Picture This

Why do you take a picture? What do you take it of? How often do you take pictures?

Have you ever looked back on photos from when you were a kid? Everything is so candid, and everyone looks so happy. The pictures from back then were never perfect because Mom took it on her film camera and you only got one shot, but the imperfections were so true to character of the person being photographed. There is probably a box lying somewhere in your house full of old developed pictures and an abundance of stories.

Today, it's part of our society to take a picture of everything we see—something cool, funny, something that reminds us of someone, a picture of that one girl with the outrageous outfit on the bus, of our morning coffee, of that building on our way to class because the sun is hitting it just right. Then we Snapchat it, tweet it, Instagram it, or text it to family or friends. We have a camera attached to our hip all the time—it is hard not to take pictures of everything.

At special events—dances, parties, concerts, sporting events, holidays, you name it—there is bound to be a photoshoot. You end up with 20 different versions of the same posed photo in your camera roll, and you are still are not satisfied. Don’t get me wrong, I am just as guilty as the next person. "We do it for the 'gram," I've headed it more times than I can count. But here is the thing, Instagram is simply a series of people's highlights. It's not the reality of people's lives because in between the good moments, guess what? Life happens—the good, the bad, the ugly. So while we are in the good times, why don’t we experience them through our own lenses, our own eyes. We can get so caught up in capturing a moment that we don’t even experience it. And, as a result, the photos that we have to remember the moment are a false representation—not the same as our candid, happy childhood pictures that we only had one chance at.

I am not saying "please refrain from taking pictures while life is going on," like some robot before a show starts, but simply, don’t let a good moment pass because you're too busy trying to save it for later. Leftovers are never as good.