Do you hate having your photo taken, or find yourself criticising any photographs you DO have taken?
Insecurity around having photographs taken is very common. So many of us feel shy when it comes to stepping in front of the camera – it’s something we see here at Kingshill Studios all the time.
In the modern age, we are often so reluctant to have our own photographs taken. Yet, looking back on natural family photographs gives us all so much joy!
The joy of family photography cannot be overstated
We’ve all experienced magical times shared with loved ones or gone through major life events that make us wish we could freeze time and capture every detail of each precious moment. THIS is why photographs are so important.
Each photograph captures a unique moment in time. Once that moment is gone, you can’t rewind the clock (as much as we sometimes wish we could!).
While we may be reluctant to have our photographs taken or are overly critical of how we look in photographs, what we often don’t realise is that every “rejected” photograph is one less moment that we’ll be able to share with future generations.
The negative impact of social media on confidence and self-worth
The rising popularity of smartphones has put the world in our pockets, and the amount of time we spend on the internet each day is increasing year by year. Every day, we spend time scrolling through the limitless stream of content at our fingertips.
Our timelines are flooded with snapshots of hundreds of people living seemingly “perfect”, yet unattainable lives. Spend long enough staring at heavily filtered and airbrushed images and, naturally, we begin to draw comparisons.
More than ever, we’re learning to measure our self-worth based on the images we see online. The highly edited highlight reel we experience on social media is far from real life, and yet we have learned to pick ourselves apart if we don’t match up to the unrealistic standards we see online.
Ofgem’s 2021 “Online Nation” report states that by the age of 11, 59% of UK children are using social media, increasing to 96% by the age of 15. The internet is so easily accessible that children are becoming exposed to everything it has to offer far more easily than would have been the case even just a few years ago.
The result? A rise in feelings of insecurity and low self-esteem.
A few studies have been carried out to measure the impact of social media on body image and mental health, and the results are pretty disappointing.
Young people are being influenced by the unrealistic beauty standards they see online, and this is having a negative impact on their self-confidence during some of the most crucial years of their young lives.
Natural family photographs can boost the self-esteem of children
· Have you ever been guilty of deleting a photograph of yourself, hating the way you look?
· Or maybe you’ve felt insecure about the way you look at a certain time in your life, only to look back on the photographs from that time years later and WISH you looked like that now.
We don’t talk negatively when looking at photographs of other people, so why are we so critical of ourselves?
When looking back over old photographs of family members or friends, we experience feelings of warmth and reminisce about days gone by. How much better would it be if we could learn to have a similarly positive response to photographs of our own?
If we were to resist the temptation to hide away – or worse, delete – any pictures of ourselves that aren’t perfectly posed and filtered, then we would allow our younger family members the same joy of looking back at exactly how we were, right in the moment. Imperfections and all.
Don’t miss another moment – book your family portrait session
Here at Kingshill Studios, we want your portrait session to be fun for the whole family. Our relaxing studio environment is the perfect backdrop for beautiful family photographs.
However you feel about having your portrait taken, we’ll spend time making sure you all feel comfortable in front of the camera and will capture natural family photographs for you to enjoy for years to come.
Get in touch with us so we can help you capture authentic family memories to treasure.
