Photography is magical.
My first delve into photographic magic was in my father’s at-home dark room. With some interesting equipment and chemicals on a blank page a photo would slowly appear. These photos contained their own magic as they could freeze time. With these photos I could witness aspects of my childhood I was too young to remember, and I could be introduced to family I would never get to meet in person. And now, as a grandmother, I appreciate this magic even more. Now that time seems to have sped up I can take photos of my family and freeze those beautiful moments, capture those tiny features that change so quickly and store memories for them to cherish as they grow older.
Inspiring some stories
Photography is a creative outlet for me, one nature walk in a local park inspired a whole children’s story. I found a little rubber duck and proceeded to place this duck into the photos which, once home, I created into a cute little story about a little lost duck. My photography has also inspired an upcoming poetry book and a storybook featuring my grandchildren in my photo studio. Recently I helped put together a surprise for a young man's birthday. I took pictures to capture the memories and then created a special memory book for him.
As a family you can make a memory book too:
Gather photos or postcards from an event, holiday or something special
Put those pictures in chronological order to best show how it all unfolded
Get each family member to share a memory of the day
Attach the pictures to paper and record the memories under the appropriate pictures (or use an album that has space to write)
Compile the story into a binder or folder and you have a family memory book.
Struggling with what to write about? Here are some writing prompts from TravelSmart Woman that can spur those memories into story form!
This is just one way your family can work together to create a book.
Book recommendation:
In the Empty Rocking Chair, the main character struggles with the death of a grandparent and looks for ideas to have something to hold on to as a memory.
This book is available from the Quite a Character bookstore or from Amazon.