Life Catching Life Hack
December 15, 2006
My favorite story catching trick.
They say a photograph is worth a thousand words, but with each passing generation your family photographs become more and more mute. The next time you are at a family gathering, why not use my favorite video camera trick to record the stories behind your photographs.
What happens when people sit down with a photo album? The stories naturally pour out. Funny stories. Sad stories. Stories you’ve never heard before. Stories you’ve heard a gazillion times.
Here’s my trick: Set up your video camera on a tripod directly behind a comfortable chair. The idea is to shoot over-the-shoulder as the family matriarch or patriarch pages through a photo album. It’s a great tactic for story tellers who are camera shy.
I’ll be honest, this method isn’t going to give you TV quality pictures. And you should purchase a plug-in microphone if you want to drop the audio into future projects. But even at it’s most basic, this technique will capture the who-what-where-when behind your family photographs.
If you try this out at a family gathering this December, please drop me an email. I’d love to hear how it went! sally @ jacobsarchival.com
Glossary:
Life Catching
Lifehack
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