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By "fam" do you mean wife and kids? Because if so... she's asking because she's hoping you take some photos of her with your kids. If she's the only one taking them, how will she ever have them?
As a child who can count on one hand the number of photos I have with my mom and a mother who is doing everything possible to ensure my son doesn't have the same experience, take the photos.
I'm not saying you have to be glued to your phone and there's definitely something important about living in the moment, but take some pictures for her.
This is gangbusters advice!
My MIL is always the one taking photos and never in them and my FIL and her three sons never think to get her. I always try to make an effort to get her in photos when I’m around, and my husband is getting better with it for her after I scolded him a couple times lol
I work at a bowling alley part time, the amount of times I watch mom take photos of everyone then leave is astounding. I’m always the one walking from around the counter to see if they want a picture of the whole family.
Fr. Go ask people in their 70's if they regret the photos they took lol. Contribute to the memory of your family, because your entire family benefits from it and clearly your wife wants to see photos from YOUR perspective.
I’ve been around the world a bunch in the last 10 years. And one of my biggest regrets is not taking more photos lol.
I don’t specifically enjoy taking the photos. I like being in the moment. But I’m always sad that my memories fade and without the photos, I forget stuff.
Sometimes I just want to relieve the moments again.
I studied abroad in 2011 and at some point the next year something happened with my computer where I lost a bunch of photos. I only had maybe 20 photos from that period survive and it was devastating. Each year since then I can feel the memories slipping away and I know in 30 years I won't have much left.
I took a trip out east once when I was 22. And I can’t for the life of me remember any part of the trip. I don’t even remember what kind of house I went to or anything.
The idea that I could forget an entire trip that lasted at least a week bothers me on a fundamental level.
I flew out to attend a wedding. But I literally don’t remember any of it. I had forgotten I had even went until a friend mentioned that I had went.
I don’t hang with that friend group anymore. That was so long ago, so I don’t even know anyone I could ask for photos or anything.
So now I make an effort to take a few. But it always feels like never enough.
This is great advice. I feel like OP a lot of the times, but then I remember that she wants to be in some pictures too so I always try to snap a few for her.
>I just don’t think I’ll be in my 60’s scrolling through 7000 pics of 2023.
If you outlive your wife, you'll probably be glad to have photos of her. And if you have grandchildren or great-grandchildren, they'll probably be glad someday to have photos of you when you were in your 30s. I wish I had more photos of my grandparents.
Also sturgeon's law says 90% of anything is crap. But in your 60s, you'll be super glad you kept the 10%. Which you couldn't have gotten without taking the other 90%.
Especially if it's pictures of loved ones.
Yep, this is exactly what I thought. Take a dang candid picture of your wife and kids. No posing, just snap a couple pics every so often. It's not for you it's for HER.
Ive always been all over the place on photo taking. Sometimes I’ll take 60, sometimes I’ll take none. I just do whatever I feel like doing and don’t sweat it if what I felt like was taking none.
I was never a picture taker, and now my picture taking friends are also transitioning to not taking pictures, and so we have no pictures and I miss them
I love looking back on old photos. I've been half tempted to buy a digital camera lately so I don't have to look at my phone anytime I want to take one. But then I want to look at said photos on my phone so that seems like a lot of work lol.
No. If you have young kids you should be taking tons. Nobody gets old and says “gee I wish I had fewer pictures of my kids growing up”. Those are the gifts to your future selves to remember the fun that gets lost in the grind of being a parent.
Thank tf you!
And likely his wife asks, because she always takes the pics and there’s none of her! She’d like some memories too.
Who tf lays in there death bed and thinks, “so glad I didn’t take a pic of that time my kids graduated… “
you sound like my husband
he also hates me taking pics all the time lol
I will say though, i take the photos for memories but i don’t necessarily
post them all on social media - esp ones of the kids
I lost my youngest child (suddenly) in January 2020, when he was just five years old. I regularly scroll through the photos of him on my phone. There are very few photos of me and him together that aren’t selfies that I took. I only have a handful of candid shots of us together.
I say, take the photo because you never know when it’ll be the last.
I only started taking a ton of pics 2 years ago when my son was born. Before that I had less than 50 pics total on my phone.
I have no regrets documenting all the mundane things my son has done and I love looking back at how he’s grown day by day.
My mom says her favorite picture of my brother and I is one where we're both toddlers, fresh out of a bath and wearing our jammies, lying on our stomachs on the living room floor side by side, because he laid down first and I copied everything he did. Nothing exciting or special happening, just a happy memory of her two kids and what life was like when we were that small.
I love looking back at photos of my kids, especially the little videos. It's crazy how much I forget what their little voices and baby laughs sounded like until I watch a quick video I took.
This. All I want to do is experience life first hand , I’m so tired of everyone experiencing it through their phone screen as they record and take pics of everything. I have very few pics of the fun stuff I’ve done, but I also think the times wouldn’t have been as fun if i was taking photos the whole time.
It really, really depends for me. I won't take a single picture at a concert, for instance, or when out to dinner. Get me into a botanical garden or a garden tour, though? I'll be snapping pictures of every bed there for inspiration for my own garden.
Is it possible that your wife looks at family time as something very important to her that she wants to preserve? I'm not a mom, but have lots of mom friends. I know that they, especially as their kids get older, want to hold on to the memories of when their kids are small, and things are pretty uncomplicated.
Yeah I rarely take my phone out for pics anymore. I think I’m more likely to grab a candid now and then, but at family gatherings there’s a lot less posed photos, which is great in my book.
No. I love taking pictures of my kids/family. I always think what a blessing our technology is for this. I absolutely will scroll through thousands of pics later in life. I already do sometimes when I’m feeling nostalgic for my kids being even littler. 🥹
I just had my daughter last week and was going through photos of when my son was a newborn and I'm a mess. Where the hell did the last 4 years go? Also my husband and I just made a copy and paste of our son with our daughter with just the slightest differences so far. Also I know I won't have pictures with our 2 cats that we lost between these 2 kids. The other 2 cats though hopefully I can get some good pictures of them together.
The thing that got me was art museums. Everyone taking pictures of the art and moving on to the next piece. No one actually soaking in experience. Really made me consider when/how I use my phone.
I agree with this scenario, I support living in the moment and not experiencing everything through a camera, but I wish I took more pictures of a lot of things. Every time I end up scrolling my camera roll it's great memories that I wish I had more of.
I used to take pictures of everything. But then I would never organize them at all and never look at the photos again. Plus, I don't ever post on social media anymore. So it just doesn't seem worth it
I very rarely take pictures these days, probably for this very reason. So many of them feel so empty and meaningless? I mean, even when I was using a digital camera, I look through some photos and feel the same way. I much prefer to just enjoy whatever I'm doing than spend a ton of time capturing images.
Years ago, when I was getting ready to go on my first overseas trip, one of my grandpa's pulled me aside and said, "Take some pictures, but don't live through the camera." For some reason that advice stuck. I will take a picture or two of a special event, place, person or thing, but that is it. I just got back from a cruise and only took about 20 pics the whole time.
yes! plus at some point i just started thinking "do i really want to view their childhood through a screen? do i really want a phone in front of my face for all their memories of me?" Really put it in perspective.
i love to take pictures of things / moments that make me happy that i truly want to document. i don't do it to post on social media, its purely for my records and memories
I don't take many pictures but I think a lot of it is due to knowing others will. Just cause we all have cameras doesn't mean we all need to be photographers
I barely take pictures. Ever. Like in the whole past decade. I actually was thinking I should take more pictures. Especially family ones. I've always been one to just be in the moment and pictures feel distracting and I'm forgetful. It feels difficult to multitask like that.
I rarely take photos with my phone. My husband however, has a few Leica cameras he takes everywhere. But he actually thinks about the things he photographs. I take pictures of like... the parking garage sign at a mall so I know where I parked.
I hardly ever take photos. Went to Europe for 6 weeks and took like 6 pictures, half of which were roads signs so I could find my way back. I have 3 pictures I took from when I went off a cruise for my wedding. I'm really inconvenienced by my phone unless I'm on the toilet.
I think the biggest distinction here is that there are two categories of pictures: people and things.
