Moms: how do you get good photos of yourself with your kids?

[Anonymous]

I know this is a common problem. DH is just not a good photographer and selfies are awkward. Occasionally we can ask a friend to take a few photos but that's hit or miss based on who is around?

I'm the cliche of the mom who has a million great photos of my kids and my spouse and my kids with my spouse but then I go looking for a photo of myself with either or both of my kids and there's nothing I like enough to frame or send to family.

Do you just rely on periodic photo shoots with pro photographers? We haven't done one in a few years because they are so pricy, but it feels like that's the only way to get a decent photo of myself with my kids (or at all, actually).

[Anonymous]

DH isn't bad at taking photos. But I have no problem asking a stranger to take one.

[Anonymous]

Ask a girlfriend to help. Maybe trade with another mom. My husband has zero concept of framing or flattering angles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH isn't bad at taking photos. But I have no problem asking a stranger to take one.

Yeah but then you only get posed photos. You can't ask a stranger to take photos of you playing with your kid or reading to them or whatever.

My spouse is terrible about taking those kind of slice of life photos and I just don't like posed pics that much (also my kids are at the age where the hate taking them). I sometimes feel like we will just not have any documentation of me actually spending time with and parenting my kids other than a series of posed photos where their eyes are closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask a girlfriend to help. Maybe trade with another mom. My husband has zero concept of framing or flattering angles.

Mine doesn't either and he gets mad if I offer any feedback. Like his favorite thing to do is to kneel while taking photos of us standing several feet away. I told him ONCE that angle is really bad for me and asked if he could just stay standing and he got mad about and now still does it. And then he gets annoyed when I dislike the resulting photos. It's so irritating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH isn't bad at taking photos. But I have no problem asking a stranger to take one.

Yeah but then you only get posed photos. You can't ask a stranger to take photos of you playing with your kid or reading to them or whatever.

My spouse is terrible about taking those kind of slice of life photos and I just don't like posed pics that much (also my kids are at the age where the hate taking them). I sometimes feel like we will just not have any documentation of me actually spending time with and parenting my kids other than a series of posed photos where their eyes are closed.

Same boat here. Ask your DH to take video of you with your kids- just a minute a day. Then you can sort through the videos and find some good still photos.

[Anonymous]

I don’t care how awkward it is. I set up a mini tripod and prop up my phone. I can frame the photo any way I want and edit myself later. There are many on Amazon < $20 with a Bluetooth remote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask a girlfriend to help. Maybe trade with another mom. My husband has zero concept of framing or flattering angles.

Mine doesn't either and he gets mad if I offer any feedback. Like his favorite thing to do is to kneel while taking photos of us standing several feet away. I told him ONCE that angle is really bad for me and asked if he could just stay standing and he got mad about and now still does it. And then he gets annoyed when I dislike the resulting photos. It's so irritating.

Mine does that too. He’ll put me on steps and then walk down them and go 10 yards back and angle up at me.

But he also does a weird thing where he leans over awkwardly in every photo of himself even though he claims he’s standing up straight, so I think he just has zero sense of how objects relate to one another visually nor of how his body moves through time and space.

[Anonymous]

My mom takes good ones. And we see them often. I also do one family session a year. Fall or spring for this reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care how awkward it is. I set up a mini tripod and prop up my phone. I can frame the photo any way I want and edit myself later. There are many on Amazon < $20 with a Bluetooth remote.

+1. the results are great

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH isn't bad at taking photos. But I have no problem asking a stranger to take one.

Yeah but then you only get posed photos. You can't ask a stranger to take photos of you playing with your kid or reading to them or whatever.

My spouse is terrible about taking those kind of slice of life photos and I just don't like posed pics that much (also my kids are at the age where the hate taking them). I sometimes feel like we will just not have any documentation of me actually spending time with and parenting my kids other than a series of posed photos where their eyes are closed.

Same boat here. Ask your DH to take video of you with your kids- just a minute a day. Then you can sort through the videos and find some good still photos.

That's a really good idea. I wouldn't do it every day but I could see doing this on days I really want to document -- take some videos of us baking a cake or opening gifts on a birthday. Or of us hanging out on mother's day! Those are the days I wish he'd take some photos but if I ask him he will insist we sit and pose and grin at the camera and that's not the kind of photo I want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask a girlfriend to help. Maybe trade with another mom. My husband has zero concept of framing or flattering angles.

Mine doesn't either and he gets mad if I offer any feedback. Like his favorite thing to do is to kneel while taking photos of us standing several feet away. I told him ONCE that angle is really bad for me and asked if he could just stay standing and he got mad about and now still does it. And then he gets annoyed when I dislike the resulting photos. It's so irritating.

Mine does that too. He’ll put me on steps and then walk down them and go 10 yards back and angle up at me.

But he also does a weird thing where he leans over awkwardly in every photo of himself even though he claims he’s standing up straight, so I think he just has zero sense of how objects relate to one another visually nor of how his body moves through time and space.

PP and yes. He's not a jerk, he's just clueless. He also died this think in photos with me where he steps away so there is space between us, and leans his head away from mine. It's very awkward and makes the photo look very posed and uncomfortable. I'll say "just stand normal, like if we weren't taking photos" and hell claim he is. Sigh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care how awkward it is. I set up a mini tripod and prop up my phone. I can frame the photo any way I want and edit myself later. There are many on Amazon < $20 with a Bluetooth remote.

OP here and I'm going to do this. Especially for vacations.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know. I don’t want to take any more until I lose 10-20 pounds

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know. I don’t want to take any more until I lose 10-20 pounds

Not even pics from the shoulders up?

I sometimes don't want photos of myself but I hate the idea of my kids' childhood going by without any photos of us together, even if it's just a picture of our faces pressed together.