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.
At Second to the right and straight on till morning, Mandy Sicard blogs about her unschooling journey with daughters Violet and Olivia. Photos of and by the girls feature prominently on the blog, and Mandy has even helped both girls start their own blogs.
Mandy got really into photography about eight years ago when her older daughter was born. She told me "I decided I wanted to become a better photographer so I could capture those special moments with my children."
Her first camera was a compact point-and-shoot 35mm film camera. A year ago, she got a digital SLR camera. She's also taken digital photography classes to improve her technique: "I'm continuously trying to learn more about photography. My biggest challenge right now is making sure I have all the settings on my camera set properly to make the lighting look right. So I practice and use Flickr a lot!"
Every photographer has a favorite shot, even if it is just the shot of the moment. Mandy told me about a two of her favorites: "One of my very favorites is a picture of my girls in a poppy field in Corona, California. It was a beautiful day and the field was completely filled with poppies. Another more recent favorite was taken this spring. Our homeschool group was having a party at the home of one of my friends. She has a beautiful garden so I told the kids to bring cute outfits for a photo session. I got a great picture of my youngest looking studiously at some flowers."
Whether they are professionals or talented amateurs, moms take pictures of their kids. I asked Mandy what makes the best photos of her daughters: "When you capture them in their natural mode. Sitting reading a book or playing. I also prefer natural outdoor photos. I find that my posed pictures never come out as well as when I just capture them doing something. I've also noticed that even professional portrait photographers are moving away from staged, posed photos and trying to capture people more naturally."
Mandy is still deciding what to do with her new HP Photo Books: "I'll probably put together some of my favorite pictures of the girls. Perhaps keep one and give the other to their grandmother as a gift."
She thought a Photo Book would make a good gift for family members that live far away. In her case, she has family in England, some of whom do not have Internet access, so a Photo Book would be a great way for them to keep up with her daughters.
She also had some great suggestions for ways to use the Photo Books: "I can definitely see myself using them for special occasions and holidays. Perhaps an annual photo to show her growth for each girl, and maybe a Christmas book to keep all the photos taken at Thanksgiving and Christmas each year. It would make a great family tradition to go through them every year and see the changes from the previous year."
I knew Mandy's daughters were into photography because they had both entered a photo contest for kids that I co-sponsored with some fellow bloggers over the summer. The youngest, Olivia, got an Honorable Mention in her age group. I asked Mandy how the girls got started: "Violet was in 4H last year and they had a photography group. She started with a cheapy drugstore digital camera, but it took pretty icky pictures so I quickly upgraded her to a better point-and-shoot camera. When we did the Picture This contest, she let her little sister use her camera to enter."
Print or Share online?
"I share digitally a lot, including on my blog. When I print I usually use Snapfish or Costco. I plan to get a new printer soon."
Printable version
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Every photographer has a favorite shot, even if it is just the shot of the moment. Mandy told me about a two of her favorites: 
Whether they are professionals or talented amateurs, moms take pictures of their kids. I asked Mandy what makes the best photos of her daughters: