DailyDocNov2012

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Nov 7 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: In case any of you think I work hard (Elmo + snuggling + reading)

What you can take from this:

The photo was taken from my phone and posted to Instagram with a short caption. Those captions and photos are one of my favorite ways to capture documentation quickly in the moment. I also post to my Flickr account for easy access: Flickr automatically adds your caption as the photo title. Love tools that make things easier.
This is a bad photo. This is a theme with me, but I don't care. It captures the moment well (cat nearby, Jonas's head, a million blankets on the couch, the book I finished today, what we were watching on TV, messiness and toys in the background). And it gets in the feeling of what Jonas's and my mornings have been like lately: lazy, lazy, lazy. Part of getting in the habit of documenting is getting better at writing and better at photography through practice, but the most important part is the life documenting. I keep that in mind and put it first.
When writing captions, I try to get a little clever sometimes, because I know my Instagram friends will be reading it. Writing changes to your specific audience; in Instagram's case, the purpose of the writing might be to document, but it also might be to entertain.
I also love the trick of putting words in parenthesis with plus signs. Those three words say what I'd normally say in a giant paragraph.

This is my unplanned documentation for the day. This workshop is about documenting what matters to you, so I'm documenting what inspires me. If you get stuck, try documenting something from the Daily Doc | Nov 2012 handout. It has 30 prompts to use if you get stuck documenting. I'm tackling all the prompts month AND doing unplanned daily documentation.

Nov 7 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: On Your Television
Photo:

Words: We watched election news on CBS pretty much all day. Eliza loved learning about the map and the electoral collage; Jonas was excited about the extra snuggling, and I equate election day with the Super Bowl. Jake had to work on a side project, but he popped in as he could during breaks to watch too. One of the highlights of the night was watching the acceptance speech of Senator Clair McCaskill, whom I canvassed for.

Here's what you can take from this:

I usually stay far away from the flash on my camera: it generally makes the subject of your photo look horrible. That said, taking photos of my television gave me a weird greenish color. I used flash, and all was fixed! A lot of photography is trial and error.
I'll probably include some statistics in my documentation, as well as some election highlights. Remember, your life documentation isn't just family history, it's HISTORY as well. I would love to know more about past elections from my grandparents elections and the issues from the perspective of my ancestors.
Pick a time frame for the prompts. When I wrote the prompt, I thought I'd write about what we'd been watching as a family lately. But election day, the TV was on for more hours than it usually is in a week's time, and that warrants some documentation.

This is my documentation from the Daily Doc | Nov 2012 handout. It has 30 prompts to use if you get stuck documenting. I'm tackling all of these this month AND doing unplanned daily documentation. I printed out the prompts (pages 2-4 of the handout) and I'm highlighting them to cross them off as I go. I'm not doing them in order; I'm using them as they make sense for me.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Nov 6 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Hello, election 2012. As soon as we got Eliza on the bus, Jake and I drove over to our poll. Jonas came too. Luckily, the line for A-G last names was super short, so we got right in. Jake did a paper ballot, and I did an electoral ballot with Jonas on my hip. He was very happy to help and really enjoyed pushing the touch screen with me. I'm so thankful he was good: not a peep from him (other than to point out the pretty flowers on the carpet). Jonas got an "I Voted" sticker, too.

What you can take from this:

Documentation isn't only about photos and words. I'll be using a lot of memorabilia, such as our "I Voted" sticker, and bumper stickers, to document the election.
I've got more words to include, on who Jake and I voted for and why, but this isn't the place for it. Don't avoid sharing what you think just because you don't want it on the Internet: try hidden journaling for private thoughts or blur out words in your photos of your work that you'd like to put online.
Don't forget to document locations as well as people! Setting photos really help you get a bigger picture.

Nov 6 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: Something relaxing
Photo:

Words: My favorite thing to do to relax is take a nice, long, steaming hot bubble bath accompanied by a good book and a eucalyptus spearmint candle.

