Capturing Little Moments at Home — Midstory Photography

If we are being “Instagram honest”, we would probably say we keep screen time to a minimum and mostly play outside or go adventuring around town, but if we are being like for real for real, it is likely that we spend the majority of time inside the house. We set the kids up with crafts and legos and then when they have had enough of that we cave with, “Okay, but one episode of Blue’s Clues and THAT’S IT”. It isn’t that we don’t want to be bopping around town filling our time with fun adventures, but at least in my world, we end up at home a lot these days. The work never ends. The naps never sync. The dishes never seem to wash themselves (still working on Mrs. Weasley’s dishwashing charm).

Emory is still taking two naps a day, my office is at home and the weather has been spotty. Those of you that follow along on Instagram know that we actually do get out quite a bit, but still, at the end of the week, the majority of time has been spent at home. SO, anyways, my point is, those everyday moments are going to be inside your house a lot of the time - and how beautiful! Don’t you want to look back and remember all the cozy corners, the spill stains and secret hideouts that made your house your home? So, my last blog, “Fleeting to TImeless - Capturing Everyday Moments”, included tips on capturing shots of your children, nieces or nephews, the kids you babysit, etc.

There are few things that give you as big of bonus points as sending people photos of the ones they love, or just having them for yourself.. Want to tempt grandma into coming over to babysit? Send a precious photo of her grandchild so she’s chomping at the bit to get her hands on those rolls. Need to make sure you get that follow-up babysitting gig so you can keep adding to your concert funds? Stage a delightful tea party of the kiddos and send to mom and dad a few days later and be all, “oh yeah, I took this casual shot of the incredible, constructive time I had with your kids”, and I promise they’ll put you on that premier sitter speed dial. Boom.

Getting beautiful shots can totally happen indoors both on your iPhone or your DSLR. The key is light and staging. I know staging seems contradictory to what I am all about. How is it real if it is staged? The scene is staged, but the moment is real! I will give a perfect example of what I mean from a scenario just two days ago!

Aren’t these beautiful? Let me walk you through what these shoots look like:

Gabriel was outside living his best life in his “construction site” in the backyard. He is in love with drinking broth. My mother, being the thoughtful angel that she is, brought a little jar of left-over broth over for him. I heated it up and poured it into a mug, which I then placed in a spot I had cleared off (because 30 seconds prior there was a puzzle, a bowl of oatmeal from the morning, half of a crayon and crumpled paper in that spot) where the light comes in well.

Now that the staging is done, I let the moment happen. I called Gabriel in from outside and told him his broth was on the table. He took his cue and the magic unfolded on its own. All the lights in the kitchen were off, so the only light I was working with was that wonderful, soft winter (aka overcast) light coming from the window.

I now have a tiny collection so we never forget his love for broth, the thoughtfulness of his SuSu and then I just love the contrast of the shirtless, dirty boy with the delicate, refined tea cup at table. This took basically no effort, no stress, he was not distracted from enjoying his moment and I captured an authentic Gabriel moment that I never want to forget.

We enjoy so many moments undocumented. I highly recommend limiting your use of camera or phone, but I do recommend taking some every now and then. It could just be me, but I pray I never forget the tiny moments of my boys’ childhood.

I am including a few more below that I just shot around the house in little pockets of window light. Learn what times of day the light comes in which rooms and work around that. Don’t be afraid to stage little spaces for moments to unfold. It doesn’t make the moment fake. It is like setting a stage for an ad lib scene. You don’t know what will happen, you just know it is going to happen in a cute little spot and you are ready for whatever unfolds.