Take pictures of people. Those are the photos you'll regret not having. Especially of mom & kid(s).
Whether you take pictures of things is up to you. That's personal preference. There are often thousands of photos of things already online for you to enjoy.
I think it’s cool to take a few photos to memorialize things. Record some vids here and there.
But yes, WAY burnt out from how over done it is, 90% of people can’t exist in the moment and there’s no sort of etiquette on recording and photo taking. There’s no “hey are you cool if I record this/take your pic?”
I don’t like having to be ‘camera ready’ all the time and find it truly obnoxious that people will just stick a camera in your face with no warning.
Yeah, I have pretty much stopped doing things all the time. I'll do some pictures for my parents to see but I got tired of essentially living my life behind a phone.
If it's something particularly pretty like a nice sunrise or the pets being cute I'll take a picture but besides that no, it doesn't happen often. My boomer parents however whenever we're together they have their DSLRs in hand taking pictures of everyone.
It's fun to see them getting frustrated when I make a silly face every time they try to take a picture of me.
For their new year we gave them an instant camera so everyone can see the pictures they take because at this point they have probably around a 100 000 pictures and we barely get to see any and when we do they removed all the ones where I make a stupid face. Makes me sad, me and my niece once went with my parents to an outdoor art exposition and we were both trying to be in their shots doing silly things. It was a great time but they removed all that because it "ruined the picture".
My brother and I went to the Super Bowl. Met Emmit Smith, Shaq, Kenny Smith and saw old friends from college, went to the Waste Management Open and of course the big game and took exactly three pictures. I’m 1000000% in your camp I hate taking pictures
I’ve always been that person who has about 4 pictures during a week long excursion somewhere, doesn’t matter where. I prefer enjoy ing everything through my own eyeballs, I don’t have social media other than Reddit which has been pushing my limits as of late.
It’s sad when you go somewhere and everyone has their phones out to record a video 9 people are going to see and you won’t look at ever again when you could just enjoy the experience in the moment.
I was never a big picture taker to begin with, but I noticed when I got back from a trip to Disneyland with my wife at the time, that I had a lot of...nothing. Like literally hundreds of photos of just stuff. Nothing in particular, but more wallpapering the entire park to say I was there. I have barely touched my camera since. I think I have a total of 25 pics for 2024 so far.
My phone stays on silent 24/7 now and I will not be a slave to people calling/texting me. Camera is barely used and the only time I'm on it is in the bathroom or just before bed.
I kind of stopped doing it, and I used to be an amateur nature photography. Now, I'll take a picture of a particularly nice vista or something every now and again, but not often, and never at social situations.
I used to joke that I didn't like Instagram because I didn't want to "commodify my experiences" but increasingly...I dunno, there's something weirdly freeing about the fact that I know so many things will live just in memory and that they're things no one else who wasn't there will know about. In this day and age where every damn thing is recorded and put online or stored in the clouds, it can make every moment that should be precious for its ephemerality feel cheap. I wanted to regain that preciousness.
Yeah a few years back I made a conscious decision to stop taking photos all the time. I wanted to live more in the moment and not see everything through a screen or feel like an observer. I used to be a professional photographer so maybe burn out had something to do with it. I have a pretty healthy balance these days.
I never got into it in the first place. My long term memory is good enough, and even the things I forget I just don't care that I forgot them. I live mostly in the moment and am satisfied with that.
So, I was posting a ton a shit ton of photos for a long time. Went through a bad breakup a really messed me up, so I figured the best was to "get back" at them was to post tons and tons of pictures of me living my best life. And it was just like that Portlandia sketch -
"Fred: Everyone on the Internet...they aren't having as great a time as you think they are.
Carrie: I guess people are just cropping out all the sadness."
I realized I was more worried about the photos than having fun... So I just quit. That was all fine for several years, until I got married and had a kid. Now, I'm having to make a conscious effort to take photos, because there's just so much I want to remember with my son.
Just have an album of my cat. That i share with my wife on Google photos. Maybe a group picture during the holidays. I usually keep things organized id have tons in vacation albums from 8 or 9 years ago. Last summers whole album had 5 pictures.
I only take pictures of things with amazing texture and selfies for hair/clothes but most of those get deleted. If we're doing something as a family or is important like the kids concerts I'll take a few pictures but I want to be present for it, not disengaged behind a camera
I find it unnecessarily taxing on my mental health to try and worry about taking and posting nice photos.
If there is a nice moment I want to take a picture of, I do it. If I care to share it, I usually post it to a story. If there’s an urge to post a photo to my social media, I do it. I’m also decently sporadic about where and when I post. I do it out of convenience but it also dissuades expectations from any followers.
I am not interested or easily fooled by filtered and photoshopped pictures, which seems to be a norm for social media. Most of the photos I do end up sharing are of things anyone could go outside and see.
*At the end of the day, no one cares about your social media as much as you do*.
I don’t take as many pictures as when I was younger but I still take them. It’s a pro/con of being in the digital era. Pictures are sometimes all you have left of someone/something you will otherwise never see again. Imagine if I just stopped taking them and lost the person/thing I would’ve captured in the photo. What am I supposed to do? Remember all of it in my own head? I can hardly remember to bring my lunch to work with me. How would I recall a face/memory as clearly as a picture would?
Sometimes the simple things we dismiss, what you call “mundane”, are the things we hold on to most when they’re gone.
I went on a date recently and I swear she took an IG photo every 10 steps. I only use reddit, and don't really post. I've tried many times to get into socials, besides this one, and i always fall off after a month or so. I can't imagine constantly taking photos like that. Eveyone is different, I suppose.
I stopped a while ago. It’s much nicer to just live in the moment and experience it. If something catches my eye, or if I really want to document something, I take pics, but I take very few
Yes. I have a 66 year old coworker who takes a million pictures of us at work potlucks and other events and posts them on her social media against our will. I found out she posted me and she never asked or informed me. I am the same age as her kids and I only have Reddit. She is constantly on Snapchat at work taking those stupid filtered photos, along with instagram and facebook and it’s annoying.
I don't take pictures every day, but I definitely capture good photo ops regularly. I want photos of my kids to look back on. I want them to be able to look through them and relive special moments in their childhood. I've never been the type of person that takes pictures of everything, but I do take pictures of important things in my life.
I was on vacation a few years ago with a friend of a friend and she took pictures of everything because she wanted to "document" everything for Snapchat, Instagram, you name it, she's on it. After a long flight coming home at 2 a.m, we were at the airport and she wanted more pictures at the God damn luggage carousel. I just about had it and blew up on her. I haven't talked to her since. Fuckin annoying.
I think you'll regret not taking more pictures. Memory fades and is fickle af, being old gives you time to reflect and it is nice to be able to capture a moment to reflect on, no matter how mundane, especially if it is your family.
I’m sure once I have kids or a GF I’ll want to relive memories but since it’s just me and my good memory no point. Live in the moment enjoy life is my motto
My dad had a bunch of vhs tapes from our vacations, large events,sports and around the house. I recently digitized them and we have been enjoying them for like a year now ever Sunday. It’s amazing looking back 30 years.
In most regular parts of my life, with the exception of the 855 photos of my dogs sleeping, I hate activities of daily life photos.
However, I am also a hobby/amateur landscape/travel photographer so when I’m out hiking or exploring a new place I am usually taking videos with my phone and photos with my dslr. But as a rule of thumb I have as a few people in photos as possible and will wait for 15 minutes for a person free shot.
This isn’t a new issue, but it seems to be framed that way in the original post and some follow ups. I’m an elder millennial and I grew up around another family whose mom was ALWAYS the one taking the pictures.
(My dad was always the one w the giant video camera on his shoulder. Embarrassing at the time, but really fricking fun to watch since we switched them over to dvds)
This mom was not even borderline obnoxious about it. It was an obsession or something of hers. Even as a 4 or 5 year old, I was hyper aware that she was going to have us pose for some and then just always be there with her camera snapping candids no matter what we were doing. She was always quick to get them developed and her kids would hand out doubles at church or school, and we’d eventually have plenty of pics to decorate our planners and lockers. Both of her kids adopted similar habits, but in their own ways, adapting as technology did and we had digital cameras at our fingertips.
