{If you missed the post about taking better Every Day photos, go check that out so you understand why I’m posting these interviews}
For the next five days, I’ll be posting interviews from some amazing people talking about why every day photos are important to them as well as sharing some of the photos of their “every day”. All of these people live intentional and deliberate lives and they make an effort to document their days and tell the story of their family through photos. They’re all the real deal and I’m excited and truly humbled they agreed to do this (they’re busy. Like, really busy). Check back each day for a new interview from some pretty inspiring people until the launch of the e-mail series on Sunday!!!
First up.
Courtney Slazinik from Click it Up a Notch.
I originally found out about Courtney through Pinterest and have since become a huge fan of her site and was excited to write a guest post for her with some tips for using Instagram. She is dedicated to helping women take better photos so naturally I’m drawn to her. Here’s what she has to say about every day photos.
1. Give me a quick synopsis of your “story”
I have always had a love of photography but it wasn’t until my second daughter was born that things started to really become more serious. I had been asking for a dSLR for a while but my husband was convinced our “fancy” point-and-shoot was good enough. About 10 minutes prior to the birth of our second daughter my husband accidentally dropped and broke our camera (don’t worry, my mom had one). Like any good wife, I used this moment of guilt to get my hands on my first dSLR.
I became obsessed with learning all I could about photography so I could take better photos of my kids. I soon realized that it wasn’t the camera that made as big of a difference as I thought when I asked a friend with a similar camera why hers looked better than mine. She was shooting on manual mode. I switched right away, begged for lessons from her and soon started a Project 365 where you take a photo a day for a year.
That was 5 years ago. I have since started a photography website where I get to help other women who want to improve their everyday photos, Click It up a Notch.
2. Why are every day photos important to you?
These are the real moments of our life. I am guilty of throwing things out of the frame to make it look nicer but more often than not, it is photographing that simple moment that I come to treasure and love. My kids don’t care if the counters are a mess when they look back at photos. They just want to see what life was like when they were 2 or 3 years old. They love looking at old photos which is why I do what I do.
3. What is one of your favorite every day photos and why?
That is like picking a favorite child. I have so many everyday photos that I cherish. Not because they are technically perfect or even portfolio worthy, but because they capture that simple moment of our lives.
4. What type of photos do you wish you had more of from your childhood?
I wish I had more photos of my mom in them. Looking back at old albums there are very few pictures of us with our mom. She is a beautiful woman and I would love to see more of our every day moments with her from when I was a kid. I now try to hand my camera to my husband or pull out the tripod to capture pictures of me with my kids. They don’t care if my hair is a mess, I don’t have make up on or I’m wearing the same thing from yesterday. They just want to look back and see that I was there.
5. What is one tip or piece of advice you would give to help people take “better” every day photos?
Keep your camera handy. I keep mine on top of my microwave or on a table in the hallway. If it isn’t easily accessible than you are going to miss those moments. Take the pressure off yourself that the light, composition, and environment has to be perfect to snap the photo. Yes, those things are important and as you learn more about them you learn how to manipulate those situations. But until then please don’t let those things keep you from picking up your camera and photographing those simple moments.
Thanks so much Courtney!! And for anyone looking to improve their photography skills, Courtney has an upcoming workshop for beginners you can check out. I’m sure it will be awesome.
To learn how to take better everyday photos of YOUR family story, check out the EVERY DAY PHOTOS GUIDE.
