Photos vs. Video for Documenting & Tracking Baby's Progress

Despite the fact that we all carry pretty high quality video cameras with us at all times, parents still seem to rely on photos for the majority of their documentation of their little ones.  Sure they'll capture a bunch of videos here and there, but when it comes to either hiring a professional or putting it all together to create a time capsule of sorts, they usually turn to photographers and or create scapbooks.  Perhaps this is the case because it's easier to create a photo book than it is to edit a video together, especially with all of the online companies that have such cute templates, or maybe parents are just so used to newborn and maternity photo shoots that they don't think about professional video in the same way.

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of sponsoring the Biggest Baby Shower Los Angeles with Big City Moms.  I set up a table like all of the other vendors, and even had a video looping some of the Video Baby Books I've shot.  I also spread out some of the photobooks I have created for my little guy, including the guestbook we had for his first birthday party, a hybrid first year baby book and guestbook for our friends and relatives that attended the party.  Despite the fact that people enjoyed watching the videos, many still seemed more interested in having me help them to create their photo scrap books.  I proceeded to ask them if they are capturing their own videos, which they are, but they still didn't seem to get why creating a video montage ultimately will be so much more powerful of a memory for themselves, and eventually their little one.

My hairdresser reaffirmed my point of view the other day when she told me that her most prized possession is a video she has of herself with her parents at nine months old.  Sure a photo from that same time period could be a great memory and could have captured some special moments, but it would lack the audio that can further communicate feelings and emotions. In addition, a lot of photos are posed, and therefore lack some reality behind the interactions.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love looking at professional newborn photos. I wish that we had done a shoot ourselves.  However, I would love even more seeing a new mom watching her little one be posed in all of the cute positions and set up with props and wardrobe options.  I would empathize with her doing her best to comfort and nurse her baby back to a sleepy state in between clicks of the camera in order to get the timeless shots she so desires.

The newborn cry that seemed to be so ingrained in my head during the early days with my little guy really does fade away.  It's only through watching the videos I took during that early time that I can truly remember not only his sound, but how that sound made me feel as a new mom doing everything I could every time I heard it. I definitely "ooo" and "aww" over photos from those early days, but hearing my voice in the videos really brings me back to that sleep deprived time when I was just getting to know my son.

There is no contest when it comes to video over photos of most milestones.  I do tell parents that they shouldn't be so concerned with capturing every first, as the second, third, and even fourth time baby does something it will look pretty similar.  We have very early footage of my son sleeping and making some very funny faces. I am so glad we thought to film it.  Early video footage of my son learning to roll over not only captures his progress, but the pride and joy in my voice as I watch him get closer and closer to accomplishing it. Hearing my son belly laugh for the first time has to be one of my most favorite sounds in the whole world.  Sure I could have taken a picture when this event happened, but my reaction to him will be something he will treasure as well.  His wobble legs slowly taking one step and then another without holding on to anything could never be duplicated in a single still frame. A slide show of photos tracking development is fun to watch, but the one year montage I created for my son of his first year of life really shows all of the little developments as they occur and how we, his parents, grew more proud with each one he accomplished.

Perhaps I'm just a biased filmmaker that I tend to prefer video over photography. But I truly do believe that when my son grows up, he will treasure the time capsules I have made for him in his Video Baby Book.

Milestones...Pesky Milestones!

As I struggle to get my toddler to sleep over an hour past his bedtime (partly my fault), I think back to how just one week ago he finally slept through the night for the very first time...only to torment me the following night by waking up twice, the second time not going back to sleep for over two hours.  It got me to thinking about how certain milestones are really misleading.  What I mean is that for some milestones, once they're reached, there is no going back.  For others, however, wavering is more likely than not, and that's what makes them so frustrating.  I know I cannot be the only parent that is up late searching Google just to make sure that I'm not doing something wrong as a parent.

Obviously, once baby can hold his head up, it's not like he'll go back to being all "floppy." That milestone is pretty easy to identify and definitely deserves some celebration. Once your little on rolls over, typically they want to do it over and over again.  It may take a day or two before they really get the hang of it, but it's not something they flat out refuse to do after doing it once.  The same goes for crawling, once your baby realizes they can get their toy on their own, they're gonna do it instead of waiting for you.  Some kids start crawling later than others, but again, once they start they typically do not stop.

