Everyday Photography: Finding Photos Hiding in Plain Sight

Everyday photography is about noticing the moments we usually walk right past. While we tend to pull out our cameras for vacations, birthdays, holidays and beautiful sunsets, ordinary life deserves to be captured, too. It’s often where memories are made.

As summer winds down and you settle back into familiar routines, it’s easy to think there isn’t as much to photograph. But look around. Since you love taking photos, you have a unique gift: you notice details!

Like morning coffee in your favorite mug, or your child curled up with a book. And what about dinner being made? Food photos, anyone? And don’t forget your dog! I have some wonderful shots of our sweet Kenzie, asleep in a patch of afternoon sunlight, or chasing a ball. Those photos are priceless. They bring her back to us!

None of these may seem particularly photo-worthy today. But someday, they just might be the photos that bring back the most memories.

So, here are three simple ways to start finding the photos hiding in plain sight.

Everyday Photography Starts when You Pause and Look Around

Sometimes the hardest things to notice are the things we see all the time. So, take a look around your home, your yard or your neighborhood. What tells the story of your life right now?

I’m always amazed by what grows out of woodchips on playgrounds after the rain. I discovered these two toadstools while walking in our neighborhood. Next thing I knew, I was squatting down on the woodchips to capture the photo. As photographers, we have a unique eye and notice things that most people walk past. Enjoy it!

It could be your gardening gloves sitting by the back door, tomatoes ripening on the kitchen counter, your grandchild’s shoes kicked off in the hallway or the flowers you pass every morning on your walk.

Now, don’t worry about whether something is important enough to photograph, because that’s not the point.

Instead, if it catches your eye, take the photo.

Photograph People Doing, Not Posing

Some of my favorite photos of people happen when they aren’t looking at the camera. Instead of asking someone to stop what they’re doing and smile, photograph them reading, cooking, gardening, working on a project or playing with the dog.

This photo makes me smile every time I look at it! It tells the story of soccer practice for preschoolers much better than any posed photo could! (By the way, her mother used to sit on the soccer ball and just watch when she was that age! I have photos to prove it!)

And don’t forget to watch for the expressions. Concentration, laughter, curiosity and even frustration can tell us far more about a moment than a perfect smile. That’s everyday photography at its best!

When I took this photo of my granddaughter, she was concentrating so hard that she didn’t even know I was there. It captures the moment so much better than if I had asked her to look at me and smile!

And here’s a tip: have your camera ready before you say anything. Often the best expression happens just before or just after the “official” photo.

But what if you’re asked to take a group photo? I always prep my camera and start shooting before I say that I’m ready. The photos of people joking and getting ready for the “important” photo are always more authentic than the actual planned image.

And I never tell people to “Say cheese!” Those photos look painful! Instead, capture them interacting with one another or laughing and smiling at the photographer! Talk to them to keep them engaged.

Step Back and Include the Surroundings in Your Everyday Photography

We’re often told to fill the frame, and that’s usually good photography advice. But sometimes the surroundings are part of the story. I love this photo of my husband throwing a ball for Kenzie in our front yard. I know exactly where they both were. And the green leaves on the trees tell me it’s summer.

So here’s how to proceed. First, take a close-up. Then step back and take another photo. Include the kitchen, the front porch, the garden, the messy desk or the favorite chair.

Years from now, you may be just as interested in seeing where the photo was taken, because those ordinary details have a funny way of becoming precious with time.

Now It’s Your Turn

Here’s an everyday photography challenge for you. For the next few days, don’t wait for something special to happen before you reach for your camera. Instead, pick up your camera and look for three ordinary moments. Stretch yourself.

You can start here: Photograph something that’s part of your everyday routine. Then, capture someone doing something instead of posing. And, finally, take one photo from farther away so you can see the surroundings.

That’s it. Then wait a day to look at the photos. You may be surprised by the story they tell!

You don’t have to travel somewhere beautiful or wait for a special occasion to find photographs worth taking.

And don’t just photograph the milestones. Photograph the life happening between them.

Do you use Instagram? Share your Everyday Photography challenge photos and tag me! I can’t wait to see them! I’m carolinemaryanphotography!

If you’re capturing your everyday photos on your iPhone, be sure to check out my new iPhone Photography Made Easy! It puts the fun into photography!

And what about your DSLR or Mirrorless camera? Camera Mechanics will have you excited about what you can create!

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