Am I alone in this thought?

[KristinCB]

As the years have gone by since I started scrapbooking (I admit I don't have many pages for the amount of years I've been doing this) I have started taking less and less photos. I don't know my reasoning but I do know I feel guilty about it.. I feel sad sometimes that I don't have the pictures that I would have taken 5-6 years ago.

Anyways I guess I'm just wondering do you think the guilt about taking less pictures happens to those who don't scrapbook? Is it just our way of thinking that everything needs to be captured? I got so tired of taking my camera everywhere I went that I just seemed to stopping taking pictures all together for the most part :/

This whole post is worded awful. I'm really tired.

[luckyme]

I go through phases where I take a ton of photos and other times where I barely remember. I always get photos on the "big" days like birthdays, Christmas, special outtings, etc, but the day-to-day photos sometimes are missed.

And, I hate to say it, but I am usually motivated to take more photos when I have a new photography "toy" -- a new camera, lens, presets or actions... Even getting an iPhone last year really helped me to take more pictures.

I think winter is also a bad picture season for me because there's hardly any light. (I'm in Canada.) I see photographers (especially in California) with these beautifully lit beach photos and I get so jealous! My inside-the-kitchen-lit-with-halogen-bulb shots just don't compare, haha!

[KristinCB]

That is so like me! I do get the big events etc but I am just sad I haven't taken as many day to day ones.. even with the iphone I just don't seem to take the pictures

Where in canada are you?

[NeverendingJen]

I was hardly taking any day to day until I started doing Project LIfe and it kind of forced me to document more. I still miss some stuff, but I have taken 3x the photos in 2013 than I did in 2011. I felt really guilty not documenting everything and that was one of the reasons I started project life.

[SeattleSheri]

I feel like I've found a happy medium. I refuse to lug my camera around if it's going to be inconvenient and detract from me enjoying the event. I can always use my cell phone, which produces decent photos -- a good trade off for me. The volume of photos I've been taking is relatively consistent.

[MommaTrish]

I have to get a new phone, and I really hope I can get one that takes better pictures than my old one. Kind of doubtful on that though since I'm nowhere near due an upgrade so I'm going to get the cheapest I can. *sigh*

ANYWAY.
My problem is more that I get tons of everyday pictures, but not many pictures of holidays or things like that. But I was like this even before I started scrapbooking. Maybe if I had a phone that took better pictures, maybe I'd get more photos during the big things. *shrugs* I don't know. I've never stressed about it much either way.

[Keely~B]

I think maybe scrapping makes me notice it more. I always struggle getting pictures, I never have enough to scrap. Events and holidays are the worst, unless they're staged they never come out or I'm too busy to take pictures. I find it's a lot harder now that my kids are older as well, they're not cooperative. They're not home as much and our days are busy but pretty repetitive, a lot of chauffeuring and homework and whatnot. I have good intentions but I can never seem to make it work.

[luckyme]

Originally Posted by KristinCB

That is so like me! I do get the big events etc but I am just sad I haven't taken as many day to day ones.. even with the iphone I just don't seem to take the pictures

Where in canada are you?

I'm in Ottawa. You're Canadian, too, right? Or should I say, eh?

[marlathrall]

I don't have that problem since I take a daily shot for my on going 365 project. I've been doing it for over three and a half years and my photography has grown so much in that time and I have a great record of our days. I encourage others to try even if they don't want to scrap all the pictures.

[adrianka]

I actually think it's healthy not to document everything. I know that being childless I'm probably not the one who should be answering this, but I've always loved taking pics of the "small moments". I have tons of those, but no, not of everything. I have a highly portable camera (I must be the only one who did the transition backwards, from DSLR to P&S, because I prefer having pictures to not having any because I didn't take the huge camera) but sometimes I don't take pics deliberately. And I know I'm never going to scrap it all. It's just not humanly possible. No reason for you to feel guilty.

[Traci Reed]

I'm not taking less photos, per se, I'm taking less well-thought-out-and-awesome photos. I take a ton on my phone but I don't have the awesome quality ones that I used to take as often.

[DawnMarch]

This is one of the reasons I love Project Life -- it's more of a process over time rather than just jumping from event to event. If I don't have enough pictures one week, I'll just scan a couple of my kids' school papers or put in some cute quote cards or something. Or I'll just walk around the house and take pictures of stuff -- like the laundry pile, what's blooming in the yard or what's on my night table. Then some weeks I have way too many photos, and I'll cheat and save some for the next week. In the end, it evens out. And the process of making pages every week or two keeps you thinking about taking more photos.