However, I've heard many parents mention that they're child will take a few steps, then choose to go back to crawling because they're just better at it (and less prone to bruises).  Walking isn't a line that is crossed, never to be retreated from again.  My son didn't actually crawl all that long and I honestly think he wanted to skip it all together. He did eventually start crawling around eight months, but just two and a half months later he was walking and never looked back.  So for us, this was a milestone that had some finality to it.

Eating solids really shouldn't be considered a milestone, especially for those kids who are born prematurely, due to gut maturity and actual gestational age.  I read that "food before one was just for fun," and tried to let that be my mantra as my kid spit out countless homemade purees after hitting the six month mark.   It finally changed when I allowed him to play with the puffs that melt in the mouth. He eventually chose to put them in his mouth and still loves them to this day.   Of course not getting any teeth until fifteen months made eating certain foods more difficult.  And it did cause quite a bit of frustration when he didn't want to eat purees anymore but couldn't really chew either.  Thankfully this isn't an issue anymore.

Sleeping through a night, the milestone I hate the most right now. It's really unfortunate that some parents use this milestone as a barometer for how good of a parent they are.  I've read countless articles on sleep training and night nursing and night weaning and co-sleeping and everything in between.  My little guy just likes waking up for a snack, sometimes it's a few hours after going to sleep, sometimes it's just a few hours before his final wake up.  I guess I can't blame him. It's probably pretty comforting and if I knew of a fail safe way to fall back asleep after waking up for no reason at all, I probably wouldn't hesitate to ask for it, again and again and again...

The next milestone to "achieve" will be potty training, or rather toilet educating.  Just like the sleeping through the night regression, my son really liked his little potty the first day we brought it home.  He actually went on it, twice.  Fast forward to two weeks later and he'll flat out deny when he is going to avoid me asking if he wants to sit on the potty.  As I recently learned, this milestone will be a lot easier if I just let him take the lead.  After all, it's not like I had to "teach" him to hold his head up, that one he figured out all by himself. The same probably goes for most milestones honestly: the more we try to force our kids to reach a supposed mile marker to make ourselves feel better that we're good parents, the more we'll feel badly for them missing the mark and will make our kids feel badly as well.  It is important to make sure that are kids are moving forward and developing, but reaching certain goals by a strict deadline can't be what it's all about. Sleep is over rated anyway, right?

Dedicated To All the Pregnant Mommies Out There...

aka "I Wish I Knew Then What I Know Now"

With recently finding out a couple people in my life are expecting, it got me thinking that I should do a post dedicated to that amazing time that sometimes doesn't feel all that amazing. Don't worry, this isn't going to be a post about telling you to "get sleep while you can" or "enjoy your down time" or even "you think you're busy now..."  It's more about taking the time to really track what's going on with you physically and emotionally because it is such an important part of the process of bringing a new life into this world.  You may want to go back to your notes during subsequent pregnancies to remind yourself when certain changes occurred or maybe how long your nausea lasted. Or you may have friends or family who get pregnant after you who will want to compare notes.  Either way, you'll want to keep track because in those LONG nine months, believe it or not, every week, sometimes every day, is different.

First and foremost: those dreaded weekly profile pictures.  You may not feel like you're showing much in the beginning, but it will be nice to be able to track the changes when looking back. Take profile photos in the same location every time and try to wear something similar.  If there is something in the frame that can give you perspective of your bump size, that would be ideal.  I unfortunately only had "selfies," and they were taken all over the place. I didn't even take them every week, despite my sister telling me I would regret it if I didn't.  In subsequent pregnancies you will show sooner, so it would be nice to be able to have a record to compare to. Your little one will enjoy getting see themselves growing inside your belly years down the road.

As soon as you feel ready, do some journal entries about your feelings.  I know that sometimes it's hard to get excited about a pregnancy early on, especially if you're like me and miscarried before.  But even without getting excited, you can take note of how you are feeling about what is going on inside your body. Even writing about being scared can be good. Acknowledging your fears and doubt will help you deal with those feelings better. Stress and anxiety are worse if kept bottled up inside.  As you get further along and do start to get excited about your child coming into the world, start writing notes to him or her. Let your child know how you felt about them even before you've met. It will be a wonderful gift to share years down the road.

