How to Capture Celebrations in Pictures

Taking pictures of major family events preserves memories and cements relationships. It just doesn't work for one person to try to take all the pictures at a bustling family event.

One of the cleverest ideas I have seen is to buy a bunch of disposable cameras for the occasion and distribute them to the guest with instructions to shoot the good, the funny, the poignant, and the interesting and then leave the cameras in a designated spot for the hosts to retrieve and develop. Great pictures come from people who caught the youngest cousin sharing a lollipop with the matriarch of the family, or the preteen sister who caught her teen age brother sneaking a kiss with the girl friend who came with his cousin.

You can't be everyplace and perfect scenes do not wait for you to notice. Fleeting moments of poignancy or hilarity that begged to be preserved for the family album may only be noticed by one other person. That "one other" needs to have a camera in hand when the moment occurs.

When my brother and his beloved got married we did not know her family and of course they didn't know ours. A very low key, low budget wedding that suited their practical somewhat shy personalities did not have a photographer planned. There were some really savvy people with cameras in both families and of course many point and shoot types as well. The people with cameras brought them, with film of course, but there was a bowl full of disposable cameras on the reception table also. With the help of all the guests, there were many wonderful pictures that helped the bride fill her wedding album.

Sometimes the pictures are a touch out of focus or not what "I would have taken". That's okay; the pictures all have a story to tell. At my mothers seventy fifth birthday party the pictures ranged from artistic pictures of the kids in the swimming hole of the creek to campy, silly pictures of mom's three daughters showing how broad their rear views were. Mother loves them all. Included in the pictures is the last picture taken of Mothers youngest brother before he passed away, pictures of lifelong friends, all five of her children and an assortment of her grandchildren; a real treasure trove of memories.

An important thing to keep in mind when you purchase your cameras is where the event will be held. If indoors, the cameras need to have flash features and faster film. If the event will be outdoors the cameras need to be for outdoor use. The packages will tell you how fast the film is and whether the camera is intended for indoor or outdoor use.

On a recent vacation we took a professional quality SLR camera with several lenses, a point and shoot 35 millimeter pocket camera, and several disposable cameras with on/off flash features. We took pictures of everything that intrigued us and have pictures of wildlife, friends, family, landscapes, wild ocean-scapes, and vivid fall foliage. Some pictures are just breath taking, some are treasured memories but not art pieces, all are of sentimental value to us.

The cameras should all be left with the host or hostess to develop because if they leave the event with people they may get lost or never developed. Far better to sustain the cost of developing at least a ga-zillion pictures than to lose them forever. If there are lots of cameras and a significant cost will be incurred you can develop them two or three at a time instead of all at once. Just remember that the longer the time interval between the event and development the easier it is to forget to get it done. If there are people there that you barely know it is harder to identify them after the passage of time so it is better to get it done sooner rather than later.

If you plan a big family get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas it would be a good time to try out this idea. Be prepared for several pictures of the Turkey or the Christmas tree and many, many pictures of the newest baby in the family. Plan a follow up visit with separate family members to view pictures and allow people to ask for copies of ones that appeal to them. (I ask my family to help pay for the ones they want copies of because I am not independently wealthy.)