Here's what you can take from this:

Funny tip: make sure to pay attention to reflective surfaces when you take photos. The better photos I took were of my toes in the bubbles, but you could see a little bit of naked Megan in the reflective surface of the silver cover thing. Look out for that stuff before you post to the internet, our you could become viral like the poor guy trying to sell a toaster on eBay.
When editing photos, I almost always have Photoshop autocorrect the tone (on macs: shift + command + L) and color (on macs: shift + command + B) of the photo. For this photo, the yellowish color of the tungsten lighting added to the warm, cosy mood of the photo, so I skipped the color editing. There's really no "right" way to edit a photo: do what looks good to you and captures the mood you are going for.
If you don't know how to approach a writing subject, start with a very straightforward answer to a question. The prompt question was, "What do you do to relax?" I answered by repeating the question in the beginning of the sentence, "My favorite thing to do to relax is..." This is a really simple way to get the words flowing.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Nov 5 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Jake's going to be working on a side coding job this week, so he's staying later at the office to get it done more efficiently. The kids start to get a bit rowdy around the time he usually gets home, and that also happens to be the time that I suddenly get super tired and irritable. The solution to get the pre-dinner sillies out?

Dancing.

I love how crazy into it they get: it gives them the exercise that they'd get if we went outside (it was really cold today) and improves everyone's mood. They alternated between running around, sort of break dancing, holding hands ballroom dancing, spinning in ballerina circles, and cool kid head bobbing. I love that they love to dance.

What you can take from this:

Most "events" I don't just take one photo. Sometimes one jumps out as a keeper, but other times it takes more photos to get the whole story. I do this most when I'm trying to make sure photos of a lot of people are included, but it's also good for capturing movement, like dancing, that I might not be able to capture in one frame.
Making 4x6 photo collages for my Project Life is my favorite go-to: this is how I do it in Photoshop.
Consider not just recording the event behind the photos, but why it's happening. For example, maybe you went out for ice cream and got all of those cute ice cream parlor photos because you needed a little lift after a stressful day. Recording how you turn things around can also be a great reminder to yourself when you're stressed.

Nov 5 Documentation | Handout

Prompt: An animal
Photo:

Snuggled up to me like a teddy bear. #catstagram #charcoal

Words: Charcoal is the most awesome, most snuggly cat on the planet. Not only does he follow me around all day and pine at the door when I'm gone, but he's perfectly willing to take on the role of teddy bear if I'll let him.

In this instance, I was reading before bed and he burrowed his way in between my arms, curled up, and laid his big 'ole loudly purring head on my stomach. He stayed that way even after I feel asleep, happy to be a teddy bear for one night instead of banished to the bottom of the bed, as is usual.

Here's what you can take from this:

Capturing cute unexpected moments like this one is always possible if you lug your camera phone around with you everywhere. I was able to take a photo of my snuggling cat without moving to disturb him because my phone was within reach on my nightstand.
If you can't get a good camera angle, try holding your camera away from you and taking the shot blindly. If you practice at this, you'll get really good at taking a photo even when you aren't looking through the lens. I usually have to try about five times before I get a good shot this way, but my husband Jake gets it perfect on the first try almost every time.
If you don't know where to start when writing based on a picture, try starting with your general feelings about the subject of the photo, then narrow down to the specific instance the photo was taken.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Nov 4 Documentation | Unplanned

Photo:

Words: Today Poppy came over. Jake and I were talking to him, and all of a sudden there was a loud chorus of "Cheeeeeeese!" from the kids. I assumed Jake was posed to take a picture of them with his camera phone, but then I realized there was no camera out anywhere. They were not prompted; they were asking to get their photos taken. Shutterbugs like Jake and I couldn't ask for more. Of couse, we obliged.

What you can take from this:

I like photos with big, cheesy grins just as much as candids that show how someone looks when they're engrossed in something. Try to find the balance of posed vs. candid that works for you.
It might seem weird to document how you document, but if you're in this workshop, life documenting is a part of your everyday. How does that impact your life? It's definitely impacted my kids' lives: they think that having paparazzi parents is totally normal.
If I weren't doing this workshop, this honestly is a photo I'd probably print out without any corresponding journaling. I love that documenting this way is getting me to document more with words, but if you have a day where you think just the words or just the photo covers everything, then that's good too.