Don't be a Photo Hoarder!

One of my biggest pet peeves right now are the picture hoarders in my life. Those people that have their camera at the ready at gatherings of family and friends, clicking away like a fiend and then let those pictures sit on their memory cards to die a slow silent death until they are deleted to make room for more...sniff sniff.

I am trying to be good and get in the picture like we moms have been reminded we need to do. See...

Plenty of people have taken pictures of my son.

And there are so many I have never gotten to see. In this day and age you don't even need to print them. With a few clicks they can be shared via e-mail, text, Facebook, Instagram, Picasa, Google +, Shutterfly, Flickr, Snapfish, whatever.

I understand you might not want to share the pictures if they are dark or blurry or unflattering. But, it still would be nice to let the subjects (or their parents if they are kids) have a chance to decide if they'd like to keep them.

They don't need to be shared publicly. And if the photos are unflattering or you know the person would not be comfortable with everyone seeing them you probably don't want to share them publicly. But it is still an easy thing to share them privately and let them decide what to do with them.

At the Apple Day festivities in September at least 5 people were snapping pictures of all of the kids. I uploaded my photos to the class Shutterfly share site so the parents that weren't able to be there could join in the fun. No one else did the same. Including the one mom that took a photo of J and me together.

But even more annoying than that right now is my family. This summer we had a visit from out of state family. I promised I would put together a photo book, like I did when they came out a few years ago. Photos were constantly being snapped by cameras and phones alike.

In August I asked everyone to send me the photos so I could make the book and order when they went on sale, as they always do this time of year. I asked again. And again. I went through their Facebook and Instagram accounts this week and found some. But not all of the photos have been uploaded yet.

So now I am publicly shaming them in hopes that guilt will work. Hey, an aunts gotta do what an aunts gotta do.

The holiday season bring with it many photo opportunities. I hope you take plenty of pictures, and even get out from behind the camera and get in a few.

And I hope you share the photos with the people in them.