We live in a world where the media tells us our lives should be documented in perfectly curated photo albums or expertly detailed scrapbooks. But that isn’t the world we actually experience. Our lives are full of unexpected trips to the doctor or a dinner gone awry. Life is messy.
Not only should we be documenting that mess, but our processes should reflect the unpredictability and level of “busy” that we face every day. This means having an arsenal of tools at the ready for capturing your story. It’s not about having a perfect system, but aggregating your streams of information (words and photos) in ways that are meaningful.
These 5 tools will help you tell your stories and share your life with friends, family and the world (if you so desire). Use these resources as your entire system or as a foundation for scrapbooking or photobooks.
Camera phone
Today’s busy moms are more likely to have their phone at their side at a given moment than their children. Leverage the technology to your advantage by getting to know the features and using that pricey data plan to the fullest. Link up your phone to email or social sharing sites to keep in touch with your world.
Facebook
Social networking sites, Facebook in particular, are fantastic outlets for sharing day to day stories. Uploading your photos, especially straight from your phone, allow for instant gratification in storytelling. Often before you’ve blinked, there will be a comment on your photo, reminding you that yes, people do care!
Pocket camera
Sure, your Big Fancy Camera (BFC) takes really killer pics, but do you want to lug it everywhere? Keep a compact point-and-shoot camera in your purse or bag to whip out at times when the BFC is just inconvenient. Splurge on a model that performs decently in low light so your photos look great more of the time.
Flickr
Any online photo sharing site will do, but Flickr gets high marks for serving as a permanent, full resolution backup to my images. Use the site to organize your images and jot down relevant details about an image or a group of images. Flickr can be used as a mini photo blog of sorts, complete with socialization features.
Blog
A personal blog is the modern version of a scrapbook. It allows you to couple words and photos together to tell your stories in a way that facilitates both documentation and interaction. For more permanence, photobook companies (like Blurb) can bind your posts into book form.
Which of these tools do you already use? How do they work together (or not) in your world?
[photo by: bubbabyte]
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Everyone of them, but I also have picasa in my arsenal for my kids soccer team, if you use chrome and picasa 3 on your desktop you can face tag kids so that the parents can easily find the images that just feature their precious baby with out having to scan through 300 images. AND you can set it to only be viewed by people you choose for the mom’s who are concerned about online predators.
I used to use the shutterfly for “team sharing” but since people can choose from several different sources via picasa to order prints (including your local Walgreens). Gosh, didn’t mean to sound like a google ad, but I do love the options offered (for free)
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post Leisa. I was at Blissdom as well, not sure if we met or not!
Hi, Tanna. I met you at Blissdom. Maybe it was met you again (?) But, I finally got the connection of where I know you from–your great marketing! This morning I found you via the Tennessean’s networked blogs. This is a well-written, helpful post. I will share on the social media site I moderate , the local MomsLikeMe.com. Cheers!
Leisa, thanks but Jennifer wrote this one! :) We met the first time at Meredith’s, I have been on MomsLikeMe as well, just haven’t checked in lately!
We always have a camera ready to go for those moments we want to remember, so needless to say we have tons of photos. We tackle them pretty much by the end of the week so we don’t end up with e-clutter. I use Picasa and have an album for each week, and special occasions. I’m hoping to one day get my blog posts to be put into a Blurb book or photobook….one day…
What a great reminder, Jennifer! I always forget that my phone has a camera. I just upgraded and not in the habit of reaching for it yet.
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