To be a bit sad there aren’t any nice photos of me and my baby?

[blueandcream]

I have taken a lot of lovely photos of baby and his dad but while I don’t expect OH to turn me into a supermodel AIBU to want photos with my eyes open, that aren’t taken at a horribly unflattering angle (steps back and kneels down so photo is taken looking UP) and where baby is looking at the camera or not drooling etc?

I know I could keep demanding he keeps going but they end up forced and unnatural and anyway it feels horribly narcissistic. But it is a bit upsetting to realise there are barely any nice photos of me with my son!

I definitely feel your pain on this one. Have you tried showing him the pics he takes of you and baby vs the pics you take of him and baby, to compare the difference? Awkward but better than trying to teach him every time.

To be fair to him, the best photos (and videos) are taken close to eye level. So many terrible photos of the tops of heads that people think look flattering. Or those stupid selfie poses that foreshorten faces. So if he’s kneeling down to get closer to the same height as you are sitting down, he’s doing it right.

Why don’t you get him a short online photography course so he can learn some tips.

I do feel for people saying their OH barely takes photos of them with the kids. Mine is the same, and since he makes a living working with cameras, it’s especially galling.

This is the same with me. I take really lovely pictures of my DH and children and whenever I get one taken of me (which I usually ask for) he doesn't really close up or from a really bad angle.
The only person who takes lots of me is my mum bless her but they are even worse, i somehow look much bigger in every photo she takes, she thinks I am beautiful no matter what ofcourse and then posts them all over Facebook.

Get a selfie stick. DH always forgets to take photos of me with DS. I took loads of him holding the baby from my hospital bed after giving birth. He took 1 of me with DS over the 3 days we were there!

Check any he takes immediately and tell him the problem. E.g, he’s too low/far away.

Went to the zoo yesterday and I wanted a pic with a stationary animal in the background. I got one of me, DS and half an elephant.

Oh go on amy tell me where I said he was doing it on purpose.

I’m glad it’s not just me. I really don’t think a selfie stick would help, I’m just crap at selfies

I get you. I have no idea why people think crouching down helps. Or making sure they get your feet in and standing miles away.

@thatonehasalittlecar

To be fair to him, the best photos (and videos) are taken close to eye level. So many terrible photos of the tops of heads that people think look flattering. Or those stupid selfie poses that foreshorten faces. So if he’s kneeling down to get closer to the same height as you are sitting down, he’s doing it right.

Why don’t you get him a short online photography course so he can learn some tips.

I do feel for people saying their OH barely takes photos of them with the kids. Mine is the same, and since he makes a living working with cameras, it’s especially galling.

That may be so but it is definitely NOT flattering to take them from below eye level, which many people who are self proclaimed "clueless about photography" seem to do.

People rarely print photos off anymore, they're all stored online so eventually they'll all be lost anyway.

@mogtheexcellent

Dh took dd on her first trip to the zoo while I had to work. I said take lots of pictures. He took 45 pictures of the animals, one of dds back as she looked at an animal and a pic of his ice cream.

Some people are just useless.

I’m the same as your DH. If I’m out spending time with my child, I focus on that and our experience. I don’t even think about taking pictures or using my phone. I think far too many children’s childhoods are being observed through the lens these days, and you can’t fully interact with them that way. I do think it’s lovely to have pictures of my kids, but I think it’s excessive the way parents take pictures of everything these days.

I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of baby ds, I don’t think he’s living his babyhood through a lens at all.

Sympathy OP. DH is the same. I have tried to document the dc growing up over the years so have lots of him with the dc. Almost none of me, with or without the dc and most of them blurred/bits cut off/camera strap hanging down in the way/unflattering angles/eyes closed etc. Plus he never thinks to take any of 'my' key moments to start with - I have to ask him to take them or resort to selfies ( e.g. my 50th birthday - one blurry snap that I had to ask him to take, compared to the array of lovely pics I took for his!) He's so kind and thoughtful in other ways but it's a blind spot. No advice really - I haven't managed to change him after more than 20 years together.

Yep. Any nice pictures of DS and me are ones I've taken myself. It just doesn't occur to DH to take any and when I ask him to, they are always crap.