Challenging the Selfie Photographer In You

In this age of technology, recording every little moment that happens to us, around us, has become the norm for most people. Selfie is part of our language, and was named Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year for 2013.

I have envied those friends of mine with smartphones and their ability to snap a photo and forever keep that moment in time by uploading that snapshot to Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. I have been a snapshot taking fool since I received my first smart phone EVER for my 47th birthday this year in February. Granted I don’t upload everything but trust me – I’ve taken some doozies!

That is what thrills me – the photographs. I am the type of person who would spend hours pouring over our photo albums my mother lovingly put together, remembering every little detail, recalling the time that they were taken and what we were doing. Having a disability that makes my memory less than perfect, photographs are my way of recording my life so that I can remember special moments that our family has shared. I would definitely have been a prime candidate for the Google Glass Project because they would have been glued to my face 24/7.

So you can imagine my utter joy at being able to actually PARTICIPATE on Instagram now instead of just being a passive onlooker and only being able to like everyone else’s beautiful photographs. From December 2012 to January 2014, I uploaded 85 photos to Instagram. That’s it. In the past two months, I’ve shared over 65 images on my Instagram account, and taken countless more that weren’t exactly share worthy, but have a home on my computer to be burned to a disc.

With that said, I want to challenge YOU. I want to challenge the photographer in YOU. Get out there, take some photographs, record those memories, and share them! Speaking of which, there are two events going on at the moment which I am participating in (and you can too!!!) listed below. Come join me and have some fun with your smart phone or your digital camera!

April Instagram Challenge

I love participating in these monthly challenges from Grown and Healthy! This month’s hashtag is #myrenewed2014. Post a photo that relates to the words below during the first week of April and let’s get to connecting, meeting, and following some new friends!

Be sure to check out our previous entries this year too for some fun photos!

My Mini-Moments Photo Challenge

Then there is the Mini-Moments Photo Challenge running the entire month of April from Sutter Home Wines and Clever Girls Collective. Here’s your chance to snap, tag, and enter for a chance to win 1 of 6 $100 Visa Gift Cards or one of two iPad Minis! You can get details and sign up to take part here.