Think before you shoot....

Put yourself in your photos!

I would like to make a suggestion that I think is very important. I lived in Australia for a year in 1974 and made a scrapbook when I got back. Now, all these years later, the only photos that really matter are the ones with me in them.

I used to think it seemed conceited to ask people to snap my picture but have gotten over it. One example is the grandmother or grandfather who takes pictures at all family gatherings but never puts herself/himself in them....PLEASE do yourself and your heirs a favor and get yourself into those pictures!

My dear aunt died 3 years ago and she was a world traveler. She had thousands of pictures in a gazillion albums, plus, thousands of photos in boxes everywhere. Out of a thousand, we might find one photo with her in it. We could care less about seeing a picture of a tree or a rock or a mountain.....we want to see Aunt Mary in those places! She could have just bought postcards and left her camera at home.

Please consider taking pictures that will mean something to you and your children in the future. People are always happy to snap a picture of you (they won't think you're vain and if they do, who cares?)....and there's always the self-timer feature on cameras these days. I rest my case.

p.s. Oops, "gotta" unrest my case to mention......

1. TRY your best to label the photos the moment you get them. Many people, like me, plan to do it later, then years later you find this sleeve of pictures and you have no idea where or when they were taken. The same goes for digital pictures......put a caption on them when you download them into your computer.

2. I've also learned that putting a caption below a photo in an album is great. But, most albums fall apart after 10-20 years and labels fall out. Do label your albums for enjoyable viewing, but also (They have acid free pencils made just for this.) label every photo on the back of the photo itself. (They have acid free pencils made just for this purpose.)

OK, now I really rest my case.