Friday, July 18, 2014

Summer To-Do: Taking More Photos and What to Do With Them

Image Credit: Pixabay Archives
Hi there! I know that for most of you, you’re knee-deep in summer already, but I’ve been at summer school for the past two weeks, so it hasn’t really hit me that it’s summer yet. However, there’s been one thing that I’ve been doing recently that has made it feel more like the time of the year best known for a teenager’s acts of abandon - taking pictures.

For as long as I could remember, I was the girl who would flinch and cover her face whenever someone brought out a camera or took their phone out to take a selfie while simultaneously dragging me into the frame with them. I was the girl who didn’t really understand why her friends or family would waste time taking photos of food before eating it even if it wasn’t that special to begin with. I was the girl who had less than 200 photos on her phone instead of the 1000+ her friends had.

In short, I didn’t really take pictures unless I had a really stunning view of the sky or some exotic dish.

Why take photos?

Image Credit: Unsplash (modified)
After going through middle school and freshman year without many photos to show for it, I decided that this summer, I’d take more pictures. I’m terrified of losing memories and forgetting something really great that happened one day. With photos, you can preserve those memories. It’d also give you a really great incentive to go out and do something fun and exciting every day (or nearly every day) of the summer. When you’re motivated to get out of your house and do something productive, you just feel so much better about yourself. Plus, you’ll be living a fuller life.

To me, a fuller life means a life with a purpose and with goals and with you being motivated to go out there and do something. It sounds like a big ambition, but it’s all about taking baby steps. Before you go out and do a bunch of crazy things, take a smaller plunge and vow to, say, take a photo a day so you feel like you have to do something special with it in order to document it.

What should I use to take my photos?

There are a few different ways you can go about this. The easiest one would probably using your phone to take photos because you probably always have it around, plus you can easily edit the photos on Instagram or various other photo editing apps right there.


Image Credit: krypteanite (modified)
You could also use a point-and-shoot camera that you already have lying around which will most likely give you better quality images depending on how many pixels your phone and camera have. But another cool thing you could do is take photos using an instant camera like with the FujiFilm Instax cameras that have been getting a lot of hype recently. There’s the most popular model, the Instax Mini 8 and the more expensive one with more advanced options called the Instax Mini NEO90.

Yes, these are definitely much more expensive options compared to simply using your phone to capture these moments, but if you have the room in your budget for it, by all means, go ahead!

I’ve taken the photos. Now what do I do?

It’s great if you’ve taken a ton of photos, and while it’s nice to have them on your phone or stored somewhere in the cloud, it’s also really nice to have them displayed somewhere as a keepsake.

First off, you might want to edit your photos a bit (fix the lighting, colour, etc.) which you can do really easily through websites like PicMonkey and Pixlr Express which are geared towards beginners. PicMonkey has really great fonts, embellishments, as well as basic photo editing options, but if you’re looking for more filters, check out Pixlr Express. 

Once you have the pictures just the way you want them, an excellent keepsake option is a scrapbook. It’s an investment due to all the paper and time that goes into making one, but it’s something that you can share with your friends and loved ones and keep in with you for years to come. Plus, you can completely personalise it.

Image Credit: Shutterfly
If slaving for hours over patterned paper and stickers is not your thing, check out Shutterfly’s photo books. It’s like making a scrapbook for yourself, but it’s all digital and you can get them printed for really reasonable prices and they have a really nice professional look to them. It’s something that can really bring your family together. Who knows, maybe after seeing your awesome photo book, they’ll want to make some with old family photos as well.

Another option is to document the summer through a photo blog with your friends. Yes, it’s still a digital method, but it’s also a cool way to share what you’re doing, especially if you’re not going to be in the same city. Like your own little personal Facebook minus any pesky ads or friends that you don’t really want to see your photos. Of course, you can private your blog or something so that it’s a bit more secure and you don’t have to worry about strangers getting a hold of your photos.

Image Credit: Fiona McLaren
Finally, you can simply print your photos out and start a photo wall. There are so many options when it comes to a photo wall. You can print the photos out in different sizes, for example, some 4x6, some 5x7, and some 8x10 to give you a more mix-matched and quirky feel. You could also do an Instagram wall if you’re an avid user of the app.

For both options, you could put the photos into cool shapes like a heart (like this one!) or in the form of a word/phrase. You could always just frame them if a sleeker and more traditional approach is more up your alley.

Taking pictures can really improve your overall quality of life. It might seem like such a small and simple thing to do, but it can really make a difference for your memories.

What do you think of this idea? Are you an avid day-to-day photographer? What do you usually like to do with your photos? Leave your comments and share your stories below!



Thank you so much for reading!
- J


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