Life Happens ~ Lets Photo-document It

Facebook and Instagram are great ways to catch up on people's lives. Sure, there are certain posts that may annoy us (like blog posts from me, lol!), or anger us, or make us sad. But I see a lot of cool things on these social media sites as well. I love the storytelling pictures ya'll post! Photography that documents real life is called photojournalism or documentary photography. It answers the questions "Who? What? When? Where? and Why?" Remember that from English class? Friends, you are photojournalists whether you realize it or not! You are taking pictures of your kids being held by their daddies, you are posting pictures of you and your friends out on the town for a "girls night out".... or Homecoming pictures and vacation pictures and remember my wallpaper pictures? Yep. That's photojournalism. I am going to be so bold as to claim, in my humble opinion, that photojournalism/documentary is the amongst the most important and impactful photography genres there is. Just about everyone in the United States of America is taking pictures with their phones. I remember when digital photography was starting to get real popular and being impressed with a 3 megapixel camera. Now, my phone camera has 12! I've done a quick research on how big a picture I can print from my camera phone and was surprised that I can print a good quality photo in a size 11x14, maybe even larger. Have any of you printed large photos from your phone images? Let me know how it turned out - I'm so curious! I kinda have my doubts but I'd like to try it. Of course, the better the quality of your phone image, the better the print quality.

Anyway, I was thinking about how we photo-document our lives and have come up with 4 categories that help add character, context, and interest to the images of our everyday moments. I've been trying to be more and more mindful of these things as I take pictures in my own life and in my sessions and want to pass them onto you if you're interested (cause I LOVE photography and have a passion to talk about it). I'm going to write about these 4 categories in a series of posts. Ya'll just keep scrolling down your Facebook feed if you aren't interested - no worries! But for those who love taking pictures of the people, pets, and places they love and are interested in being more mindful of creating a dynamic photograph, you might find a bit of value in these posts. Its not going to teach you how to work your camera phone or dSLR but it will get us thinking about how to take an even more story-telling photograph that will create nostalgia when we look back upon them, reliving that moment.

Let me unveil the 4 Categories :)

1.) Looking For The Story ~ anticipating the moment

2.) Perspective ~ work it mamma

3.) Light & Shadows

4.) Framing, Layering, & Focusing

Don't worry, these posts will be short! And maybe I'll give homework because here in my blog, I am the Queen (or dictator - insert laughing devil emoji). I would love to see your photojournalism! PS - you're not really supposed to clean up your house or stage anything, (not even to turn on or off a light!) if you follow the purists rules of documentation. But I'm no purist. And if a rule does not work - I break it. But for those who love the challenge of the straight and true, be pure my friend.

To start us off, I'll post a picture taken last year - a self portrait documenting my morning ritual.

{{ that's me reading, not sleeping I swear!}}