I have a TERRIBLE memory, so I love capturing things as we go along to help me remember it.

On the other hand, I try not to feel guilty if I don't take pictures. We scrapbookers do better than 99% of the population at taking pictures and keeping memories even if we don't do as well as we'd like. The Flylady says that even housework done incorrectly blesses your family. I feel that same way about picture-taking and scrapbooking. Every little bit you do is appreciated and blesses your family, even if it's only a little bit.

[MandM13]

I feel the same at times...although I've taken a lot more photos this year than previous years simply because of my life change. Being on the road for months out of the year allows me to see something different everyday....but I don't take that many with my camera simply because its bulky. I've talked hundreds on my camera phone that turn out quite well mos of the time. Occasionally I have to edit it in Photoshop.
All that being said I am anxious to start PL in 2014 as others have said, I think it will help me take more photos.

[NatalieKW]

I think I take less pictures now. Part of it is laziness or busy-ness, but another reason is that I feel pressure to either blog or scrap pictures I take...most of the time both. If I don't take lots of pictures, I get to stay more caught up on blogging and scrapping.

[fifilur]

I've definitely taken less photos this year. I use my iphone as camera and lately I've been feeling guilty about how much time I spend using that phone instead of being present with my son. So just yesterday we were at this event, turning on the Christmas lights in town, and I thought to myself that maybe I should take some photos to scrap, but then decided not too and just share the experience with my son.

[KristinCB]

Originally Posted by iciclelady

I'm in Ottawa. You're Canadian, too, right? Or should I say, eh?

yep!! bc

[rach3975]

I find that I take my camera out less often, but take more photos at a time when I do take it out, equaling about the same number of photos. I take it out less because my kids are getting older and don't want me taking their photos all the time. I take more at a time partly because I now have a camera with a good burst mode and partly because my hands are now free of babies and I'm not always chasing toddlers. Finally getting a phone with a decent camera this summer has added to my photo clutter, but it's good because when I use the phone I'm content to snap 3 or 4 and then stop. I'm not trying for a great photo like when I use my mirrorless camera, just snapping a few to help me remember. The most time consuming part of PL for me is sorting the photos and deciding what to use.

[joelsgirl]

Originally Posted by KristinCB

Anyways I guess I'm just wondering do you think the guilt about taking less pictures happens to those who don't scrapbook? Is it just our way of thinking that everything needs to be captured? I got so tired of taking my camera everywhere I went that I just seemed to stopping taking pictures all together for the most part :/

^^THIS^^ I TOTALLY think we're over-documenting our lives, which is fine if it makes us happy, but it should NEVER make us feel guilty!

My mom took out the camera on birthdays and at Christmas, and I have grown up with plenty of happy memories, completely unscarred.

There is no reason to be taking a trillion photos unless you're on a lot of creative teams and need to use a lot of really awesome kits.

So kick the guilt to the curb and enjoy the photos you do have.

[joelsgirl]

Originally Posted by fifilur

I've definitely taken less photos this year. I use my iphone as camera and lately I've been feeling guilty about how much time I spend using that phone instead of being present with my son. So just yesterday we were at this event, turning on the Christmas lights in town, and I thought to myself that maybe I should take some photos to scrap, but then decided not too and just share the experience with my son.

I do this too (I don't have an iPhone, just with my camera). Lots of times I leave it at home so I can really be there with my family instead of trying to get the perfect shot to capture our perfect memory. And sometimes I take it and as soon as we get there, I'm like, "Give me one good photo and I'll put the camera up."

[kristalund]

there are times when i def don't feel like lugging the camera around but i do try to capture it all i have been using my iphone a bunch.

[Stacey42]

I use my Note 2 far more than my Nikon these days. Nothing beats the Nikon for low level lighting shots around the house but for outdoor stuff the phone is fine for me and I never thought I'd say that.

I do P365, have every year since 2008 so I do get 'daily' photos. But often they are not every day. I forget days and make up the pic later with a shot that captures whatever was going on that day. I've always been rather haphazard about it. And they all end up in a photo book, not scrapped because it's too much pressure other wise.

