Catching Candid

I'm not a photographer and don't pretend to be one. I don't know the first thing about all the rules photographers follow, nor have I ever grasped ISO and aperture and all those fancy words (and techniques). I'm just a girl with a fancier camera than I'm qualified to have and a heart to capture memories.

It can be hard to fall into the category I do, because upon occasion, people will ask me to take pictures for them, and when I flounder, they tell me I'm better than I give myself credit for, so I agree to the pictures. Then I spend way too much time stressing over whether or not they were pleased with the outcome and rarely forgive myself if they weren't pleased with something...anything...I did. I remind myself that I told them I wasn't a professional, but still I hold myself accountable for skills I don't even possess!

But I noticed something in the last two photo shoots I did. The posed pictures were nice, but the caught-on-the-fly pictures were their favorites.

I took pictures for a family with three tween/teen boys. Whew! Tween/teen boys aren't known for their love of family photo shoots. I'd spent a fair amount of time on Pinterest looking for appropriate family poses and we did have a good time putting together a photo shoot. But the family's favorite photos were the ones I took as they walked down a trail from one location to the next. I was in front of them, walking backwards, praying I wouldn't fall off the trail and break my camera, taking pictures as they walked and talked.

And at the end of the shoot, as a reward, the boys got to do some crazy pose (it had a name, but I don't remember what they called it) that they loved. Those pictures were truly them.

This week I took pictures of our niece (and her brothers made their way into several of the shots too). She's a natural and a poser, so she's fun. But again, some of the best shots came when the three of them played ring-around-the-rosey in the middle of the park, or when one of the brothers rolled down a grassy hill, or when another of the brothers wanted nothing to do with the impromptu group hug.

I love posed pictures. Don't get me wrong. I do dearly love them. But for me, catching real life is the best. Happy-accident sorts of pictures that don't follow every photographic rule but capture the heart of the people.

This is what I love the most. The memory-maker in me is so happy in those moments.

So I say all of this to say...give yourself permission for less than perfect sometimes. If you're more talented than I and can work all the bells and whistles that turn out award-winning pictures, then by all means, do that! But if you're not, don't think you're useless at pictures. Grab real life. It's worth capturing.