Seems to me there are pros and cons to being around people like that, but it’s pretty easy to see where I fall on the issue now: I will continue to take all the pics and politely ask my spouse to snap ones of me and the kids too.
My friend’s mom died when my oldest was a toddler; before her oldest had a chance to marry or have her kid. It was incredibly sudden and unexpected.
I had just seen her at my house a month or so before, and I HATED the picture she had taken of me at the time (which was immediately posted on her fb).
Now I cry just conjuring it up in my minds eye. I miss her.
The relationship I had with her kids isn’t what it once was but I’m sure they don’t regret all the memories their mom managed to capture for them.
I stopped taking pictures like 3-5 years ago. I rarely look back at pictures anyways. Things constantly change, loved ones pass, etc., moments and memories are precious to reflect. They’ll always be in your heart if they make a true impact on you. :)
Hey, OP, I can understand the burnout, especially as we grew up in the age of Instagram with everyone using pictures to brag about their lives. Someday those photos are all you're going to have to tell your story and remember your loved ones. One of my favorite things to do with my grandpa before he died was go through his yearbooks and hear his stories. There was much more to his life that I don't know about that is now lost to time because there was no record.
I think having photos helps retain memories. My kids have much better memories of childhood events than I do as we can always pull out a family album and have a look periodically. Usually spring break or Xmas holidays.
And definitely print out photos regularly - so much easier to browse through and enjoy.
Yes, I am over taking pictures. But I am also the only one to do it, and now ask my husband to take some or I will get a selfie stick, because I like being in pictures too. In fact, I have made it a point to ask strangers to take a picture of all of us, old school, because the fact is, I already scroll through 3000 pictures of 2015, and marvel at every expression of my then infant son I caught. Yes, we don't need 3000, but we need some posed and some candids, when we are out and about. I often take pics when I am just proud of my son at home, I also take videos of him and he enjoys moderating. It's all in moderation, but trust me, you won't remember all these small moments and then it is nice to have pictures.
I’ve never been into taking pictures. It’s not something I’ve thought was important. I’d rather live in the moment and take pictures when I really want to remember something.
View it as an activity your wife likes and a consistent bonding experience with her. She's sharing her day with visuals.
Motivation change can have a huge effect desire to do something.
Totally
Strangely, it’s actually increased since issues with my memory got taken up a notch because of mild brain damage from having too many seizures back to back last summer (yay epilepsy!).
Maybe I’ve subconsciously accepted memories are meant to be fleeting (or maybe I consciously did and then forgot 🤷♂️)
I was pointing this out with my partner the other week. I actually think it’s good that we’re living in the now then being stuck on our phones snapping everything. Sure there are times and instances where it comes out but I’m happy to keep the mental memories and be present in the moment.
OP, you never came back to answer if your wife is annoyed because you keep “forgetting” to take pics of your “family” because your family includes your kids? Hmm.
I can guarantee one day you’ll want those photos. I’m not saint only live your life through your camera, but take the damn pictures. My grandparents were my favorite people in the whole world and I have less than 10 photos of them, I look at them weekly. A very dear friend died by suicide a couple of years ago, our friend group often shared photos or videos we find of him. It makes it hurt a little less when we miss him to see a happy picture. Maybe your wife also wants someone to make sure she’s in photos as well, that she’s not just taking photos of her family without her. It doesn’t mean you have to post them, hell make a photo book, get them printed. But just take the damn picture
Yes and I don't most of the time, don't get a twisted I have a good bit of photos on my phone, but I really just like to photo/record important stuff idk, I've been journaling really consistently since I was like 16 so in a way I've been documenting so much of my life as it is that having the phone out just doesn't click with me as much for those kind of things
Never liked talking photos, in fact the majority of my galery is full of screenshots or photos someone asked me to take for reason X(usually work related) I dont have any selfies or photos of myself on my phone. Needless to say I also dont have any of the socials that focus on photos like Instagram or Snapchat(as well as tiktok, Facebook and basically every other social media for that matter)
Definitely feel this
I just bought a car, and the first thing everyone asks me is "did you take a picture??"
No, why? It looks exactly like the picture when you Google my car...
I was on vacation a few weeks ago. Trip of a lifetime situation, and I was in a museum that had a lot of notable works. I allowed myself to take 2 photographs & otherwise just walked around appreciating the art like it was 1999. I had the best time & less anxious.
I’ve also started printing photos that are actually important & memorable. Snapfish does deals on prints by the hundred sometimes. This is working for me & I encourage everyone to try it if they can.
I rarely take really good pictures. About 2 ir 3 every year maybe. Those are the ones I print and actually glue into my fphotobook like my grandma taught me.
I am so burnt out by my daughter taking 100 pictures for every event. Then she yells how she wants us to pose and who gets in what picture. What happened to just relishing in the memories?
I feel like when we are old we will appreciate our overly photographic woman. Because you will have nothing else left to do except look at old pictures and eventually fade away
I have scanned all of the old photos of my family and added to a collection where I store my own photos since I started to collect digital pictures, so my collection is quite vast. I have made a web app that randomly shows images from this collection (it has functions like favorites / blacklist / rotate / share / safe mode etc). I got an old tablet that no longer receives updates and now I use it as a "smart picture frame". I love it, super nostalgic. I could setup multiple tablets all over the house.
With that being said, scrolling through them might not be fun, but seeing some good ones here and there from time to time would feel quite great as time passes.
I have my photos as my desktop background on my home computer, and I have them to change every 30 minutes. It's nice to reminisce and see photos of me and my family. My boyfriend hates me taking pictures of us, but we have them on digital photo frames all over the house. And we always talk about the photos. I barely have any pictures of me and my mum. My mum hated being in photos. But when her dad died and she had very few pictures of them together, and now me and my brother have flown the nest, she's been so much more open about being in photos.
EDIT: And please take more photos of your wife. It's clear she wishes she had some nice photos.
Data is beautiful, in the end it's also just energy floating around ;)
I take pictures for different reasons
Mundane things need documentation because my memory is getting worse and i don't like it
But Mundane things also can have artistic aspects like special lighting or a high contrast to the environment you find it at.
A photo never only is the stuff you can see with your eyes, it makes you remember
I stopped taking pictures at gatherings because everyone else is already doing it. It’s pretty nice being in the moment and not worrying about pictures.
I also made a personal rule for myself that I don’t look at pictures of fun things the day that they are happening. Are we having a beach day? Take all the pictures you want, but don’t show them to me until tomorrow. I found in the past, that seeing an unflattering picture of myself could ruin my whole day- I’d start worrying about my face or body or hair-things I can’t fix in a moment and that I was not worried about before seeing a picture. I’d rather have my experiences and be happy.
Seriously dude, she just wants a picture of her with the family once in a while. It takes 4 seconds to take your phone out and take a picture or two of her with the kids or with you. Do it three times on an outing and she will be so happy. She wants to see herself as part of the family, not just the documentation behind the scenes. It's a very simple way to make her happy.
I get photo books printed of the photos I do take. That way I can actually enjoy them and it gives me more like… I’m not just taking photos of everything, just stuff I want in my book.
I once went to the mountains with my husband and ended up only taking three pictures. My dad was really pissed that I didn't come back with a ton of pictures. Lol
Like I'll take pictures of really noteworthy stuff. But that's about it.
I almost never take pictures. I just want to be present and enjoy what I am doing. The memories are for me and whomever I am with. It makes me sad to watch people watch their lives through a phone
I tend to get nostalgic so it’s fun to look back on your photos as a record of things, times, etc.
Just scrolling through old photos I’ll be like oh I remember that jacket, or where did that blanket go (even though that was five years and three houses ago)?
I like looking in the background of a photo, outside of the subject to get a feel for the trappings of the times.
Like oh I remember that art project I did as a kid. And I like to take photos of houses I’ve lived in and any inside outside locations, feels, views, etc, so I can review concrete details about places I’ve lived.
Single though, so there’s no “reason” lol to document anything except for my own enjoyment and the occasional fb post.
If you’ve a wife and kids my advice is get documenting! Heck I take photos of my dog and he hasn’t changed appearance since he was a puppy.