But I was just looking back through my last 3 months of photos and was surprised at how few I had taken. What had I missed? Nothing really. Just few shots at events. I don't need 90 photos of their football game. 10 will do. I don't need 35 shots of them in their Halloween costumes. 6 will do (if we include friends in the shot, otherwise 2 is fine).

The kids are getting older. They are not as 'cute' as they were (though they are still adorable, the antics of a 10 year old are less photogenic, or frequent, than the antics of a 4 year old in my opinion). They play different ways that don't capture well. They have more electronics and how many photos of a kid playing his DS do you really need?

Sometimes I feel bad but it never lingers.

[Kara]

I'm definitely taking fewer pictures these days for lots of reasons - I'm busy, the kids won't smile, and I am starting to realize that I don't need a bajillion photos of every time we go to the park or museum or whatnot. My parents have like 20 photo albums of my childhood.and while I love looking at them, at the rate I had been going, I'd have hundreds for my kids.

[DawnMarch]

Finally getting a phone with a decent camera this summer has added to my photo clutter, but it's good because when I use the phone I'm content to snap 3 or 4 and then stop. I'm not trying for a great photo like when I use my mirrorless camera, just snapping a few to help me remember.

Yes, I take fewer shots of each thing too - just grab one or two to remind me of what happened and where we were and then put the camera/phone down and enjoy the moment.

[Jengerbread88]

I more feel guilt about WHAT I take photos of. I could take a ton of photos of a recipe I'm doing for my blog, or even of Zach for my blog, but if I'm just taking pics to take pics, I don't always take the same amount or same quality of pics. It makes me sad that I'm not taking the time to make those pics special just because fewer people will see them. I also get frustrated because I have like, 300 pictures from going to the pumpkin patch this year, but in the time my boyfriend and I have been together (which is a whole heck of a lot longer than what our facebooks say, but I digress), we have MAYBE three pics together? It isn't that we don't want to-- it's that we simply don't think about it. Which is weird, because I usually always have pics on my mind.

[lovely1m]

I always take much less in the winter, too. The lighting is just awful and we don't do as much.

[adi&co.]

For awhile there i stopped taking pictures because they weren't looking as quality as I had become wanting all my pics to look, but lately I've just been snapping random pics again and putting my mommy goggles back on rather than my 'photographer" goggles.

[Lindsay]

My boys are just older and don't want to cooperate and I don't see this getting any better. Its starting to become me feeling like the paparazzi hiding out because if they see me, they clam up. Now with Allie born, I took the most pictures I've taken in a long time but don't get to see her too often so I can see being able to keep up with these. I definitely went overboard with the boys as babies so I still have plenty to scrap!

[rach3975]

Originally Posted by Stacey42

The kids are getting older. They are not as 'cute' as they were (though they are still adorable, the antics of a 10 year old are less photogenic, or frequent, than the antics of a 4 year old in my opinion). They play different ways that don't capture well.

I feel that way about journaling even more so than pictures. My 4 year old still says lots of adorable things that are concise enough for me to remember and jot down a few minutes later. I can describe what she's doing/playing/thinking in a few sentences, so it's easy to "capture" her in my journaling or PL album.

My boys (10 and 7) are much harder. Sure, I can easily write a list of what they're playing with or what they're reading. But their thoughts and conversations are longer and more complex, and they're playing video games or games with defined rules (like Pokemon) rather than making up imaginative games that I can photograph or write about. For my 10 year old, I also feel like he's old enough to want his privacy. So my journaling about him is much more factual (good grade on a test, who he had over to play, what books he's reading) and less about his personality and how he sees the world.

[ElenaKaywood]

I think that the amout of pictures I take depends on my mood. Some weeks i take a lot of pictures but there are times when I take none. I also try not to be obsessed with taking pictures as it destractes me from "being in the moment".

[maryinaz]

I definitely take less photos, but it's because my boys are older and are not as willing to be my subjects. That's why most of my phone pics are of my dog.

