Photographic Memories

HP Photo Books are perfect for sharing memories. In these interviews, mom bloggers share their thoughts on photography and the photos that captured the special moments of their lives.

To read an interview, select the woman's blog:

Christina, A Mommy Story

Christina tells A Mommy Story and what a story it is. From the antics of toddler Cordy and infant Mira to the stray kittens in the playhouse and life in the neighborhood, things are always hopping in her corner of the world. In her About Me section, she writes: "I still don't know how I ended up here." Well, however it happened, we're glad because we love our daily glimpses into her story.

Christina was about six or seven years old when she first wanted to take pictures of her own:
"My grandmother had an instant camera, and I loved it when she took pictures. I'd snatch the photographs away from her as fast as they popped out, fanning them to help make the image develop faster, and watching the colors gradually fade in. It was pure magic."

Her first camera was a 110 type camera and she clearly remembers that it was blue with a thin black wrist strap. Now, she uses a digital camera:
"I remember popping the old 110 film cartridges into the camera. It was so easy to load. I'd often have to wait weeks for my mom to get the film developed, but I loved seeing the results of my photography efforts."

Christina is one of the most down-to-earth women I have met in the blogosphere, which is why I wasn't terribly surprised that one of her favorite moments on "film" is a picture taken just an hour after her second daughter's birth:
"I'm still in the bed, holding my daughter, my husband is beside me, and my doula and nurse are also in the picture. All of the support people who made the birth possible were right there, sharing that moment with me."

Her favorite moment of all time, though, is a bit more formal. It's a picture from her wedding day. Taken from behind, she and her husband are walking towards the chapel, holding hands.

Christina, like most moms, takes lots of pictures of her children. One of her favorites is a close-up of her oldest daughter Cordy with sunglasses perched on her head, giving a big grin as she runs up to the camera:
"She's currently going through a phase where she likes to run right up to the camera whenever she sees it. Most of the photos aren't very good, since they're extreme close-ups. But this one turned out really well, and captured her happy spirit, as well as her beautiful curls. The photo radiates joy."

Another favorite is a candid of her younger daughter at six weeks old where it looks like she's winking and giving a thumbs up:
"It's one of the funniest photos I've ever taken, and I captured that moment by pure chance. I generally love candid photos because they allow true personality to show through."

Christina plans to use one of her HP Photo Books to compile a book of her oldest daughter's first year:
"I had all the pictures lined up to create a book two years ago, but never got around to it. I would like to do a photo book of the first year of each daughter's life and eventually have a photo book of each year for them - special occasions, fun outings, casual moments, etc."

As for the second book, she thought she might create a book with pictures of both girls as a gift for her mom, most likely a Christmas gift:
"It would be a book featuring pictures of my mom and myself with my daughters. Since I don't print a lot of the pictures I take, she has very few pictures of her granddaughters. A book would make it easy for her to show her friends."

See more of Christina's photos of Cordy and Mira at the Flickr group Photographic Memories

Print or Share online?
"I usually just share them digitally. For Christmas and Hanukkah, I'll print out a few and frame them to give as gifts for relatives, but otherwise I keep them on my computer. I don't have a good photo printer at the moment -- my current one is very old -- so I have to order prints online, which can be a hassle."

Photos by Christina, A Mommy Story
Interview by Susan Getgood