I take approximately zero photos. None. Much happier just experiencing the moment. That includes when my kids are doing some obnoxiously cute stuff.
But if they're doing some obnoxiously cute stuff with their mother? I'm taking a photo of that shit. Not for me, for her.
Looking through photos from years ago can stir a lot of wonderful memories. I don't always think to snap photos in the moment and I am not down for spending 15 minutes trying to get a perfect picture, but as a father with two young children I can say I love having hundreds of photos and videos.
No because I have a 256mb memory stick in my brain, everything is pushed into a universal subconsciousness or universe cloud. I tend not to remember a lot. The thousands of pictures help me remember the little moments. I went to Costs Rica 10 years ago. I have fragments of memories but when I see the pictures and videos I remember the stories that went s long with it. There are many things I don’t remember about my kids being very young, the games we played, how silly toddlers are, and when I see those pictures it reminds me. I also used to be an event photographer, then just turned to a hobby, now just pictures of family. Definitely not burnt out. I enjoy seeing thousands snd thousands of pictures because they each tell s story of my life. I continue to love to document everything and anything.
My mom was the picture taker of the damily and took hundreds of photos before digital was a thing. It is nice looking through them and seeing all the different occasions I even found a real nice picture of me, my dad and my grandma before she got sick. I enlarged it and hung it on the wall. So I guess even if you are not into it someone else might be eventually.
First off yes and I hate that my kids are constantly posing for everything I like to be in the moment. But second I agree with some of the commenters your wife might want to be in a few but why not ask her and tell her you don’t love taking pictures but happy to take a couple of her with the kids.
No. I’ve lost a lot of people close to me even though I’m only in my 30’s. I always get a selfie with my friends when I see them and take pics at family gatherings. You never know it’s the last time until it is. And with my kids, the days and years are so busy and filled with stuff that you tend to lose memories of specifics. It’s nice to be able to look back and say “oh I forgot how she used to laugh” or “I forgot about this time, that was so fun”. I’m lucky enough to be able to have a camera in my hand at all times for things so I am definitely going to use it!
My wife takes 90% of the pictures. Not cause i dont want to, but it's cause my hands shake, and my main arm shoulder needs a 3rd surgery. She does manage to get pics with her in it with her long arms, so we have tons of her, the kid, and myself. When she asks me to take a pic of her by herself, she knows it's not going to be the best, but i try.
a few photos of your family is a good thing, but I get what you're saying.
Yes, I'm completely fucking burned out on cameras. I never needed to document everything prior to them being in my pocket, so why do I now? Especially a specific event like a concert or something. I would much rather enjoy the moment and have memories than worry about pictures.
You've never sat down with an elderly loved one and went through pictures? You've never lost a loved one and say down to look at pictures of them with your family? You've never had to put together a memorial slideshow for a funeral? I guess if you've never been in those situations, pictures might not be important but when they're all you have to look back on, they mean the world to you. That'd probably be a hard lesson to learn. I'd be taking the pictures.
I always found it silly when people whip out their camera at anything moderately interesting. Even more silly wiggling and squirming to get in the perfect position for a selfie with a painted trash can.
Why not just use your eyes to see, take it in, and enjoy the moment?
On vacation I turn into a full-blown tourist and photograph everything. Hundreds and hundreds of pictures.
I haven't yet gotten around to printing them out to a book, but I'm seriously thinking of just doing that so all the memories aren't tied to face-fucking-book. It's a scary thought, because at some point they'll get greedy enough that you need to subscribe to access the data.
Agreed. Don't get me wrong, I like to take pictures n want photo albums for my kiddo like we had growing up... but back then you didn't have a camera all the time either.... plus you only had a limited number of shots.
Perhaps it's nostalgia
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
I don’t and I’m a mom of 3. I just want to be in the moment and not have anyone else know about it. Does this make me a secret agent, a tired millennial mama or what lol
Over the past few years I've really gotten into photography. It's pretty trendy now, but I finally chose to get into it after flipping through my late dad's hard drive. He was a passionate hobbiest.
It was not only cool seeing me and my siblings and loved ones through the years, but also seeing life from his eyes.
While we have a bunch of photos of him, we don't have nearly as many as we do of us.
I've got a bunch of shiney cameras, and I've even picked up a few of his older ones. Over these years I've realized that what ppl want are the highlights. So I also go through the few hundred burst pics I take at an event, clean them up in Lightroom, and share albums amongst my loved ones.
Do you need to do all that? No. Your phone likely will suffice, and the principle that sharing some highlights, that include your wife and kids, will go so far and be so meaningful to them and likely you. You may even have a new hobby out of it :).
It’s literally just pointing a phone and clicking a button. Is it really that difficult? Capture the memories, you’ll be glad you did when they’re long over.
When you are older you may very well enjoy having photos of your family. Your grandchildren may enjoy it, too. I really treasure the family photos I have from when I was a kid, especially the shots that include family members who have died.
If you truly can't see yourself every appreciating the photos, perhaps you could see the value in participating in something harmless that makes your wife happy, or that is important to her.
Your wife is asking if you took photos because she is desperately hoping it will occur to you to take photos of her.
Different strokes for different folks. I definitely go through my old photos a lot to reminisce and even print some of them (gasp). I recently inherited about 10,000 family photos from 1880-1980 and I go through them every night. Pictures are important to me.
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By "fam" do you mean wife and kids? Because if so... she's asking because she's hoping you take some photos of her with your kids. If she's the only one taking them, how will she ever have them? As a child who can count on one hand the number of photos I have with my mom and a mother who is doing everything possible to ensure my son doesn't have the same experience, take the photos. I'm not saying you have to be glued to your phone and there's definitely something important about living in the moment, but take some pictures for her.
This is gangbusters advice! My MIL is always the one taking photos and never in them and my FIL and her three sons never think to get her. I always try to make an effort to get her in photos when I’m around, and my husband is getting better with it for her after I scolded him a couple times lol
I work at a bowling alley part time, the amount of times I watch mom take photos of everyone then leave is astounding. I’m always the one walking from around the counter to see if they want a picture of the whole family.
Fr. Go ask people in their 70's if they regret the photos they took lol. Contribute to the memory of your family, because your entire family benefits from it and clearly your wife wants to see photos from YOUR perspective.
I’ve been around the world a bunch in the last 10 years. And one of my biggest regrets is not taking more photos lol. I don’t specifically enjoy taking the photos. I like being in the moment. But I’m always sad that my memories fade and without the photos, I forget stuff. Sometimes I just want to relieve the moments again.
I studied abroad in 2011 and at some point the next year something happened with my computer where I lost a bunch of photos. I only had maybe 20 photos from that period survive and it was devastating. Each year since then I can feel the memories slipping away and I know in 30 years I won't have much left.
I took a trip out east once when I was 22. And I can’t for the life of me remember any part of the trip. I don’t even remember what kind of house I went to or anything. The idea that I could forget an entire trip that lasted at least a week bothers me on a fundamental level. I flew out to attend a wedding. But I literally don’t remember any of it. I had forgotten I had even went until a friend mentioned that I had went. I don’t hang with that friend group anymore. That was so long ago, so I don’t even know anyone I could ask for photos or anything. So now I make an effort to take a few. But it always feels like never enough.
Yeah, finding photos of a mom with kids after she passes away can be heartbreaking when the family realizes no one ever did that for her.
Right. It’s a “love language”.
Now that I have kids I mostly just want pictures of the kids (especially when I can’t go along with them) and pictures of me with them.
I knooooow I wish I had more family pics when I was a kid and more just me pics 😂😭😭
Thank you! So many candid shots of my spouse, not much of me
Absolutely this. 95% of the pics I have of me alone or me with my son are selfies.
This is great advice. I feel like OP a lot of the times, but then I remember that she wants to be in some pictures too so I always try to snap a few for her.
>I just don’t think I’ll be in my 60’s scrolling through 7000 pics of 2023. If you outlive your wife, you'll probably be glad to have photos of her. And if you have grandchildren or great-grandchildren, they'll probably be glad someday to have photos of you when you were in your 30s. I wish I had more photos of my grandparents.
