Family Classics
Last night, on a random Tuesday evening, I had an epiphany. Inspired by my daughter. She started laughing. We were sitting on the couch. Watching a random television show while I edited photos.
"What is so funny?"
"Look. Look how cute I was," she said.
"Look how I say my name!"
And then she said, "Watch this. And this. And this one. We were so little!"
"He can't even hardly reach the drawer!"
We spent the next thirty minutes happily reminiscing while watching family movies.
When they were young, I created a YouTube channel. I uploaded clips from my phone (apparently). In all honesty, a few of the videos I couldn't even remember filming.
I filmed these before learning about camera techniques or light or anything. I didn't worry about camera shake or white balance. I didn't even worry about filming in Vertical (upright) over Horizontal (landscape). I didn't edit or color correct or adjust sound levels. I just uploaded them.
And I'm so glad.
Because, if you asked me now to show videos from five years ago, I wouldn't even know how to find them. Sure, they're in a folder on the harddrive, among the 1000 photos from that same year. They're called MoviesinMay or KidsMovie-3. I couldn't possibly show them in a way that wasn't exhausting (for me and the viewer) after searching for them.
I am so grateful for this collection that can be found by my kids at any time.
My epiphany was that it's not enough for me to take family photographs and document everyday life. I want to empower families to have the experience I shared with my daughter. I want to help families create collections that will be a legacy for their children and grandchildren. With my teaching background, and love of photography, this combines two passions into one quest.
The simple way to create your own family Channel is to start a YouTube account and start uploading. You can make videos private within your account. You can disable likes and comments. You can even make the entire account private. Or you can use Vimeo. Any sharing site works. I can give more detailed instructions if people are interested. For now, hopefully inspiration is the kickstart to get you posting videos for your kids to discover years from now.
Trust me, they'll thank you. Once they catch their breath after laughing so hard!
Ian sang before bath time, with his shirt on his head. A Family Classic!
*as always, use discretion and post videos that will not be too upsetting for your child later. Imagine what you would like to see from your childhood. I do not post melt-downs, fits, or temper outbursts. Or bare bums :)
