{"id":1494,"date":"2014-07-02T09:10:18","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T16:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/?p=1494"},"modified":"2015-08-18T00:09:26","modified_gmt":"2015-08-18T07:09:26","slug":"guest-post-get-yourself-in-the-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/guest-post-get-yourself-in-the-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Get Yourself in the Picture!"},"content":{"rendered":"
I’m happy to include the following guest post by Francine Michelle.\u00a0Francine Michelle<\/strong>\u00a0is the founder and CEO of Video Baby Books (www.videobabybooks.com<\/a>), an innovative company that captures and documents little ones from the womb and beyond, in addition to educating parents on the importance of keeping track of milestones for more than just posterity. She was one of the speakers on the\u00a0Entrepreneurship for Parents panel at\u00a0The Family SpringFest Event, hosted by Club MomMe<\/a>.<\/h6>\n
\"Image
Image provided by Francine Michelle<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Get Yourself in the Picture<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The\u00a0first mistake<\/h3>\n

As moms, typically from the very start we are obsessed with capturing every moment in our newborns\u2019 lives, including dreaming babies and their sweet reflex smiles. I myself probably have more videos of my little one sleeping than awake from his first month of life. The problem is that this creates a habit early on of inconspicuously filming our babies.\u00a0\u00a0We may hear ourselves in the background, but we\u2019re nowhere to be seen.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0This ends up being a mistake for many reasons.<\/p>\n

Include family members<\/h3>\n

When capturing home movies, it is important to do your best to include as many family members as possible, even the furry ones. Believe it or not, home movies help individuals to better understand who they are by giving them a clearer picture of where they came from.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Photos typically are posed, where as movies can show life as it happened, creating a unique look at specific moments in time.\u00a0\u00a0A few seconds here and there captured on film will help your little one to better understand the world in which they were brought in to and ultimately define them.<\/p>\n

Don’t be camera shy<\/h3>\n

Moms tend to feel pretty camera shy, especially soon after giving birth, but your child is going to want to see those moments of you both interacting.\u00a0\u00a0We may love looking back at images of our baby all by themselves doing something adorable, but that video will be so much more valuable in years to come if you are in it as well.\u00a0\u00a0It would really be a shame not to get videos of yourself loving on your baby for 75% of the first year of their life.\u00a0\u00a0Just imagine if you had home movies of you as an infant interacting with your parents, it would be priceless.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ask another person to hold the camera<\/h3>\n

So how does the person who typically does all the filming get in the picture? You have a few options to consider.\u00a0The first would be to hand off your camera (or cell phone) whenever you can.\u00a0\u00a0Even a blurry snippet that\u2019s improperly framed will be better than nothing. You can even set up the shot as you hand off your camera, use autofocus, and show the framing that you want before jumping in front of the lens.<\/strong> So many people will hand their photo camera (or cell phone) off to a stranger at tourist destinations, asking someone to film a few seconds really isn\u2019t all that different.\u00a0\u00a0If you\u2019re at a playground with other moms and babies, another mom will be more than happy to help out and you can then return the favor.\u00a0\u00a0Play back the video, and if you don\u2019t like what you see, delete it and try again (as long as who ever filmed is willing, of course). Most of the adorable things that babies do won\u2019t look all that different a minute or two later.\u00a0\u00a0If the moment was an amazing, extra-special one-time occurrence, be sure to journal about it so that at least your little one will be able to read first hand about the event and your feelings about it when it happened.<\/p>\n

Get a tripod, mount, or stand<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re a stay-at-home mom who is typically alone with your little one and don\u2019t have anyone to hand the camera off to, purchase an affordable mount<\/a>, mini tripod<\/a>, or stand with a clip<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Keep it on-hand so that if you have a moment you want to capture, you can set the camera up to record and then get in the picture.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t worry so much about having extra footage before and after you get into the frame, you can always edit those few seconds out later. Another thing to keep in mind, when you feel that the moment has past and you think it\u2019s time to stop shooting, hold a few more seconds, something really magical may happen.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0This was a lesson I learned early on as a director, and even as a \u201chome video director,\u201d it still holds true.<\/p>\n

Hire a professional<\/h3>\n

Finally, you can hire a professional to film you and your family, much like you would hire a professional photographer.\u00a0\u00a0Many families understand the importance of doing a family photo shoot at least once a year to document their growth and changes, but your children\u2019s personalities can\u2019t always be captured in a single frame. Consider hiring a videographer to shoot behind-the-scenes of your photo shoot to capture the emotion between the shutter clicks.\u00a0\u00a0Or bring a videographer in to film a special event. Interviews can also be a part of the shoot that can incorporate older generations to create a true living family history that can be treasured for generations to come.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whatever option(s) you decide to go with, get out from behind the camera now and get in the picture as much as possible.\u00a0 Your kids will thank you for it.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"vbblogo\"<\/a>Francine Michelle<\/strong>\u00a0is the founder and CEO of Video Baby Books<\/a> (www.videobabybooks.com<\/a>), an innovative company that captures and documents little ones from the womb and beyond, in addition to educating parents on the importance of keeping track of milestones for more than just posterity.\u00a0\u00a0She is an award winning narrative and documentary filmmaker who, after the birth of her son, saw a significant need in the marketplace; she changed her focus to helping other parents preserve their relationships with their children for generations to come.\u00a0\u00a0Francine creates “video scrap books” editing together parent interviews with images of the family, the nursery, milestones and special events, as well as home movies and photos to help tell each baby\u2019s individually story to help inform them where they came from.\u00a0\u00a0Francine holds a BFA in Directing from the University of Michigan, is a Director Member of the Actor\u2019s Studio, and has taught Acting to kids and adults for more than a decade.<\/h5>\n

Affiliate link:<\/p>\n

Shop Amazon – New Products in Camera, Photo & Video Recently Announced at CES 2014<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m happy to include the following guest post by Francine Michelle.\u00a0Francine Michelle\u00a0is the founder and CEO of Video Baby Books (www.videobabybooks.com), an innovative company that captures and documents little ones from the womb and beyond, in addition to educating parents on the importance of keeping track of milestones for more than just posterity. She was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[906],"tags":[364,361,30,254,363,365,366,362],"class_list":["post-1494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-announcements","tag-baby-books","tag-francine-michelle","tag-photography","tag-springfest","tag-video","tag-video-baby-books","tag-video-scrap-books","tag-videography","eq-blocks"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p46LgQ-o6","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1342,"url":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/giveaway-springfest-swag-bag-items-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":1494,"position":0},"title":"GIVEAWAY – Springfest Swag Bag Items (#1)","author":"westsidemommy","date":"June 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I received a fantastic swag bag from the Club MomMe SpringFest event, and I'm giving away the contents to WestsideMommy.com readers! 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A few weeks ago, I gave away the first half of my Springfest Swag Bag\u00a0from the Club MomMe Springfest Event. The winner, Stacey V., sent me a photo of her adorable son, Teddy, enjoying the Mixie brand bottle and Angel Dear bear rattle: \u00a0 Now\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.westsidemommy.com\/site\/category\/news-announcements\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo provided by Stacey V. 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