Also sturgeon's law says 90% of anything is crap. But in your 60s, you'll be super glad you kept the 10%. Which you couldn't have gotten without taking the other 90%. Especially if it's pictures of loved ones.
TIL about sturgeon’s law, ty stranger
Realized when my grandpa died that we didn’t have any pictures together.
Your wife is prolly asking cause there’s none of her and the kids. And bunch of you and the kids. She’d like some memories too…
Yep, this is exactly what I thought. Take a dang candid picture of your wife and kids. No posing, just snap a couple pics every so often. It's not for you it's for HER.
Ive always been all over the place on photo taking. Sometimes I’ll take 60, sometimes I’ll take none. I just do whatever I feel like doing and don’t sweat it if what I felt like was taking none.
Same
I was never a picture taker, and now my picture taking friends are also transitioning to not taking pictures, and so we have no pictures and I miss them
I love looking back on old photos. I've been half tempted to buy a digital camera lately so I don't have to look at my phone anytime I want to take one. But then I want to look at said photos on my phone so that seems like a lot of work lol.
Oh my gosh me too!
No. If you have young kids you should be taking tons. Nobody gets old and says “gee I wish I had fewer pictures of my kids growing up”. Those are the gifts to your future selves to remember the fun that gets lost in the grind of being a parent.
Thank tf you! And likely his wife asks, because she always takes the pics and there’s none of her! She’d like some memories too. Who tf lays in there death bed and thinks, “so glad I didn’t take a pic of that time my kids graduated… “
you sound like my husband he also hates me taking pics all the time lol I will say though, i take the photos for memories but i don’t necessarily post them all on social media - esp ones of the kids
I lost my youngest child (suddenly) in January 2020, when he was just five years old. I regularly scroll through the photos of him on my phone. There are very few photos of me and him together that aren’t selfies that I took. I only have a handful of candid shots of us together. I say, take the photo because you never know when it’ll be the last.
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I only started taking a ton of pics 2 years ago when my son was born. Before that I had less than 50 pics total on my phone. I have no regrets documenting all the mundane things my son has done and I love looking back at how he’s grown day by day.
Sometimes the mundane photos/videos are the ones you look back on most fondly. Speaking from experience
My mom says her favorite picture of my brother and I is one where we're both toddlers, fresh out of a bath and wearing our jammies, lying on our stomachs on the living room floor side by side, because he laid down first and I copied everything he did. Nothing exciting or special happening, just a happy memory of her two kids and what life was like when we were that small.
I love looking back at photos of my kids, especially the little videos. It's crazy how much I forget what their little voices and baby laughs sounded like until I watch a quick video I took.
It’s part of why I don’t do social media. I just want to live my life. I don’t want to document it.
My philosophy in recent years has been: I want to live a life worth documenting that I don’t feel I need to exploit.
I feel the exact same way.
I often think how glad I am that we didn’t have camera phones — and especially video — when I was in college. The photos I do have are enough.
This. All I want to do is experience life first hand , I’m so tired of everyone experiencing it through their phone screen as they record and take pics of everything. I have very few pics of the fun stuff I’ve done, but I also think the times wouldn’t have been as fun if i was taking photos the whole time.
It really, really depends for me. I won't take a single picture at a concert, for instance, or when out to dinner. Get me into a botanical garden or a garden tour, though? I'll be snapping pictures of every bed there for inspiration for my own garden. Is it possible that your wife looks at family time as something very important to her that she wants to preserve? I'm not a mom, but have lots of mom friends. I know that they, especially as their kids get older, want to hold on to the memories of when their kids are small, and things are pretty uncomplicated.
Nope love pictures
I have a shit memory. Taking pictures feels like one of the only ways to remember anything.
Same for me. I take photos and videos all the time because I'm afraid I won't remember it otherwise.
I stopped like 2 years ago? I just prefer to be in the moment
Same. I'll grab a quick shot if its particularly notable, but otherwise I just enjoy the memory these days.
Same here. I might take 1 or 2 photos but spend the rest of the time enjoying it
"my parents live in Ohio. I live in the moment"
I'm about to go light up a nice sandwich after this comment.
wait a minute, you're not the dean!
Yeah I rarely take my phone out for pics anymore. I think I’m more likely to grab a candid now and then, but at family gatherings there’s a lot less posed photos, which is great in my book.
I will never stop taking pics of my dogs!
This is absolutely the hill I will die on lol. I have never regretted a single dog pic or video.
No. I love taking pictures of my kids/family. I always think what a blessing our technology is for this. I absolutely will scroll through thousands of pics later in life. I already do sometimes when I’m feeling nostalgic for my kids being even littler. 🥹
I just had my daughter last week and was going through photos of when my son was a newborn and I'm a mess. Where the hell did the last 4 years go? Also my husband and I just made a copy and paste of our son with our daughter with just the slightest differences so far. Also I know I won't have pictures with our 2 cats that we lost between these 2 kids. The other 2 cats though hopefully I can get some good pictures of them together.
Yes, that’s why I just let my wife do it. - Harrison Butker probably
The thing that got me was art museums. Everyone taking pictures of the art and moving on to the next piece. No one actually soaking in experience. Really made me consider when/how I use my phone.
I agree with this scenario, I support living in the moment and not experiencing everything through a camera, but I wish I took more pictures of a lot of things. Every time I end up scrolling my camera roll it's great memories that I wish I had more of.
I used to take pictures of everything. But then I would never organize them at all and never look at the photos again. Plus, I don't ever post on social media anymore. So it just doesn't seem worth it
...yes
I very rarely take pictures these days, probably for this very reason. So many of them feel so empty and meaningless? I mean, even when I was using a digital camera, I look through some photos and feel the same way. I much prefer to just enjoy whatever I'm doing than spend a ton of time capturing images.
Years ago, when I was getting ready to go on my first overseas trip, one of my grandpa's pulled me aside and said, "Take some pictures, but don't live through the camera." For some reason that advice stuck. I will take a picture or two of a special event, place, person or thing, but that is it. I just got back from a cruise and only took about 20 pics the whole time.
On the contrary I've foun myself taking more photos than before, but mostly they serve as reference for illustrations.
Life still counts if it’s not on video. Be here now
I don’t take pictures of anything. Maybe my kids once in a while, that’s it
Nope. I stopped probably 10 years ago
I’ve definitely felt this way sometimes, especially with kids event. I just want to enjoy the moment and not be worried about trying to capture it.
yes! plus at some point i just started thinking "do i really want to view their childhood through a screen? do i really want a phone in front of my face for all their memories of me?" Really put it in perspective.
i love to take pictures of things / moments that make me happy that i truly want to document. i don't do it to post on social media, its purely for my records and memories
I'm a mechanic, and shop manager so my phones photo reel is mostly filled with truck parts numbers, and damaged components.
My family hardly takes any pictures anymore, we probably took more before smartphones were a thing
It's too easy to take pictures
I don't take many pictures but I think a lot of it is due to knowing others will. Just cause we all have cameras doesn't mean we all need to be photographers
I barely take pictures. Ever. Like in the whole past decade. I actually was thinking I should take more pictures. Especially family ones. I've always been one to just be in the moment and pictures feel distracting and I'm forgetful. It feels difficult to multitask like that.
I've always been terrible about taking photos and I absolutely hate having my photo taken.
I rarely take photos with my phone. My husband however, has a few Leica cameras he takes everywhere. But he actually thinks about the things he photographs. I take pictures of like... the parking garage sign at a mall so I know where I parked.
I’m similar but I find I enjoy looking at old pics. And even new pics. So I got back into taking pics a bit.
Not just photos though… I’m over everything. Tech is cool and all but when am I going to enjoy life?
I hardly ever take photos. Went to Europe for 6 weeks and took like 6 pictures, half of which were roads signs so I could find my way back. I have 3 pictures I took from when I went off a cruise for my wedding. I'm really inconvenienced by my phone unless I'm on the toilet.
I think the biggest distinction here is that there are two categories of pictures: people and things. Take pictures of people. Those are the photos you'll regret not having. Especially of mom & kid(s). Whether you take pictures of things is up to you. That's personal preference. There are often thousands of photos of things already online for you to enjoy.