[calvinawalsh]

Warning a long post
My Thoughts-Should someone feel guilty for all the photos they have never taken and therefore never gotten scrapped? No. Life is too short to regret things you can't change in the present. But, you can be proactive today. Do you want more photos of your ordinary days or of your children? If so, you've got to make a point to take the photos. I like what Adrianka said about switching from a DSLR to a Point and Shoot camera. If I had to lug around a Big camera, I probably wouldn't take many pictures. I have several P & S cameras around the house. If I want a photo I can quickly grab a camera and capture the moment.
I take a lot of photos, maybe hundreds every week, do I ever feel guilty for taking too many photos? No. I'm in my early 50's and grew up with Cameras with film. Back then it was expensive to take pictures with the film and the cost of developing the photos. I don't have a lot of photos from my childhood because my parents just didn't have the money for a camera and the cost of film. I have only one photo of one Christmas morning. I wish I had more, but back then it just wasn't possible.
When digital cameras came out I was thrilled-As long as I have adequate space on my hard drive I can take as many pics as I want! The photos that are blurry or otherwise terrible get deleted. I know that I will never scrap probably one quarter of my photos, but that doesn't matter. If I want to remember what happened during a particular time in my life-I have the photos on my computer and can look back and re-live those days.
As I said before I am in my 50's. As I get older I have come to realize that if there are things that I value and want to take photos of-I've got to do it now. Life can change so quickly. Last winter I was taking photos of one of my snow laden trees and I thought, "I already have a similiar photo", but I took it anyway. This past summer we heard a thunderous noise and ran outside-that very tree had split down the middle and crashed into the yard! The whole thing had to be removed. That tree held lots of memories from my childhood and now it was gone. I'm glad I took the photos I did!
One year I was taking what I thought was "just another photo of my family's Christmas party", I already have a ton that look the same, but soon after, my elderly father passed away. I was glad to have taken that "last photo" of him.
Sorry, for the long winded-ness of this post, but I just want to encourage those who do want to take more photos of their family, Do it Now. Life changes. Next year your family may need to move to a new house, or a new city, your husband might get a new job, a pet might pass away anything could happen. If you want to have the memories of what your life was like at a certain time-Snap those photos today whether you want to or not, you won't regret having taken tooooo many photos!

[Summer_Mom3]

I like to scrap but honestly I wouldn't not take pictures just because they didn't look professional. Life isn't professional photography. It's messy and chaotic and I'm fine with it if my pictures show that. When my kids are grown I'll just be happy to have the pictures. I'm sure I won't care that they're not perfect. Scrapbooking is about capturing life. Life isn't perfect and I don't think very layout picture has to be either. It's about preserving memories not perfection. If I only kept my perfect pictures I'd have very little. It's so hard to get a one and two year old to give you the perfect shot.

[Darcy Baldwin]

I don't feel guilty that I haven't caught the day today. I've caught the big moments in our lives, and some not so big. It is documented, it is recorded, it is history. It's more than my mom was able to do for me, and my boys have something I created. I'm okay with it. But as kids age, there are less 'big' moments for us to record, and we get busier, and we spend more time away from each other, and life is happening, not just being recorded

Do I wish it was more? Sure, but I'm not feeling guilty that it's not.

[sarahbhb]

I go through phases too...I don't ever just take a huge amount of photos but I usually try to capture something every single day. I'm not always great at it, though.

Originally Posted by KristinCB

yep!! bc

My hubby grew up on Vancouver Island. We haven't been to BC in 10 years...hopefully we'll get a chance to make it up that way again soon. I know DH misses the mountains and ocean something fierce.

[xboxmom]

I always feel guilty for not taking photos. I have been really really bad about taking any photos lately. It's always this time of year too that I am like oh Crap I didn't take a single photo in the month of .... I find out all this when I am putting together my yearly calendar and then I am always like CRAP what am I going to do now?!

[julifish]

I'm with Kim - I am at that point in the year where I realize how few photos I've taken or worse, they are all of my youngest and my DH and none of my oldest or me. Now I'm trying to put together calendars for my mom and MIL and what a headache.

I realize though that my oldest is almost 15. She takes daily pics of herself and her friends and is documenting her own life; in her own way. I think that is pretty cool in itself. She did mention to me the other day that I don't post any pictures of her on my FB page anymore. I had to remind her that she never wants her photo taken unless it's a selfie with my phone and that she's do picky about what picture I post that I'm afraid to post anything of her.

I think as kids get older, life moves faster and it's harder to capture everyday and sometimes even big things. We just went on vacation for 5 days and might have taken 40 pics, where as a few years ago I'd have hundreds to go through right now. It just doesn't fit with our lives anymore and my kids are sick of having a camera in their face (hubs too!). So I try to capture the important things - likes sports games, homecoming, firsts and holidays and the rest I let it slide or try to get a phone pic and settle for that.