Photographing Your Family During the Quarantine

Photographing Your Family During Quarantine

Do you need a way to deal with your sudden roll as a full time stay at home mom, teacher, maid, AND doctor?

Bust out your camera and photograph your kids!  Everything looks brighter through your camera lens.  We are living through a historical time right now moms and dads, so make sure you document it!

Are you scared, happy, sad, overwhelmed?  Tell the story with your camera.  Get creative.  Shoot things that make you FEEL something!

One day, when your grandchildren are bored, you can tell them "once upon a time we had to stay in our house for a month!" and bust out your quarantine images.  This is our “we had to walk uphill in the snow both ways to school” moment, so don’t waste it!

Here are some tips:

Tip 1. Be a Casual Photographer

Don't push your kids into a “photoshoot”, just quietly get your camera out and take some shots.  Open all the windows and let the fresh air and light in, you will be surprised how much light you can get in your house!

Tip 2. Set the Scene!

Instead of asking your kids to take pictures, simply set up a game or activity in the area you want to shoot in.  You can take a moment to get your camera settings set before the kids are even involved.  Then just wait for things to unfold naturally.

Tip 3. Shoot a Few Images at a Time

You don’t need 300 images of everything.  Just take a few shots of each activity and by the end of the day, you will have a story.  Seeing as how you are stuck at home, do some cleaning!  There's nothing like a nice clean backdrop to make you feel better, and inspire your shooting.

Tip 4. Find the Humor

I know it may be difficult to find humor after days on end with restless kids, but TRY.

Instead of getting mad, get creative with your camera.  If the shots aren't interesting enough, get closer.  Try taking shots from new angles and new perspectives.  Nothing is off limits.  Just have fun!

Here are some ideas:

• Get close
• Get low
• Get high
• Shoot through a partially closed door
• Shoot through a curtain
• Shoot through a plant for an interesting foreground

Here's an Example of Our 1st Three Days of Quarantine:

Events of Day 1:

• Con: Wore my pants inside out.
• Pro: No one saw me.

• Wrote a letter to Grandma.
• Cleaned our rooms.
• Hot yoga and meditation in the sunshine.
• Just kidding, it’s 5:54 pm and my kids are still nude.

• We are down to ramen noodles...
• The crew has found the m&m's and overpowered the captain.
• Entertaining the prisoners with a small oddly shaped puppy and an impossibly tiny puzzle.

Events of Day 2:

• The prisoners seem to be literate... spent the morning pretending I run a tight ship.
• Quickly realized it was a lie when prisoner B climbed the outdoor structure and threw a yoga ball at my face.
• No one died.

• I’ve locked the prisoners outside.
• Purple Rain on repeat.
• My neighbors hate me.

• Prisoner B just had the huevos to say “this is not what I ordered” when served dinner.
• Unrelated, is CPS still making house calls?

Events of Day 3:

• We’ve entered the “if you hurt yourself I’m going to spank you” phase of the quarantine.
• Running low on chocolate and patience.

• Watched Pancake (the dog) lick the inside of my son’s mouth for 40 minutes.
• Drove to the Foothills to pretend we are going out of town.
• Ended drive to the Foothills with husband buying a car…

• Fitting, three people unfriended me on Facebook...
• Pitched a time out-tent in my office.
• Promptly put myself in time-out.
• Fed the dog marbles.

Conclusion

I know moments like these are hard for EVERYONE, including photographers... but turn it into a POSITIVE and use this time to capture your family's life.  Document your experiences, and you will likely come out on the other side with a new perspective AND improved shooting abilities.

(All indoor images were edited with Teaberry Preset from Film Pastels Preset Collection. Radial filters to add light, WB adjusted warmer as necessary, Enable Profile Corrections and small adjustments per image.)

(All outdoor images were editied with Bubble Tea preset from Film Pastels Preset Collection.)

Do you have any questions or comments about Photography During Quarantine?  Just leave us a comment below - we would LOVE to hear from you!  And PLEASE SHARE this post using the social sharing buttons (we really appreciate it)!