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.
Kristen Chase is Motherhood Uncensored. No cow too sacred, no topic too controversial, Kristen tells it like it is. She's also the quintessential "mompreneur," co-founding two thriving online businesses, The Parent Bloggers Network and the shopping site Cool Mom Picks. She has two children, Quinlan, three, and Drew, eight months
Kristen's mom was an avid picture taker, and Kristen was her subject for many years. But, like many of us, it wasn't until she had kids that she took it up seriously herself. Her first camera was a "really cool" snapshot camera that her dad bought her for a trip to Switzerland with the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra that she now admits she liked solely on appearance. She now uses a high-end point-and-shoot digital camera: "I'm still learning all its features, and quite frankly, I'm not the greatest with it. It's a bit big and cumbersome for me, however, I find the more I play around with it and just keep it next to me at all times, the easier it is to use."
Whether you are an amateur or a professional photographer, a favorite picture is often about the moment as much as it is about the composition. I asked Kristen about her favorite shot that she took herself: "My favorite shot has to be the "honeymoon" shot with me and my daughter. I was just playing around and holding the camera back so basically it's a crap shoot as to what you're going to get in the frame, and I got some wonderful moments."
The magic of the moment must be why so many of us prefer candid photos of our children to posed shots. Kristen agrees: "I just don't think posed pictures are possible with kids. And every time I've tried, they just don't turn out so well. I learned from a good friend of mine who also happens to be a great (and professional) photographer that it's way better to catch kids doing what they're doing -- being kids! Plus, you won't drive yourself nuts trying to get them to sit still for you."
In fact, Kristen's photographer friend is the source of some of Kristen's very favorite moments captured on "film:" "My friend babysat my son and when I came home, she showed me all the amazing pics she had taken of him. Just my son, in a diaper, on our hardwood floor. They were fantastic and truly memorable."
Recently Kristen has featured some of her daughter's photography on her blog, so I asked her how she introduced Quinlan to the camera: "She introduced herself, actually. Isn't that the toddler way?. She loves the camera -- and what I find funny is that she still looks into the "view finder". Even in this digital age, she uses it like an "old" camera. Gotta love that!"
Every mom who participated in the Photographic Memories interview series was given two Photo Books for her own use. Kristen said she planned to use hers as "GIFTS! Well, I say that now, but I'll probably end up keeping them for myself. The older I get, and the more kids I have, I realize how important it is to have something for them to look at when they get older. Perhaps I'll put together something for them and then keep it until they graduate from high school."
Although she did say that she thought a Photo Book would make a great gift for her mother: "She's the kind of grandmother that brings pictures of her grandchildren everywhere she goes. And she has a lot of people over, so the books would definitely work well for her."
She also had some great thoughts on different types of photos you could put into a Photo Book: "It might be cool to do a birthday book and add birthday party pictures every year. Or keep track of family vacations. I think it's a great place for those special photos that might not be worth framing but are still beautiful."
Print or Share online?
"I share my pictures digitally, although I'm finding now that I want to be able to print them and send them to family. My mom has an extra slow computer and she still uses dial-up, so it takes her half a day just to open up pictures that I send."
Printable version
Kristen Chase is 
The magic of the moment must be why so many of us prefer candid photos of our children to posed shots. Kristen agrees: 
In fact, Kristen's photographer friend is the source of some of Kristen's very favorite moments captured on "film:"