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:

Tania, Chicky Chicky Baby

Tania, known online as Mrs. Chicky, blogs about her life with daughter and dogs at Chicky Chicky Baby. A professional dog trainer, she also blogs occasionally about dog-related issues at Dog-Gone Blog and recently launched a collaborative blog called New England Mamas.

Tania dates her serious interest in photography to her junior year in college, when she took her first photography course: "Developing black and white film is much less complicated than color, so that's the medium we concentrated on. I love the look of black and white but I learned pretty quickly I'm better at color photography."

Her first camera was a basic point-and-shoot film camera that she got as a Christmas present when she was 14 years old. She recalls: "My poor family had more pictures taken of them that day than, I'm willing to bet, any other day of their life. After that, I borrowed my Dad's SLR. I don't remember the model but I remember feeling like a big shot when I used it."

Now she uses a digital SLR with an 18-200mm lens.

One of Tania's favorite moments on film is Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother": "Women photojournalists really interest me. A woman's perspective of life is so different from a man's and that particular photo, especially since I became a mother, really haunts me."

She also confesses to an obsession with the work of American photographer Annie Liebovitz, from her magazine covers to her less posed, candid work: "If it's by her, I'll stop and look at it."

Tania's favorite shot that she took was a close-up of her daughter when she was an infant: "She was constantly making this scrunched up face that made my husband and me laugh like crazy so, of course, she made the face constantly. One day I had the camera out and asked her to make the "ugly" face and to my surprise, she actually did!"

Tania absolutely believes that the best pictures of children are spontaneous: "I hate those posed, overly-coiffed pictures of little kids. They look so artificial. I'd rather have a picture of my daughter in the middle of a tantrum than a professional portrait."

In fact, Tania used such a picture for her Christmas card last year and reports that people still talk about it positively.

Tania is a professional dog trainer, so I asked her if she had any tips for getting good pictures of dogs. She suggests following them around with a camera for a few hours: "Before my daughter, my favorite subjects were dogs. I found if you get down on their level and just wait until they get comfortable you can get some great shots."

For a more posed look, she recommends plenty of treats and perhaps a squeaker, and advises holding the treat just slightly over the camera so the dog is looking in your general direction.

All the women who were interviewed for this series were given two HP Photo Books to try. Tania has already decided what to do with hers: "I think my Nana, my daughter's great grandmother, might be getting one for Christmas. I've never seen a person more thrilled to receive pictures than her. It's very gratifying to give such a nice, thoughtful gift that's so well received. The other one I am going to selfishly keep."

Print or Share online?
"Both, though I'm not so good at keeping up with printing pictures for my family as I should be. I upload all my pictures to Flickr so I can share them with friends and family and they have permission to print them from there on their own if they'd like. That way they don't have to wait for me."

Photos by Tania, Chicky Chicky Baby
Interview by Susan Getgood