This is what it looks like in numbers -
1 200 000 000 000
That equates to around 170 photos per human on the planet. Some of us take a lot more of course.
I definitely take a lot more. I have my phone with me all the time and I work part time so I literally feel the creative opportunities bubbling up…
Here’s how I ‘felt’ looking at the digital collection/ memories in photo form above…
Anticipation looking through our kitchen window. Daydreaming what might be to come as we situated a pop up tipi wellbeing space in our allotment garden in 2022. You guys know I ADORE a vision board and a pop up space has been on mine since 2015. I started with shepherd huts and we ended up here and I really wanted to take in the moment of it all.
Magic moments in the mundane and joy for both chickens and my toddler. We do this small act of seed scattering a few times a week but I know soon she will tire of it. I capture photos for the connection to her size in a familiar space and the simplistic beauty of it all. I don’t know we’ll keep chickens for ever so here they are.
The first copy of my first journal photographed on the road I walked that gave me all the ideas for it in 2021. I pushed my daughters pram round the same 6 streets in lockdown a few times a day. I’m sure it all added to the creative energy needed to create a very special book. I feel like this sign might disappear at some point. It’s been here 7 years but still…
First foods at breakfast with my daughter, the suction plate she learnt to pull off and fling across the room. Hours of play and frustration at the mess. Waking up to the world anew.
Where I started
Back in 2019, after being ‘on instagram’ for two years, I set one of my annual goals as an instruction ‘get better at taking photos’.
I didn’t know how long it would take but I was keen to learn more of the craft. I was fascinated with the insta accounts that posted beautiful interiors or simple moments with light and shadow.
I feel in the here and now, I’ve “mastered” a style, an art that belongs to me.
I can’t believe it but I’m almost 365 days into a photography exchange project with my online friend and artist
You can follow along with more of our photography of snatched moments, nature and slow lived motherhood via #themagicmundane on instagram. You can also connect with Sarah here on substack in her year long book club exploring your own Creative Eco System.
A repost and a refresh of a previous blog.
I typed this part into my old word press blog a year or so ago and wanted to shift it over here and add more of what I’ve learnt. Writing is a craft just like photography and as I read the old blog written in a rush of parenting a one year old, I invited myself to write it in a way that felt more akin to my writing style a year on… perhaps you feel like that reading your older work? I tend to just observe it rather than ‘judge’ it because we must always be kind to kindle our creativity…
Photography - I’ve always just used my iPhone. I don’t use an SLR although I’d like one in the future. Currently I use an iPhone 6S and it’s served me well. Oh except I always need more online storage.
You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard,
the people you have loved.
Ansel Adams
The Light Fantastic!
So to my top tips for considering photo making for memories…
One – Clean your phone camera lens
ALL credit to my ‘profesh’ photographer pal Laura for this one. Our camera lens on our phones picks up pocket dust and smears all the time. No special cloth required. Just the corner of your t-shirt of a tea-towel will do the job! Easy hey?! You’ll really see the difference.
Two - ALWAYS take photos in natural light
This has been my biggest takeaway from my project with Sarah. Often in the early days, I would get to the end of the day and not have taken a photo. I noticed this left me disappointed I’d ‘missed the light’ - the good news; the sun always rises again.
Make a quick list of places you can snap with natural light flooding in (inside and outside).
Observe the way the light dances round your home or garden. Where does the sun rise and set? I love using our kitchen bench or table in the morning sun or the conservatory in the afternoon sun. Shadows can be fun but can also complicate things so you often need to watch your angles.
Get playful with light. Every season has something different to offer.
I took the photo at the top of my daughter at breakfast after noticing where the winter morning sun creeps round the kitchen.
I moved her highchair purposefully and bang the next day this gorgeous photo. The prep and thought took longer than snapping the pic and I think that’s often the way?
Three – look with your eyes AND through the lens
When you are taking photos you see something in your head then with your eyes but the camera sees differently.
Have a look at your images straight after you’ve taken them then take some more. Always take more than you think you should. Switch your grid on and think about the positioning of where you want ‘the subject’ - if photographing moving people/ pets you can always crop afterwards.
I love the ‘live’ function for this.
Use favourites function /album to make your best and notice why you feel this way.
Four – share the interesting detail of your life in this moment right now.
Don’t let perfectionism trip you up.
I’ve noticed some photographers are less likely to share detail or messy process and ALL that stuff is so interesting. You can find your style in it all.
I’m my opinion we are so over the days of the thumb stopping image – yep it might happen but sharing your story is so much more interesting and adds depth to help your audience understand you.
Five – think about your colour palette
What colours are you attracted to. Perhaps you’re enchanted by the uniqueness of the seasons?
I like to weave in pinks, greens, blues and yellows into my Instagram feed.
Do you want a lot of nature, natural textures, plants in your feed or in your brand identity online?
How does everything match in/ match up? Do you like cool aesthetic? If so VSCO is your friend, if not perhaps play with the filters on your phone and adjust the brightness there.
I’m getting to know the ‘a color story’ app too….
Instagram Then…. (2022)
Now…(2023)
If you’d like to deepen your creative expression and connection to creativity, you can join my online course and voxer (voice note) group mentoring support space.
Creative Connection and Content Club
I’m having a FLASH SALE here. (£40.50 instead of £81 for lifetime access)
The course is framed around eight weeks of creativity - some exercises are just for you and there’s an invitation to share online when you’re ready.
PLUS - I’m adding a substack community growth masterclass for everyone who joins this month (February).
The course really helps you understand your blocks and challenge ways of showing up for your creativity and your audience online. It’s not heavy but really achievable and like all my workshops and products PLAYFUL.
You can take it in real time or in your own time. We cover all the online platforms and kindle a style, schedule and strategy that works for you.
“WOW this has been such a crucial and safe space for my creativity and online growth – I feel full of ideas and now have the direction I craved across all of my social channels”
Click through for more testimonials from happy Content Club participants including;
,
And if you can’t afford the cost of course but would like a gifted space I offer one per season on all of my programmes so please email me and I’ll pop you on there.
***
So what are your top tips for taking photos for memories, for content creation, for substack, for socials, for creative expression - I’d love to know?!
Sending sparkles to you this Saturday morning,
Claire x
I was a journalist for years so I was always working with photographers. One of my favorite tips was that when your subject finishes the “formal” shoot, you lower your camera and just chat so they relax into themselves. Then “shoot from the hip,” meaning the photographer holds the camera at hip-level and secretly snaps away more candid photos. Obviously this was done with 35mm cameras and you have to practice to know you’re getting the right angle, but some of his best pics for the magazine were shot that way. Funny enough, my second novel centers around women photographers in the 1950s and the experienced one teaches the younger one to “shoot from the hip.” Such a fun scene to write! Anyway loved this issue!
Loved these tips! I’ve always used my phone camera too because it’s so convenient to just quickly bring out and snap.
I’ve found symmetry to be really helpful when I take photos and I always have the ‘grids’ feature switched on. Although, I’m most certainly not a photographer, I do really enjoy experimenting with taking photos.
And you’re so right about capturing memories. I’m great at taking photos of my family but I need to have a word with my husband about taking more with me in them 😅.