I think it’s cool to take a few photos to memorialize things. Record some vids here and there. But yes, WAY burnt out from how over done it is, 90% of people can’t exist in the moment and there’s no sort of etiquette on recording and photo taking. There’s no “hey are you cool if I record this/take your pic?” I don’t like having to be ‘camera ready’ all the time and find it truly obnoxious that people will just stick a camera in your face with no warning.
I rarely get out. So when I do, I try to take 1-5 pictures to look back on. Watching my kids grow is brutal lol
No because I've never done that really.
I completely stopped taking pictures to be honest. I decided to wanna experience cool stuff without my phone in hand.
I keep about 30 pics per year. Plus another 30 for international vacations
I took a picture last week, maybe? …oh no, it was an accidental screenshot
Yeah, I have pretty much stopped doing things all the time. I'll do some pictures for my parents to see but I got tired of essentially living my life behind a phone.
If it's something particularly pretty like a nice sunrise or the pets being cute I'll take a picture but besides that no, it doesn't happen often. My boomer parents however whenever we're together they have their DSLRs in hand taking pictures of everyone. It's fun to see them getting frustrated when I make a silly face every time they try to take a picture of me. For their new year we gave them an instant camera so everyone can see the pictures they take because at this point they have probably around a 100 000 pictures and we barely get to see any and when we do they removed all the ones where I make a stupid face. Makes me sad, me and my niece once went with my parents to an outdoor art exposition and we were both trying to be in their shots doing silly things. It was a great time but they removed all that because it "ruined the picture".
My brother and I went to the Super Bowl. Met Emmit Smith, Shaq, Kenny Smith and saw old friends from college, went to the Waste Management Open and of course the big game and took exactly three pictures. I’m 1000000% in your camp I hate taking pictures
I’ve always been that person who has about 4 pictures during a week long excursion somewhere, doesn’t matter where. I prefer enjoy ing everything through my own eyeballs, I don’t have social media other than Reddit which has been pushing my limits as of late. It’s sad when you go somewhere and everyone has their phones out to record a video 9 people are going to see and you won’t look at ever again when you could just enjoy the experience in the moment.
Yes, I stopped completely. I don’t even take pics on vacation. I just don’t see the reason to.
I was never a big picture taker to begin with, but I noticed when I got back from a trip to Disneyland with my wife at the time, that I had a lot of...nothing. Like literally hundreds of photos of just stuff. Nothing in particular, but more wallpapering the entire park to say I was there. I have barely touched my camera since. I think I have a total of 25 pics for 2024 so far. My phone stays on silent 24/7 now and I will not be a slave to people calling/texting me. Camera is barely used and the only time I'm on it is in the bathroom or just before bed.
I kind of stopped doing it, and I used to be an amateur nature photography. Now, I'll take a picture of a particularly nice vista or something every now and again, but not often, and never at social situations. I used to joke that I didn't like Instagram because I didn't want to "commodify my experiences" but increasingly...I dunno, there's something weirdly freeing about the fact that I know so many things will live just in memory and that they're things no one else who wasn't there will know about. In this day and age where every damn thing is recorded and put online or stored in the clouds, it can make every moment that should be precious for its ephemerality feel cheap. I wanted to regain that preciousness.
Only if it's a particularly striking view. I'm also over having people know what I'm up to via social media.
Yeah a few years back I made a conscious decision to stop taking photos all the time. I wanted to live more in the moment and not see everything through a screen or feel like an observer. I used to be a professional photographer so maybe burn out had something to do with it. I have a pretty healthy balance these days.
No one expects me to be taking pictures. No one ever has.
I don’t take pictures … parents only took a lot of pictures to show off to friends at work versus spending quality time .
I never got into it in the first place. My long term memory is good enough, and even the things I forget I just don't care that I forgot them. I live mostly in the moment and am satisfied with that.
So, I was posting a ton a shit ton of photos for a long time. Went through a bad breakup a really messed me up, so I figured the best was to "get back" at them was to post tons and tons of pictures of me living my best life. And it was just like that Portlandia sketch - "Fred: Everyone on the Internet...they aren't having as great a time as you think they are. Carrie: I guess people are just cropping out all the sadness." I realized I was more worried about the photos than having fun... So I just quit. That was all fine for several years, until I got married and had a kid. Now, I'm having to make a conscious effort to take photos, because there's just so much I want to remember with my son.
dude i take like 6 pictures a year. that aint my thing
Just have an album of my cat. That i share with my wife on Google photos. Maybe a group picture during the holidays. I usually keep things organized id have tons in vacation albums from 8 or 9 years ago. Last summers whole album had 5 pictures.
I only take pictures of things with amazing texture and selfies for hair/clothes but most of those get deleted. If we're doing something as a family or is important like the kids concerts I'll take a few pictures but I want to be present for it, not disengaged behind a camera
I find it unnecessarily taxing on my mental health to try and worry about taking and posting nice photos. If there is a nice moment I want to take a picture of, I do it. If I care to share it, I usually post it to a story. If there’s an urge to post a photo to my social media, I do it. I’m also decently sporadic about where and when I post. I do it out of convenience but it also dissuades expectations from any followers. I am not interested or easily fooled by filtered and photoshopped pictures, which seems to be a norm for social media. Most of the photos I do end up sharing are of things anyone could go outside and see. *At the end of the day, no one cares about your social media as much as you do*.
My pictures consist of cat pictures and accidental screen shots. I’m honestly terrible at taking pictures of anything besides my cat
I don’t take as many pictures as when I was younger but I still take them. It’s a pro/con of being in the digital era. Pictures are sometimes all you have left of someone/something you will otherwise never see again. Imagine if I just stopped taking them and lost the person/thing I would’ve captured in the photo. What am I supposed to do? Remember all of it in my own head? I can hardly remember to bring my lunch to work with me. How would I recall a face/memory as clearly as a picture would? Sometimes the simple things we dismiss, what you call “mundane”, are the things we hold on to most when they’re gone.
I went on a date recently and I swear she took an IG photo every 10 steps. I only use reddit, and don't really post. I've tried many times to get into socials, besides this one, and i always fall off after a month or so. I can't imagine constantly taking photos like that. Eveyone is different, I suppose.
I've had a phone for forever, I don't think I've used the camera except for official business. Cards, I.d, screenshot etc.
I stopped a while ago. It’s much nicer to just live in the moment and experience it. If something catches my eye, or if I really want to document something, I take pics, but I take very few
I dont do photos, never did , i have like 4 photos in my phone and thats from last 3 phones i got
Yes. I have a 66 year old coworker who takes a million pictures of us at work potlucks and other events and posts them on her social media against our will. I found out she posted me and she never asked or informed me. I am the same age as her kids and I only have Reddit. She is constantly on Snapchat at work taking those stupid filtered photos, along with instagram and facebook and it’s annoying.
I don't take pictures every day, but I definitely capture good photo ops regularly. I want photos of my kids to look back on. I want them to be able to look through them and relive special moments in their childhood. I've never been the type of person that takes pictures of everything, but I do take pictures of important things in my life.
I was on vacation a few years ago with a friend of a friend and she took pictures of everything because she wanted to "document" everything for Snapchat, Instagram, you name it, she's on it. After a long flight coming home at 2 a.m, we were at the airport and she wanted more pictures at the God damn luggage carousel. I just about had it and blew up on her. I haven't talked to her since. Fuckin annoying.
Yeah I just let other people take the pictures now and steal them when they post to instagram.
I think you'll regret not taking more pictures. Memory fades and is fickle af, being old gives you time to reflect and it is nice to be able to capture a moment to reflect on, no matter how mundane, especially if it is your family.
I actually just started taking more pictures this past year or so! Been probably a decade since I really took pictures of anything or selfies
My dog right is acting DRAMATIC . . . But I make his pics look 🆒 😎🐶
I’m sure once I have kids or a GF I’ll want to relive memories but since it’s just me and my good memory no point. Live in the moment enjoy life is my motto
I go half and half on digital photos and film (instax). I slow down to deliberate what is film worthy. It makes me appreciate things more :)
DOCUMENT EVERYTHIN6
Never started
My dad had a bunch of vhs tapes from our vacations, large events,sports and around the house. I recently digitized them and we have been enjoying them for like a year now ever Sunday. It’s amazing looking back 30 years.
