Our family truly went All-American for Independence Day this year and took our little one to her very first baseball game in none other than our nation’s capitol, Washington DC.
I had just read this blog post about multitasking and it was on my mind as packed a bag full of snacks, toys, diapers, sun screen, and of course a camera (a dslr camera – this event was just screaming for fancy photos). They – those elusive sciency experts – say we as humans are incapable of multitasking. That our brains aren’t wired to do more than one thing at a time.
I beg to differ.
As I juggled a wide-eyed toddler on one hip, a full diaper bag and camera draped over the opposite shoulder, a phone in hand dinging with messages from the family we were meeting at the park entrance, all while surveying the park for the best places to grab a kid friendly lunch, find a drink on a sweltering hot day, and take the photos had stored away in the shot list in my head – I was in a multitaskers paradise.
Ask just about any mom, and I think she’ll tell you that we’re pros at multitasking. Forget those sciency experts .
Because of this, us professional multitasking mamas make GREAT photographers too.
I like to think about photography as the ultimate game in multitasking. We must survey our available light for the best location, set up our children in that light (ha! is setting up a child for photos even possible?), set our camera to the correct ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, White Balance, toggle focus points for tack sharp eyes and smiles, meter for the light, and then race and chase around our kiddos until we’re either gleefully excited with what we’ve captured or so unbelievably frustrated that we decide to call it quits for the day.
Multitasking as a mom and as a photographer takes practice, patience, and prioritizing. (click here to tweet this now!)
Motherhood throws so many curve balls at us that we are constantly learning how to balance more and more balls in the air while we also figure out which ball is the most important at any given time.
When my daughter poops in her diaper AND the phone starts ringing AND she’s whining for a snack AND we’re supposed to leave for a playdate in the next 5 minutes, I’m obviously going to change that poopy diaper as fast as I can. But after that I might also call my friend to tell her I’m going to be late to our playmate while I fix my little one her snack and get packed up to bring it with us in the car.
Photography also has so many elements to keep track of that we must learn which modes and settings we are most comfortable with in any given scenario and put them into play.
If I’ve just begun learning about using light, changing manual settings, and toggling focus points, I might not want to choose an important event like my daughter’s birthday party to be the time when I experiment with all of those settings at once. I may use manual modes to take the detail shots of the food, favors, and decor since all of those things don’t move and I can take as much time as I need to experimenting and putting all of my knowledge together before the party begins. But then, I might change to a different mode as the guests arrive. One that offers me more support for the important shots of the birthday girl that I don’t want to miss as she’s whizzing across the room having a grand time.
Ok now it’s your turn.
Are you a multitasking momtographer too? Tell me about a time in the comments below where you’ve had to multitask – as a mom, as a photographer, or as both! How do you decide how to prioritize when you have so many balls in the air? And how do you manage which camera or which settings to choose in different situations? Do you have a strategy for deciding – dslr vs. iPhone? Manual vs. Auto? I want to hear about it here and offer you some help if you’re stuck!