Every time I hear the song "You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins, I  make a mental note to start doing a better job of documenting my kids at this age.  When the song was released and I made my first mental note, my son was 1.  At that time, I went out and bought a scrapbook and a ton of really cute scrapbooking stickers and supplies.  My son is now 5 with a 2 yr old sister and I have yet to open the scrapbook supplies and put that bad boy together!  Looking back at how quickly the time has flown I have realized not only will I miss this when they are grown up, but I am missing a huge opportunity to document all of it NOW!  My son started Kindergarten this week and I am more determined than ever to start capturing the important moments in our lives, as well as, all of the "little" things I just love about my kids. As a busy working mom and professional photographer, I know how hard it is to find the time to come up with ideas to capture those moments, figure out how and when to execute them, and find a good way to print or display them so they don't end up stored on a hard drive somewhere and never seen again.  I am on a mission to find quick and easy ways to start incorporating this into our busy routine and will be sharing what I find each week on the blog.

With my son starting Kindergarten this week, I had to get the traditional first day of school shot. (...and of course little sister needed her picture taken too!)

 

 (both photos taken with Canon 5D, 50mm 1:1.4, Monkey Shutter Hugger)

As we were walking to his classroom, I remember looking at him and how he was excited and overwhelmed at the same time. I immediately wanted to capture more of this first week at school and all it entailed so I wouldn't forget it.  I started searching for more back to school photo ideas and came across an awesome blog post on the Simple as That Blog (www.simpleasthatblog.com)  with tips for back to school photos and a FREE printable Back 2 School photo checklist that has 50 ideas for back to school photos!  Check it out here: http://www.simpleasthatblog.com/search/label/back%20to%20school

Using ideas from the checklist, I was able to capture some more great shots, here are a few: 

(Photos taken with iPhone and Dinosaur Mini Shutter Hugger- coming soon!)

I am looking forward to snapping more photos over the next few weeks to document the beginning of the school year.  I will also be checking out all the options for creating a final product with all of the shots from the entire year and will let you know what I find next week. 

What did you do to document the beginning of the school year?  Do you have a tradition you do every year?  Please share!