Kids grow up fast and you want to track that growth through pictures and video, but you also want to put a bit of a twist on it. How do you go about capturing all the sad times, all the happy times and all the laugh out loud funny times while doing it in a way that is more interesting than simply putting the pictures in a frame? What are some ways to make sure you are capturing those important moments in your child’s life?

Funny But Not Embarrassing

There is nothing more annoying for a child than having their parents constantly reminding them about the most embarrassing part of their young lives. With the number of devices out there that can capture any moment, it’s important that parents are aware the power that carries. You might find it funny to post the picture of little Jimmy with his pants falling down on your favorite social media site, but it can come back to bite you.

When kids are going out of their ways to act goofy, you should capture those moments, but make sure they know you are indeed capturing those moments. Don’t sneak up behind you little one and snap a candid. This will only make the kid more wary of letting you take photos of those really important times. You need to earn their trust. Even if they don’t thoroughly enjoy having their picture taken, your kids will tolerate it as long as they know you’re not going to use that trust against them.

Fun Posed Photos

The desire to have your family looking their best when you are looking back over your memories of your children is something that almost everyone feels. The key is to have these photos not look as though they are wooden and forced. Posed photos are always going to look posed, but that doesn’t mean you have the kids with their arms thrown over a chair looking at the camera. Get your kids and your other family members into a pose that looks like you’re having fun or doing something you enjoy doing.

Get an idea beforehand what you want your photos to look like; many online vendors these days, like the Picture People photo studio for instance, allow you to browse through galleries to help you get ideas.

Eventually, people will forget the picture was professionally done and the focus will be on the people in the photo.

Finding the Right Family-Friendly Site

In the 21^st century, more and more people are turning to social media in order to save up their memories once they’ve captured them. The problem is that sites like Facebook and Twitter aren’t all that great when it comes to posting pictures of your loved ones. These days, posting a picture of your kids playing dressup on some social media sites is just asking for ridicule, scorn or something worse.

There are a number of social media sites that have popped up over the last few years that are strictly dedicated to capturing those wonderful family moments. FamilyLeaf and FamilyWall are just two of the social media sharing sites that loving parents are starting to move towards in greater numbers. These sites are basically paired down versions of Facebook that offer enough features to help you collect and share all your familial moments.

Capture As Much As Possible

While you shouldn’t take a bunch of embarrassing photos of your kid or kids, you shouldn’t be afraid to be a “shutterbug.” When it is all said and done, you never know what moments are going to cause your heart to warm the most. The events in your childrens’ lives you think will be the most memorable one minute might be dwarfed by something else the very next day.

This is also where social media sites that offer unlimited picture storage come in handy. You don’t have to worry about having disk room for every single picture, upload them and make more room on your camera or mobile device. Then just keep on shooting all day and all night.