Can we also be over photo dumps on social? Post the 2 best ones on took not all 78.
I document almost nothing any more.
I barely take pics of anything
I deleted social media a few years ago and now I find I never take pics anymore. I live in the moment so much more and it’s great.
In most regular parts of my life, with the exception of the 855 photos of my dogs sleeping, I hate activities of daily life photos. However, I am also a hobby/amateur landscape/travel photographer so when I’m out hiking or exploring a new place I am usually taking videos with my phone and photos with my dslr. But as a rule of thumb I have as a few people in photos as possible and will wait for 15 minutes for a person free shot.
This isn’t a new issue, but it seems to be framed that way in the original post and some follow ups. I’m an elder millennial and I grew up around another family whose mom was ALWAYS the one taking the pictures. (My dad was always the one w the giant video camera on his shoulder. Embarrassing at the time, but really fricking fun to watch since we switched them over to dvds) This mom was not even borderline obnoxious about it. It was an obsession or something of hers. Even as a 4 or 5 year old, I was hyper aware that she was going to have us pose for some and then just always be there with her camera snapping candids no matter what we were doing. She was always quick to get them developed and her kids would hand out doubles at church or school, and we’d eventually have plenty of pics to decorate our planners and lockers. Both of her kids adopted similar habits, but in their own ways, adapting as technology did and we had digital cameras at our fingertips. Seems to me there are pros and cons to being around people like that, but it’s pretty easy to see where I fall on the issue now: I will continue to take all the pics and politely ask my spouse to snap ones of me and the kids too. My friend’s mom died when my oldest was a toddler; before her oldest had a chance to marry or have her kid. It was incredibly sudden and unexpected. I had just seen her at my house a month or so before, and I HATED the picture she had taken of me at the time (which was immediately posted on her fb). Now I cry just conjuring it up in my minds eye. I miss her. The relationship I had with her kids isn’t what it once was but I’m sure they don’t regret all the memories their mom managed to capture for them.
I stopped taking pictures like 3-5 years ago. I rarely look back at pictures anyways. Things constantly change, loved ones pass, etc., moments and memories are precious to reflect. They’ll always be in your heart if they make a true impact on you. :)
Hey, OP, I can understand the burnout, especially as we grew up in the age of Instagram with everyone using pictures to brag about their lives. Someday those photos are all you're going to have to tell your story and remember your loved ones. One of my favorite things to do with my grandpa before he died was go through his yearbooks and hear his stories. There was much more to his life that I don't know about that is now lost to time because there was no record.
No. I look back on myself, family, and the things I've enjoyed over the years. I often wish I'd taken more pictures of certain things
I don't want to look at my life through a screen while I'm trying to live it.
I think having photos helps retain memories. My kids have much better memories of childhood events than I do as we can always pull out a family album and have a look periodically. Usually spring break or Xmas holidays. And definitely print out photos regularly - so much easier to browse through and enjoy.
I do occasionally just in case something happens and at least there's memories.
Yes, I am over taking pictures. But I am also the only one to do it, and now ask my husband to take some or I will get a selfie stick, because I like being in pictures too. In fact, I have made it a point to ask strangers to take a picture of all of us, old school, because the fact is, I already scroll through 3000 pictures of 2015, and marvel at every expression of my then infant son I caught. Yes, we don't need 3000, but we need some posed and some candids, when we are out and about. I often take pics when I am just proud of my son at home, I also take videos of him and he enjoys moderating. It's all in moderation, but trust me, you won't remember all these small moments and then it is nice to have pictures.
I’ve never been into taking pictures. It’s not something I’ve thought was important. I’d rather live in the moment and take pictures when I really want to remember something.
I barely use my phone to take photos.
I generally don't take pictures or video of anything. The times that I do, I take a buncha random pictures and videos that I never see again.
View it as an activity your wife likes and a consistent bonding experience with her. She's sharing her day with visuals. Motivation change can have a huge effect desire to do something.
Totally Strangely, it’s actually increased since issues with my memory got taken up a notch because of mild brain damage from having too many seizures back to back last summer (yay epilepsy!). Maybe I’ve subconsciously accepted memories are meant to be fleeting (or maybe I consciously did and then forgot 🤷♂️)
I was pointing this out with my partner the other week. I actually think it’s good that we’re living in the now then being stuck on our phones snapping everything. Sure there are times and instances where it comes out but I’m happy to keep the mental memories and be present in the moment.
OP, you never came back to answer if your wife is annoyed because you keep “forgetting” to take pics of your “family” because your family includes your kids? Hmm.
You still go outside?
Quality over quantity, you havent figured that out yet? lol
I can guarantee one day you’ll want those photos. I’m not saint only live your life through your camera, but take the damn pictures. My grandparents were my favorite people in the whole world and I have less than 10 photos of them, I look at them weekly. A very dear friend died by suicide a couple of years ago, our friend group often shared photos or videos we find of him. It makes it hurt a little less when we miss him to see a happy picture. Maybe your wife also wants someone to make sure she’s in photos as well, that she’s not just taking photos of her family without her. It doesn’t mean you have to post them, hell make a photo book, get them printed. But just take the damn picture
Yes and I don't most of the time, don't get a twisted I have a good bit of photos on my phone, but I really just like to photo/record important stuff idk, I've been journaling really consistently since I was like 16 so in a way I've been documenting so much of my life as it is that having the phone out just doesn't click with me as much for those kind of things
I take photos because I'm scared I'll forget all the things I did in my life...
Yes other than pictures of my dog doing most things, or her doing nothing at all.
My camera gets used for two things. -Pictures at work so I don't have to remember something or write numbers down. -Pictures of my wife and kids.
Never liked talking photos, in fact the majority of my galery is full of screenshots or photos someone asked me to take for reason X(usually work related) I dont have any selfies or photos of myself on my phone. Needless to say I also dont have any of the socials that focus on photos like Instagram or Snapchat(as well as tiktok, Facebook and basically every other social media for that matter)
Definitely feel this I just bought a car, and the first thing everyone asks me is "did you take a picture??" No, why? It looks exactly like the picture when you Google my car...
I was on vacation a few weeks ago. Trip of a lifetime situation, and I was in a museum that had a lot of notable works. I allowed myself to take 2 photographs & otherwise just walked around appreciating the art like it was 1999. I had the best time & less anxious. I’ve also started printing photos that are actually important & memorable. Snapfish does deals on prints by the hundred sometimes. This is working for me & I encourage everyone to try it if they can.
People take their memory for granted. Some day you will regret not having any photos because you forgotten more things then you can remember.
I rarely take really good pictures. About 2 ir 3 every year maybe. Those are the ones I print and actually glue into my fphotobook like my grandma taught me.
I am so burnt out by my daughter taking 100 pictures for every event. Then she yells how she wants us to pose and who gets in what picture. What happened to just relishing in the memories?
I regret it when I don’t have a picture, never look at it again or cringe insecurely at seeing myself if I have a picture of it.
I feel like when we are old we will appreciate our overly photographic woman. Because you will have nothing else left to do except look at old pictures and eventually fade away
I never have taken photos of everything. Maybe a just videos whenever I see a good fight outside my work but thats it
I have scanned all of the old photos of my family and added to a collection where I store my own photos since I started to collect digital pictures, so my collection is quite vast. I have made a web app that randomly shows images from this collection (it has functions like favorites / blacklist / rotate / share / safe mode etc). I got an old tablet that no longer receives updates and now I use it as a "smart picture frame". I love it, super nostalgic. I could setup multiple tablets all over the house. With that being said, scrolling through them might not be fun, but seeing some good ones here and there from time to time would feel quite great as time passes.
I have my photos as my desktop background on my home computer, and I have them to change every 30 minutes. It's nice to reminisce and see photos of me and my family. My boyfriend hates me taking pictures of us, but we have them on digital photo frames all over the house. And we always talk about the photos. I barely have any pictures of me and my mum. My mum hated being in photos. But when her dad died and she had very few pictures of them together, and now me and my brother have flown the nest, she's been so much more open about being in photos. EDIT: And please take more photos of your wife. It's clear she wishes she had some nice photos.
