That’s me on the left, the photo-taker. Taken backstage at the Goldfields Repertory Club during our performance of Don’s Party in September, 2014

You know that person, the one always wielding an unwieldy camera at social gatherings just snap, snap, snapping away capturing life’s greatest moments? That’s me. I’m definitely the photo-taker in my family and in my circle of friends and I love it. I love looking back at old photos and I think it’s important to capture and preserve memories. I use the term ‘photo-taker’ as opposed to the word ‘photographer’ because the former is more of a ‘memory maker’ and doesn’t necessarily have a keen interest in the mechanics of photography.

It started in primary school when I would take disposable cameras on school camps and wait eagerly to get the films developed so I could look at grainy photos of kids in a canoe. Or standing in front of a flimsy looking hut they’d built. I have photos from the hallways and classrooms at high school, at the tram stop where I spent so may hours. If you’re not a photo-taker I guarentee you have at least one in your life. Here’s what we want you to know:

I take photos of you because I love you

I want to capture a memory of you laughing with a friend, in absolute awe at the top of a mountain, swapping stories with your grandma or dancing like a maniac at a 21st so in many years you can look back and remember how happy and beautiful you were and still are. Sure, people take these kinds of photos on phones but phones get updated, lost or are just poor quality. I take photos on cameras, I print them, I blog them, I share them on social media and importantly, I back them up. What’s the first thing people say they regret losing in a house fire? Photos. Because they are precious and intrinsically linked to history and memory. I’ve literally never heard anyone say ‘I wish I didn’t have so many photos from my childhood’. This article about a man who only discovered he had zero photos of his mother until after she died brought tears to my eyes.

It does sting when you roll your eyes at me

If I had a dollar for every time someone got annoyed at me for taking so many photos, but then used one of my snaps to post to their own social media I could buy a pretty darn fancy camera! It’s the epitome of hypocrisy and not to mention rude. On any given day I see photos I’ve taken used in #flashbackfriday posts or in a collage for someone’s birthday. That’s awesome! But don’t roll your eyes or make fun of my photo taking only to benefit from it later. I always tell my friends they’ll be grateful when they’re old and ugly and have photos of their youth, but the truth is I’ll still be taking photos when I’m ancient and withered.

The photo bombing/pulling a funny face thing is really lame

I get that this is a mechanism for covering up shyness or feeling awkward about having your photo taken, but if you’re pulling a dumb face I’m just going to stand there until you stop, thereby dragging out the process and making it even more awkward… So yeah. Those ‘joke’ photos rarely make it off the camera’s memory card so lets not waste our time people.

Stand straight/sunglasses off/big smile please

It really doesn’t matter how much makeup you have on, or how tired you think you look, a big beautiful smile will always look good. As will standing or sitting up straight. I also often ask people to take their sunnies off for a photo (something people usually hate) because I want to see their eyes, it really makes the photo more personal.

I want to be in the photos too

I’m really lucky to have a boyfriend and friends who will happily jump behind the camera to get me in the picture too. I am not afraid to ask to have my photo taken and I won’t apologise for it. I’ve certainly copped flack for appearing to be one of those women who demand their boyfriend (aka the #instagramhusband) take photos of them but I don’t care. I take photos of other people all the time. Am I not worth having photos of? Speaking of people who are worth taking photos of; mothers. There seems to be a trend of mums taking photos of dad with the kids but never being in the photos themselves. To quote blogger Sophie Cacia in her open letter to dads on instagram ‘take the goddamn bloody photo‘!

So without further ado, here are some photos I love:

The Gang in Esperance, June 2014. I love how this looks like we’re the cast of an angsty teen TV show.

Darling Emily at the Beaten Track Brewery in Kalgoolie, August 2014

Lauren’s circus themed 30th in Kalgoorlie, May 2014

Me in Santorini, breaking the no sunglasses rule, July 2016

Easter Feaster, April 2014

Hopetoun, January 2014

Elly and Jordan on the beach in Esperance 2013

Beach babes emerging from the water at Twilight Beach, Esperance 2014

Andy and I at dinner in Chanie, Crete 2016

A staged candid photo before the Ball in Kalgoorlie, March 2014

Apprehensive Elly and excited Bec ahead of quad-biking in Bali 2013

Andy with his beers in Boston 2016

Exploring ruins at Palenque in Mexico 2016

Niki underwater in Ometepe, Nicaraugua 2016

Kate and I taking advantage of the nice light in the Guggenheim Museum NYC in 2010

My sister Sarah in her kitchen in Samoa, September 2013

Men I know in the water at Point Roadknight 2016

Bec and her pink champagne at the races in September 2013

Brosnan telling a story at my birthday breakfast in August 2013

Alexis and her kilted men in July 2016

My beautiful grandma Jill with dad at her 80th in 2011

Andy the groomsman in Tasmania 2017

Gang at the Nullarbor Muster in Rawlinna 2014

Bec snaps me on the catwalk in Kalgoorlie 2013

Family at Point Roadknight 2016

A beer, book and the woods = Andy’s happy place. Oregon 2015

Lovers laughing at a cocktail party in Kalgoorlie 2014

Mum and I at lunch in September 2014

So many great memories. Go on, take more photos of your loved ones. You won’t regret it.