Another kind of journal entries to do are the ones tracking your symptoms.  Some days I would have the strangest feelings and would immediately go to the internet to check whether it was normal or not. Of course there really is no "normal" in pregnancy, everyone is different and every pregnancy is different even for the same person.  But looking back, I do wish I tracked when those things happened.  I remember I went through a week or two where my belly button was so sore.  I don't know when that was, maybe the second trimester? Early on, again not sure when, I had such pain in my abs, it was like I did two hundred crunches, but yet I hadn't been to the gym in at least a month. If I do go through pregnancy again, I wish I had written down when those different changes had occurred.  In addition, track when you start feeling kicks, when you are able to feel and see kicks from the outside, when your little one gets the hiccups and how often. Believe it or not, those memories do start to fade pretty quickly once your baby arrives.

Whether you have regular ultrasounds or just get to hear the heartbeat every so often, get video footage of it.  If it's an ultrasound and you have someone at the appointment with you, film the ultrasound with one camera phone, and get your reaction to it with another camera phone. You can always synch and edit them together later. Footage of you hearing your little one's heartbeat for the first time is priceless and you don't want to miss it.

And finally, if you have the budget for it or find someone looking to build their portfolio and will give you a good deal, get maternity photos taken. Do some searching on the internet for some ideas of poses and locations you like so you can present them to your photographer.  I wasn't really feeling up to doing a photo shoot the day we did ours, but I am so glad that we got those shots.  There are a set of pictures that he took candidly when my son was kicking and our reactions are full of such joy.

I know that some days the morning sickness and lethargy seem unbearable and you feel like you could never go through this again, but let me tell you, although you don't forget the horrible feelings of pregnancy after you go through it, you do realize how totally worth it it is and you are so willing to deal with it again for the amazing reward you get for going through it.

Time Capsule Events

I started doing Time Capsule Events in my local area as an opportunity to educate mommies and mommies-to-be on the importance of documenting their little ones from the womb and beyond.  I am extremely passionate about this topic, as I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the ramifications of my house catching on fire while I was in the hospital having my son.  I was all out of sorts having to spend my first night out of the hospital in a hotel, and that was in addition to the typical stress of being a new parent.  I was uprooted from my home for a total of five months, and lived in a construction zone for the following three.

As a professional filmmaker, I am pretty devastated that I was unable to capture any of my son's early moments with my professional gear, but what is even more disappointing is that I didn't do more with the tools I did have at my disposal throughout our various temporary housing situations.  And it's because of these reasons I like to help parents feel more confident in capturing their little ones as well as give them a small gift for attending my event, hoping to inspire them to continue to do even more on their own.

During our time together at the event, I spend the first part discussing why it's so important to capture milestones and which milestones are important to capture. I talk about the benefits of having my own baby book as a reference to use with my son and his development.  In addition, I talk about how my son will benefit in the future from the documenting I am currently doing.  I spend the next part of our time discussing tips and tricks for filming and documenting their little ones. I talk about many of the things discussed in my earlier blog posts, as well as help them with issues they may currently have with the tools that they are using.

The final part of the event consists of my attendees writing a letter to their children for a special event in the future. I then film the attendees reading this letter to their child and get some great shots of them interacting with their baby.  I also get some footage of the letter itself in order to capture the emotion that can only be expressed in one's handwriting.  Within the week following the event, I edit it together with some photos that they provide me to create a mini time capsule.

If you currently are in the Los Angeles area and are interested in attending one of my events or hosting one, please contact me.  If you are not local, you can check out my next blog post on how you can host your own time capsule event in your town.

Editing tips...Part II

As promised, here are some more technical tips for editing.  First off, if you're gotten as far as pulling all your clips and putting them into a cohesive story, congratulations! It's a big deal to even make it this far.  If you want to make your videos look even more professional, read on...