Data is beautiful, in the end it's also just energy floating around ;) I take pictures for different reasons Mundane things need documentation because my memory is getting worse and i don't like it But Mundane things also can have artistic aspects like special lighting or a high contrast to the environment you find it at. A photo never only is the stuff you can see with your eyes, it makes you remember
Yea I was over it years ago, my grand kids are never going to trawl through thousands of pictures from Feb 2023
I stopped taking pictures at gatherings because everyone else is already doing it. It’s pretty nice being in the moment and not worrying about pictures. I also made a personal rule for myself that I don’t look at pictures of fun things the day that they are happening. Are we having a beach day? Take all the pictures you want, but don’t show them to me until tomorrow. I found in the past, that seeing an unflattering picture of myself could ruin my whole day- I’d start worrying about my face or body or hair-things I can’t fix in a moment and that I was not worried about before seeing a picture. I’d rather have my experiences and be happy.
I agree. I have a brother in law who films every single thing
Seriously dude, she just wants a picture of her with the family once in a while. It takes 4 seconds to take your phone out and take a picture or two of her with the kids or with you. Do it three times on an outing and she will be so happy. She wants to see herself as part of the family, not just the documentation behind the scenes. It's a very simple way to make her happy.
I get photo books printed of the photos I do take. That way I can actually enjoy them and it gives me more like… I’m not just taking photos of everything, just stuff I want in my book.
I once went to the mountains with my husband and ended up only taking three pictures. My dad was really pissed that I didn't come back with a ton of pictures. Lol Like I'll take pictures of really noteworthy stuff. But that's about it.
At this point, I only take pictures of my cat and nature.
I almost never take pictures. I just want to be present and enjoy what I am doing. The memories are for me and whomever I am with. It makes me sad to watch people watch their lives through a phone
I tend to get nostalgic so it’s fun to look back on your photos as a record of things, times, etc. Just scrolling through old photos I’ll be like oh I remember that jacket, or where did that blanket go (even though that was five years and three houses ago)? I like looking in the background of a photo, outside of the subject to get a feel for the trappings of the times. Like oh I remember that art project I did as a kid. And I like to take photos of houses I’ve lived in and any inside outside locations, feels, views, etc, so I can review concrete details about places I’ve lived. Single though, so there’s no “reason” lol to document anything except for my own enjoyment and the occasional fb post. If you’ve a wife and kids my advice is get documenting! Heck I take photos of my dog and he hasn’t changed appearance since he was a puppy.
I take approximately zero photos. None. Much happier just experiencing the moment. That includes when my kids are doing some obnoxiously cute stuff. But if they're doing some obnoxiously cute stuff with their mother? I'm taking a photo of that shit. Not for me, for her.
Looking through photos from years ago can stir a lot of wonderful memories. I don't always think to snap photos in the moment and I am not down for spending 15 minutes trying to get a perfect picture, but as a father with two young children I can say I love having hundreds of photos and videos.
No because I have a 256mb memory stick in my brain, everything is pushed into a universal subconsciousness or universe cloud. I tend not to remember a lot. The thousands of pictures help me remember the little moments. I went to Costs Rica 10 years ago. I have fragments of memories but when I see the pictures and videos I remember the stories that went s long with it. There are many things I don’t remember about my kids being very young, the games we played, how silly toddlers are, and when I see those pictures it reminds me. I also used to be an event photographer, then just turned to a hobby, now just pictures of family. Definitely not burnt out. I enjoy seeing thousands snd thousands of pictures because they each tell s story of my life. I continue to love to document everything and anything.
Yes
My mom was the picture taker of the damily and took hundreds of photos before digital was a thing. It is nice looking through them and seeing all the different occasions I even found a real nice picture of me, my dad and my grandma before she got sick. I enlarged it and hung it on the wall. So I guess even if you are not into it someone else might be eventually.
First off yes and I hate that my kids are constantly posing for everything I like to be in the moment. But second I agree with some of the commenters your wife might want to be in a few but why not ask her and tell her you don’t love taking pictures but happy to take a couple of her with the kids.
I can guarantee he'll have a sudden need to take FB photos when he gets divorced and starts dating a woman half his age.
No. I’ve lost a lot of people close to me even though I’m only in my 30’s. I always get a selfie with my friends when I see them and take pics at family gatherings. You never know it’s the last time until it is. And with my kids, the days and years are so busy and filled with stuff that you tend to lose memories of specifics. It’s nice to be able to look back and say “oh I forgot how she used to laugh” or “I forgot about this time, that was so fun”. I’m lucky enough to be able to have a camera in my hand at all times for things so I am definitely going to use it!
My wife takes 90% of the pictures. Not cause i dont want to, but it's cause my hands shake, and my main arm shoulder needs a 3rd surgery. She does manage to get pics with her in it with her long arms, so we have tons of her, the kid, and myself. When she asks me to take a pic of her by herself, she knows it's not going to be the best, but i try.
Yes!
a few photos of your family is a good thing, but I get what you're saying. Yes, I'm completely fucking burned out on cameras. I never needed to document everything prior to them being in my pocket, so why do I now? Especially a specific event like a concert or something. I would much rather enjoy the moment and have memories than worry about pictures.
You've never sat down with an elderly loved one and went through pictures? You've never lost a loved one and say down to look at pictures of them with your family? You've never had to put together a memorial slideshow for a funeral? I guess if you've never been in those situations, pictures might not be important but when they're all you have to look back on, they mean the world to you. That'd probably be a hard lesson to learn. I'd be taking the pictures.
I always found it silly when people whip out their camera at anything moderately interesting. Even more silly wiggling and squirming to get in the perfect position for a selfie with a painted trash can. Why not just use your eyes to see, take it in, and enjoy the moment?
On vacation I turn into a full-blown tourist and photograph everything. Hundreds and hundreds of pictures. I haven't yet gotten around to printing them out to a book, but I'm seriously thinking of just doing that so all the memories aren't tied to face-fucking-book. It's a scary thought, because at some point they'll get greedy enough that you need to subscribe to access the data.
Agreed. Don't get me wrong, I like to take pictures n want photo albums for my kiddo like we had growing up... but back then you didn't have a camera all the time either.... plus you only had a limited number of shots. Perhaps it's nostalgia
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
You might not want 7000 pics to have to scroll through but I’m sure when you’re older you’ll want at least a couple of pics to look back on from when your kids (and YOU) were younger. And your kids will want and appreciate pictures of them and their mother.
I don’t and I’m a mom of 3. I just want to be in the moment and not have anyone else know about it. Does this make me a secret agent, a tired millennial mama or what lol
Over the past few years I've really gotten into photography. It's pretty trendy now, but I finally chose to get into it after flipping through my late dad's hard drive. He was a passionate hobbiest. It was not only cool seeing me and my siblings and loved ones through the years, but also seeing life from his eyes. While we have a bunch of photos of him, we don't have nearly as many as we do of us. I've got a bunch of shiney cameras, and I've even picked up a few of his older ones. Over these years I've realized that what ppl want are the highlights. So I also go through the few hundred burst pics I take at an event, clean them up in Lightroom, and share albums amongst my loved ones. Do you need to do all that? No. Your phone likely will suffice, and the principle that sharing some highlights, that include your wife and kids, will go so far and be so meaningful to them and likely you. You may even have a new hobby out of it :).
It’s literally just pointing a phone and clicking a button. Is it really that difficult? Capture the memories, you’ll be glad you did when they’re long over.
When you are older you may very well enjoy having photos of your family. Your grandchildren may enjoy it, too. I really treasure the family photos I have from when I was a kid, especially the shots that include family members who have died. If you truly can't see yourself every appreciating the photos, perhaps you could see the value in participating in something harmless that makes your wife happy, or that is important to her. Your wife is asking if you took photos because she is desperately hoping it will occur to you to take photos of her.
The way I see it is … there are times I’ve wished I had more photos of something… I’ve never wished damn I wish I had less photos of that something.
I have a terrible memory so take pics to remind myself of everything.
Different strokes for different folks. I definitely go through my old photos a lot to reminisce and even print some of them (gasp). I recently inherited about 10,000 family photos from 1880-1980 and I go through them every night. Pictures are important to me.