Lifestyle images and ways of taking a better photo

Photography is our modern day storyteller. And the print is the beautiful result.  It’s the only thing you will probably own that will gather more value in the years you have it. It’ll tell a story, evoke feelings, and create a legacy for future generations.

In a generation filled with selfie-takers, I think it’s important to not forget the story. The story of the day, the story of the moment, and not to quote too much of One Direction, but the story of your life 🙂 We move so fast and forget to really relic in the air that you breathe, we don’t taste it, we don’t enjoy the feel of it, nor the warmth or cold feelings that touch your skin. We are unfortunately a very fast paced society that wants instant gratification and often escapes the beauty of things because of this. Digital images are stored onto a phone, this phone than dies and those photos are sometimes moved, or forgotten about. We have become an obsessive-compulsive photo taking society.

We do it so meaninglessly that we have created a generation that does not give worth to what an actual print is. We don’t listen to music when we are at a venue, instead, you hid behind the phone lens and take an excessive amount of images that just stay buried in your photo libary. These images are accompanied by other meaningless images that serve as a reminder of a generation that will never be passed on. Digital images aren’t forever. A phone will die, the cloud will cease to exist one day, and you’re left with nothing. A print has proven to serve its worth, with the prints that are hanging on your wall, the ones that are laying in an album, and also the images of generations ago that are still in mint condition.

Prints are forever. That photograph allows you to slow down the moment, and revisit it in a whole different way. You’ll be remembering the moment instead of hiding behind the camera lens, missing what was in front of you.  And how special to have pictures of your life to share with your younger generations. It truly is a gift of being relevant and also connected with everyone around us even we are ourselves are gone.

Tips to step out of the “selfie loophole”…

Focus on yourself and your background. Pull back just a wee bit to see where you are.. If you just focus on your face, you will end up with a library of the same pose and face, and it’ll seem not as powerful than something that focuses on more. You want to pull back so you can see what you were doing and what made that place, feeling, or moment special. And if you can wing it, hire someone to follow you and help you document a trip or an event. And if you can’t, put your camera on a timer, and shoot as though you were telling a story not creating crazy lip poses.

Just by following these simple tips, I guarantee your documenting skills will be so good that you won’t even remember what taking a selfie was like.