So your clips are either in chronological order or grouped together by types of milestones, now it's time to tweak the video it and make it look even better.  In my last post about editing, I recommended not using clips more than 20 seconds long, so you may have some clips of the same event right next to each other and it feels kind of jumpy going from one shot to the next.  Putting in a transition, like a cross dissolve, may help. But if you're cutting from one perspective to just a bit of time later from the same perspective, then your clips will still look a bit jumpy, even with a cross dissolve.  If you can cut away from the same perspective, even if the true passage of time is altered, it will look better to a viewer.  For example, you can cut away from the front perspective to the side perspective, and then back to the front perspective again.   In my filming tips I recommended shooting events from different distances and from different angles and the camera movement could be edited out.

Hopefully you have the option of cutting to shots from different perspectives.  Now it's important to make the cut on an action.  If you look at some of my sample videos, you'll gain a better understanding of what I mean. In my Video Baby Books Sampler at 1:22 you'll see I cut when his hand was hitting the table from the front perspective to the side perspective, so it almost looks like I shot this with two different cameras at the same time.  It was two different shots, but when cut it together on the action, it looks seamless.  Another example is in the First Haircut Video, at 1:23 I cut with the "cut" of her scissors from a wide shot to a tight shot. Because I edited from a wide shot to a tight shot, it's hard to tell that they were shot at a different time, continuity isn't an issue.

Another thing you want to take into account is the use of music and cutting on the beats of the music.  Sometimes you'll have a great edit that cuts on the action, but once you put a soundtrack to the video, it just doesn't feel as nice.  The music should enhance your story, not detract from it. When you're doing a montage with all different clips, it's easier to edit your clips to the music.  Just make sure that you have the best part of the clip still in the edit after you've tweaked your cuts to the music.  You may have to start the clips a bit earlier or a bit later.

In terms of putting clips together, you want to feel like your story is moving forwards.  You don't want to have too many similar clips one after another.  I have the benefit of being able to shoot in true slow motion HD on my Sony FS100.  If you're using a high quality editing software, you should be able to manipulate the passage of time in your clips.  However, when you make a clip slow motion, it will look a bit jumpy because the frames "between" the frames do not exist.  More specifically, if you shoot something at 30fps (typical digital frame rate in North America) and then play it back at 15fps, then every other frame will be missing.  If you're camera has the ability to shoot slow motion, it is actually filming twice as fast so that when you play back at normal speed, it looks slow motion.

I hope this information is helpful.  Remember, you can always take a stab at it yourself and then bring in an expert if it becomes too overwhelming.  I am available to help with editing remotely as well.  Be sure to check out my other blog posts for other tips on creating your own video baby books or take a look at some video baby books I've created on my site.

Looking forward is great, but slow down, there will be a last time for everything

Last night I had the pleasure of giving a Time Capsule Event for a lovely group of mommies. During my educational presentation while I was talking about milestones and looking forward to the next ones our babies will accomplish, I started to think about the converse...things he's doing now won't last forever, there will be a last time for everything.  Although slightly off topic from my usual posts, I thought I'd share some of these things with you in the hopes that you'll cherish each and everything just a little bit more.

Of course I'm looking forward to when my son can put himself to sleep and finally sleep through the night, but that means he'll no longer need me to nurse him back to sleep. There already was a last time we co-slept in his swaddle. Soon there will be a last time he latches on and falls asleep on me.

I am looking forward to when my son can bathe himself. But that means I'll no longer get to watch him experience the simple joy in playing the water after his bath has finished.  There already was a last time he bathed in the little bathtub sitting over the sink. Soon there will be a last time he sticks his head under the running water and giggles at how it feels.

It will be nice when my son will be able to feed himself, but that means we'll no longer be able to make him do "tricks" for food. Right now he makes the cutest impression of a monkey when he wants to eat his baked peas from Trader Joe's.  He already doesn't need me to make all of his food pureed, but pretty soon there will be a last time when he will no use his chubby little finger to point to the different things he wants to eat off of my plate.

It sure will be less worrisome when my son stops tripping and falling almost every time he gets excited and runs, but that means he'll no longer need me to pick him back up again and kiss his boo-boos. He already walks ahead of me at the park and goes to the different equipment he wants to play on.  Pretty soon he won't look for my hand to grab to help him go up steps, and there will be a last time when he will want to sit on my lap to go down the big kid slide.

