Photography from a Parent’s POV

I bought my first DSLR two months before I became a father. It wasn’t something I put a lot of thought into; it was something I felt I needed to be a good father. Looking back, typing that last sentence, I realize why.

Being a parent is stressful. Raising children is hard. Raising children with focused intention, adjusting to the vision of an adult, taking all of their strengths and interests in mind is really hard. It requires us as parents to be present. It requires us to watch and listen to everything. What do they love? How do they love? How do they want love? What do they ask? How do they ask it? What hurts them?

When I focus my camera on my children, I see and remember things that I can’t during the normal day to day. The small flashes of emotion while living is lost. The emotion my cameras capture for later viewing simmers and resonates from my memory cards. I can hold and see them longer. Every picture I’ve ever taken I can remember the moment. I remember how they felt, what they were saying, and how they were saying it.

I am passionate for photography for that reason. This hobby has given me the ability to hold onto those fractions of seconds that are often lost in the hours, days, and weeks of life. The camera forces me to watch with the intention of capturing a moment, not a photo. A photograph is a gateway into a memory.

I’d love to teach you how to use photography to see, to capture, and hold these memories forever. I’d love to teach you how to use your camera phone, your film camera, your mirrorless camera, or your DSLR to capture these moments. I’d love to teach you how to see light. I’d love to teach you how to see shadows. When I was learning photography, I started to see things in a different light (pun intended).

Candid photography is what I’ll focus on. Posed photography has it’s place but I feel candid photography is where we capture personalities, emotion, and the child’s authentic self. Some of my personal favorite photo’s of my family have given the viewers a glimpse of who they are as people. They’re often not consciously paying attention to me. It’s often a smile, a laugh, or a look that passes quickly, and will never be captured in a ‘say cheese’ type of pose.

I will create a video while I photograph our next family adventure. I will attach a GoPro to my camera that will show my POV as a dad with a camera. Afterwards, I will discuss what I was seeing in regards to emotion, light, and shadow. I will post the video to YouTube and share it. Stay tuned and let me know if it’s a process you’re interested in following. Thank you.

Ryan