Say Gouda!
My daughter is almost one year old. I honestly do not know where the time has gone. And then on the other hand it feels like our little family of three has always been skipping down the lane together. Well, a lot has happened in a year. She's rocking four teeth, size 4 diapers, self-feeding and just started cruising around the house. She is growing so fast and we find ourselves looking at each other wanting to put the brakes on.
We know we can't stop time, but we can try to capture as much of these moments as possible. We take a lot of pictures and short videos. But we don't want to go overboard either. So sometimes we just try to be in the moment and enjoy it for what it is.
We use the Canon PowerShot SD900, Digital Elph
Eventually we will spring for a photo printer, but for now, I use Kodak Gallery (www.kodakgallery.com) for printing and storage. I also use Kodak Gallery to make photo books once a year which include all of our best pictures of family and friends instead of using a traditional photo album. I plan on using it for our daughter's Baby Book, too. There is plenty of room for text and pictures and it's completely reprintable should anything ever happen to it.
I think more important than what technology you buy is your philosophy on taking pictures and video.
When taking pictures there are some simple rules, but here are the one's that peeve me the most. Don't cut people's heads off when taking group photos. Look at the frame of the photo for a split second and check for the annoying partial decapitation. Adjust flash for lighting. Just because it's nighttime, doesn't automatically mean you need the flash. And please, take the bib off!
If you are taking video, make it viewable. In my opinion, videos should be short and purposeful. I recently was subject to some home video watching and it was so shaky and sweeping, it was unwatchable. If you are going to pan from one area to another, do so s l o w l y. And don't try to make something happen because you are taking a video. If you do, you will have a video of your baby staring at you while you say, "Eat the cheerio. Come on, eat the che-e-e-e-erio. You just ate 10 cheerios, e-a-t the ch-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-erio!" With your child, you may want to try to be more candid. My daughter knows what the camera is and so sometimes, we have to sneak a video because if she sees us coming with the camera, she stops what she is doing, smiles and strikes a pose. She also wants to see whatever video or picture we've taken. It's pretty cute. Oh yeah, and pretty annoying when she won't give the camera back.
So have fun! Edit, edit, edit! And don't forget to share your pictures and videos with family and friends! This time isn't going by too quickly only for you - they want to make it last, too.