There will be a last time when he will allow me to kiss him in public, there will be a last time when he signs "Momma" or "Dadda" with such a sparkle in his eyes, there will come a time when he will no longer think of my husband and I as his entire universe. I know that we gave him life so that he will have a life. But I really want to look at all of the things he's doing right now, both difficult and wonderful, and cherish them just a little bit more, because there will be a last time for everything.

Take the time to capture everything.  For more ideas go to videobabybooks.com or check out previous posts in my blog.

Capturing Important Moments Past the First Year

If you take a look at any Baby Book that is supposed to help you to document the first three to five years of life, you'll notice that the majority of the book is dedicated to the first year, about three quarters in fact.  Of course there is quite a bit of space dedicated to thoughts about baby before the arrival, and the birth story is pretty significant, but from that perspective, it's easy to assume that the milestones in the first year are actually the most important: smiling, laughing, rolling over, sitting up, waving, standing, and possibly walking.  However, our children actually change significantly in the first couple of years and it is just as important to track that progress as well, not just for you to reminisce, but for your pediatrician to track progress, and for your children to look back on in the future.

My earliest memories are probably from around the time I was four or five.  At this point, I'm not really sure if they are actual memories, or if my head is just filling in blanks between the stories I have been told about that time.  Regardless, anything between birth and three years old just does not exist for me, except in faded pictures in dusty albums.  But my second and third years of life were a very special time: I got better with walking, I learned to run and climb, I got a mouth full of teeth, I learned to talk, I further developed my personality, I learned to process thoughts and express my emotions, I made friends, I gained independence, and overall became a very big communicator.

Just because the milestones during this time are not as obvious on the surface, they are just as important when it comes to remembering your little toddler who all too soon will be attending kindergarten.  They are also important for your pediatrician to track your toddler's progress.  Most of the milestones are more mental than physical, although getting better with fine motor skills is part of the growing process after the first year.  You should still track basic physical growth, ie height, weight, and head circumference, but more importantly, you need to pay attention to the more subtle changes your little one is going through. Keep in mind that these milestones come at less specific times, there are ranges of a few months that dictate when certain developments should occur by.

So how does one go about capturing these important and less than obvious milestones? Be ready to capture seemingly mundane moments at any time. Most of use are attached to our cell phones anyway, take advantage of it.  When you notice your little one focusing on something very intently that they seemed to overlook just yesterday, discretely grab your phone and film.  But make sure you film them from their perspective--that means getting down on their level physically. When your little guy or girl starts to get fussy because he or she wants to do something themselves that they once needed your help for, try to capture it on film. In the early stages of communicating, you'll notice that random sounds start to come together like a conversation, even though the sounds do not make any sense. Continue this conversation with your little one as your start to film.  Your toddler will start to follow simple directions and these "tricks" will be wonderful memories when caught on film.  Another important milestone to capture at this time is your little one interacting with other toddlers or kids. These precious moments truly will be priceless.  And just as important, when you and your child are having a special moment that just melts your heart, get it on film. Try to make sure you include your voice in the interaction and if you can include yourself visually, all the better.

Overall, don't be too concerned about capturing the milestones the very first time that they happen. The second, third, or fourth time will probably look and sound just the same. The very best way to keep track of changes is to make it a point to jot down notes somewhere (I prefer my notes app on my phone) of what your toddler is up to every month on their birth date.  That way, before you start to write, you can remind yourself of the new developments the previous month and know just what is new the current month.  I try to divide my observations into physical changes and developments, eating habits, communication developments, sleeping habits, and just cute events I will want him to know happened during that past month.  Once you've reminded yourself of that months developments, you can make it a point to film some or all of them the next time your see your little guy or girl showcase that new skill or part of his or her personality.

Most parents like to make it a point to get photos of their child every year on their birthday. I recommend capturing video of your child at least once a month and do your best to alternate who takes the video so the same person isn't always behind the camera.  Or hire a family videographer to help out. For more ideas and examples, you can go to my website at: www.videobabybooks.com