How to Photograph Your Life (on film)

My best tips for knowing when to grab your camera and how to use it to take beautiful, meaningful photos

A few months ago I decided to organize all of my old personal photos on my computer and finally get around to designing albums. Going through all the pictures, revisiting so many memories, I was reminded just how incredible it is to make the effort to take photos of your life. That investment… it’s fun in the moment. But man, after so many years, it starts to take on a new feeling. A lot of what I feel when I look through my family photos is gratitude.

Being reminded of how much a gift it is to have pictures, I felt compelled to write today’s piece on my best tips for photographing your every day life (and kids!). Doing it on film can seem intimidating at first, but really it is so much easier than you think. It’s the perfect way to approach photographing your life because of the presence that shooting on film facilitates.

Shot this on a Contax T3 with portra 400 film (auto mode, no flash). The secret to great reflection shots is that there needs to be some light coming directly onto your face (from the front or the side) and more shade on the window. The brighter your face and the more shaded the window, the more visible your reflection will be.