I have been struggling with the tension between wanting to record special moments with my family and staying present to enjoy the moment in real time. I'm afraid the answer to this is "you cant dummy just be with your kids" but I wanted to see how others cope with this tension. Do we need to bring back Google Glass from the tech graveyard?
Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
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Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#2During my childhood, my dad simply had a tripod and camcorder which he could set and forget. So aim for set and forget.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#3alternate. have your camera ready, but don't record obsessively. for special events like birthdays take a few pictures at critical moments, but don't dominate the event with the camera. in particular for me that means i don't ask people to pose, on the contrary, i hope they don't even notice me taking photos. if people react to the camera to much, i stop, because that's not what i want to record.
on the other hand, do also record the not special moments. let everyone get used to the camera. make it normal that you take photos and videos often. then doing so at the special events hopefully becomes less distracting.
in asia, taking photos at events is more common, so it is a more natural part of any event, and people are not bothered by it.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#4Audio recording with your phone. I covertly recorded bedtime story/conversations with my sons.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#5Just do your best.
Recording the moments can be a way of staying out of the way and making space for other people (but it can be a way of getting in the way too of course).
Anyway I think being present in ordinary moments is probably more important to your child. Your partner/spouse/etc can be another matter.
Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#6I used to use dedicated camera for photos and videos but after kids I have switched to phone cameras.
Initially, it was pain to use phone for photos or videos. Especially, the lag of unlocking phone, finding the right icon to click on and the waiting for the camera app to load.
But I record tons of boring moments, like kids eating, napping etc. It wasn’t deliberate practice, just something I enjoyed. I think this helped me get faster with phone camera. Now I am able to capture spontaneous moments pretty often. Also be able to capture them without looking at the phone.
But there is no way for me to be part of moments and also capture it myself. Usually, if I’m engaged with kids, then my wife captures the moment and vice versa.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#7I stopped recording events because it took me out of the moment.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#8We make videos that are exactly 10 seconds in length. Less than three or five at different moments during the day, whatever is happening.
It works for us.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#9Facebook RayBan glasses are nice. 1-tap to take pic -- the children look directly into the camera/aka your eyes. I have it setup so one pic goes into android photos, which auto-uploads to google-photos. Then at the end of the year I print a photobook. Photos are better than video in a way because you can't print videos.
Re: Ask HN: Parents, How do you record special moments and stay present?
#10Teach children that in life, there's no such thing called "special".
Treat every moment as normal, keep going on.