February 15, 2012

Details A2.01

valentine's recap:  top: heart shaped banana cake / little sweety / for my valentine bottom: ready for bed / eating banana cake and berries / from my valentine

We really enjoyed our Valentine's festivities at this camp. Little Smith and I baked some cookies and heart-shaped banana cake, Big Smith brought home flowers and my favorite chocolate bar (times two!), and we ate fondue and drank lots of champagne. I wish we could do it all over again today.

On another note I've been thinking a lot about pictures and documenting daily life. I'm very new to the world of blogs... not quite sure how I missed this incredibly inspiring collection of stories, images, and ideas buzzing around all this time but I'm generally slow to embrace technology. The plus side of being late to the party is that there is so much out there for me to feast on, it's like a bottomless treasure chest and every day I find some place or thing or one new to peak in and learn from.

Part of the reason I started my own blog was to document our daily lives, not just the big milestones but the details and fragments that slip through the cracks. I think that's why I'm also so infatuated with my cell phone pictures and instagram. I keep trying to figure out why I like these so much and I guess it's that there isn't any pressure for any one image to be stunning or tell a story. It's the sum of the parts, the collection of all of these little moments that weren't a big enough deal to grab the real camera.  When these fragments are gathered up they describe our life; it's beautiful and it's addictive.

everyday:  top: bath toys / block tower / skateboard fun  middle: laundry / waving hi / happy tights  bottom: floor dancing / organizing recipe cards / lazy cat

On the other hand I've noticed that all of the ready-made filters that help give each of these moments personality (and I really love) also equalize our individual points-of-view. It's deeply personal, it's the in between moments you don't always share, but it's also somehow generic since so many of us have adopted the same convention.

Many of the blogs I really love take the time to document these everyday moments in carefully composed images, with real cameras and considered frames and light. I've decided to make that a late New Year's resolution... a Valentine's resolution. I'm going to try to lug my big camera around more and to take the time to capture everyday details with the same deliberateness that I document my sweet baby's face and my cooking efforts.

But I'm also going to let myself enjoy the cell phone pictures... because there is something lovely in the casual image and they're just cool looking and fun to share with friends!

busy:  top: sunset stroll in our hood / coloring at the diner / big smith's project  middle: pretzels and almond butter = sticky / ducks in a row / yelling at dogs in the park bottom:  walking with daddy / perched on radiator / ready for a walk

footnote: after writing this post this morning my phone has suddenly lost ALL of its pictures! luckily i backed it up for the first time about a month ago but i'll still lose a few favorites and i can't help wondering... iphone are you mad at me?

5 comments:

  1. I love the snapshots of life! If I had a smartphone, I would do it too. It's hard to lug around a huge camera everywhere. But I never regret it when I do bring it along! Thanks for sharing these bits and pieces of your life!

    ReplyDelete
  2. We had fondue last night, too! I actually really like the instagrams, and if(when) I had an iphone I would be doing the same thing, I bet. You take lovely "real" pictures, too, by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, and I don't know if you saw my reply, but Rowan's sweater was a gift also, but I'll try and check into where they got it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm with you on documenting the everyday, although I (like a lot of people, especially moms) don't feel like I have nearly enough time and energy to do it. Using a blog as a beautifully crafted online scrapbook and/or journal is an idea that I really love, but yeah, it does take a lot of effort. I can't imagine what it would be like to have such a full picture of my mother's experience with me as a child. How interesting, you know? It would tell you so much more than any baby book or photo album could. I think in some way that's something I want to give to my child, an honest picture of the way it was.

    Your photos (even from the camera phone) are always so beautiful! Thank you for sharing a glimpse into your day to day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tara I love that thought... that our children will have a more honest picture of the way life was when they were little. My mom kept a journal for one year when I was little and I love looking back at it- of course she had a lot more drawings and sketches of life which was wonderful and was missing photos in the pre-computer age. Who knows if my kid will ever be interested in looking at it all but it's a fun thought!

      Delete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.