If you’re anything like me, you probably take a lot of pictures of your children. Because they are so heart-meltingly cute, and they always look amazing. Even if they haven’t had a bath for 3 days, or just woken up, or are covered in mud/sand/food.

And so you have a zillion of snapshots of your children doing all sorts of fun things – you kids in the park, on a playground, digging in the sand or splashing in the sea, sleeping and playing with their toys. Sometimes there’s your partner in the pictures, too. But more often then not, it’s just the kids.

But something is missing in those photos. It’s you.

And there’s always an excuse. You don’t feel pretty, you haven’t put your “face” on yet, you need to lose a few pounds before you can get in the photos – the list goes on.

But think about it for a second. You take so many photos of your kids because you love them so much, and want to preserve every moment. You love them just the way they are. Right?

Well, your kids love you just the way you are, too.

They don’t see the wrinkles, the mummy tummy, the double chins you think you have.

They see their mum, the person they love more than anyone else in the whole world.

Now fast forward 20 years and your kids are now adults. Or 60 years, and you’re no longer there.

What will they see when looking through the family photo album?

Do you think they’d like to see their mum or dad playing with them, helping them get dressed, walking with them, adventuring with them? Do you think they’d want to have a visual record of their childhood with you in it – so they could remember and relive it all?

Of course they would – more than anything else in the world!

Twenty years from now, do you think they’d care about what your hair looked like that day, or those extra pounds?

Of course they won’t! They’ll see their mother as a young woman, being there for them. And what a precious memory that will be!

So. Exist in your family photos. Don’t hide behind your camera or a smartphone. Get in those photos! Here’s how.

Take a Quick Selfie

Selfies are probably the easiest (and the simplest) way you can ensure you exist in your own family photos. Here are some tips to make the best of you + your kiddos selfie:

• don’t overdo them (older kids can quickly get bored and start pulling faces) and do them quickly;
• find the best angle – you can only discover what’s best through trial and error!
• take lots of pictures and choose the best one afterwards; many smartphones now have a “burst” mode, where you hold the button to take a series of photos in quick succession;
• hold your phone horizontally so you can also include some of the background to give context to the photograph;
• administer tickles to get natural expressions (in this picture my son started off pulling faces, but a quick tickle got me a lovely natural smile).

Ask Someone to Take a Picture of You

Even if your partner can’t take a good picture to save his life (I’m describing my husband here, okay?), please still ask them to take that snapshot every now and again.

This is probably the only decent image of myself with my son during our holiday on Menorca that my husband took, and I can see a million things wrong with it (the lines not as straight as I’d like them, a slightly wrong perspective – and so on and so on) – it’s still a photograph that I’ll treasure ever more as each year goes by, and I’ll notice less flaws with time, too. I described exactly how it feels to have than imperfect picture of yourself and look at it after a few years went by here, it’s well worth a read! 

Use a Tripod

I’ll be honest, I haven’t quite mastered the self-portrait using the tripod and remote trigger. I even purchased a wonderful course, Self-Portraits of Motherhood, but found tripod + remote trigger method is more suited for the time when you have a baby that is more predictable and can be easily entertained and contained in one spot (and not as aware of the clicking of the camera). Still, I have tried it and got a handful of great photographs out of it, like the one below, so it’s definitely a great way to go!

You don’t even have to buy any additional equipment! You can simply position your camera on a table (and use stacks of books to get to the desired hight), and download a remote trigger app for your phone! For smartphones, it’s worth purchasing something like a Gorillapod to make it easier to position your smartphone anywhere you go.

Photograph Your Shadow

Be creative! I always say a portrait doesn’t always have to include a face – and the easiest way to include yourself (or the whole family!) in some of the pictures, without worrying about your looks, is by photographing your shadows! It’s a fun thing to do every now and again and include in a family album – just make sure it’s not the only thing you do!

Include Faceless Details

Using your shadow just one creative way to include yourself in your family photos. Another one is including other faceless details, like your feet, hands, your belly, and so on. Again, these pictures make a great addition to a family album, but make sure these are not the only pictures you take!

Hire a Photographer

Duh! You knew I was going to end on this one, right?

Taking the photographs yourself is great and can give you a record of your everyday life and all of your family adventures, but the trouble with it is that you’re always being conscious of the photo being taken (because you’re either taking it, or asking someone to take it), and are never fully engaged with your child when you’re doing it yourself. Trust me me, I know!

When hiring a professional photographer you offload the responsibility for picture-taking onto someone who does this for a living – and is pretty damn good at it too, and you can just relax and be 100% present with your family. Hey, even us photographers have to hire other photographers to take pictures of us!

Photo credit: Dasha Caffrey 

In short, there’s absolutely no excuse for not existing in your family’s photos – I’ve just given you 4 ways you can do it yourself, and 2 ways to get someone else to do it!

Have you found this blog post useful? Let me know in the comments!