Making a Successful Everyday Life Book
by Ali Edwards
Everyday photos are my passion—the little things that often go unnoticed until we slow down enough to really see them. Things change so very fast. I want to be able to “see” what life was like today in twenty years—to literally see the crazy colors on our walls or my clothes or my child’s clothes, etc. Real life, right now—what a cool perspective!
I created the Everyday Life photobook to guide you through documenting those little things and showcase the life you are living from day to day. Let me walk you through some suggestions for thing about how you can document your everyday life. There is space for each of these topics within the book—and there are plenty of opportunities for you to customize the book to fit your life.
Title page:
Grab some of your favorites from your collection of everyday photos. Include photos of people or things. There is no right or wrong way to put this together. I often like to think of title pages as a peek into the rest of the book. Consider showing parts of photos that will come later in the book.
Everyday Celebrations:
What are things you treasure about your everyday life? Add those photos here.
Everyday Observations:
As you go about your everyday, what does it say to you about your life? Observations can be simple or profound, concrete or abstract. Use the journaling section on the second page to document four different observations through words and photos.
Everyday Travel and Everyday Distractions:
Where do you go over the course of the day? Some people go far each day while other people stay very close to home. Do you travel by car, train, bus, bike, etc? Document the basics. The second part of this spread focuses on distractions—what distracts you from getting things done throughout the day? TV? Radio? Internet? Food? Kids? Tell the story here.
Everyday Play and Everyday Work:
What does play mean to you? How do you play? And the other side of the coin: what constitutes work in your everyday life? An office, a route, a home?
Everyday Routines:
We all have certain things we seem to do from one day to the next. Maybe you do the same thing each morning and/or each evening. Maybe you eat the same thing for breakfast everyday or listen to the same music or radio station. Maybe every Tuesday you play bingo. Or maybe spontaneity is your routine. Pick some photos that are representative of those sorts of routines to document this part of your life.
Everyday Family and Everyday Home:
A couple simple shots work well in this spread. What are some of the things that you witness in your family each day? Maybe eating at the table (or not), tucking children into bed, or shots of people coming and going. Think simple for your home too: a shot of your living room, bedroom, kitchen, etc. Take shots of the lived in areas of your home or your favorite corner.
Everyday Little Things:
Some of my favorite little things to document include: kids toes, shoes lying around, toothbrushes lined up, folded towels, silly grins, etc. Think about the things you are thankful for in your everyday life. The real things and the real people. How can you document those through photos?
Everyday Beauty:
Most of us go through life rushing from one thing to the next. Allow yourself to slow down a bit to identify what everyday beauty means to you. Coffee cups? Naps? Coming home? Going to bed? A paycheck? How does seeing and experiencing beauty impact your daily life?
Everyday Lessons:
What lessons do you learn as you go about your everyday life? What lessons do you learn as you reflect on the life you live daily? What’s really important? What do you spend too much time doing (and not enough)? What do you want to remember?
You may also want to check out the following articles for more ideas:
8 Techniques for Choosing or Taking Photos >
Journaling Your Everyday Life >
