The photo that got away...

I somehow missed getting a photo of me with my older granddaughter at her 1st birthday party. 
a week later, covid broke out, and I ended up returning to Europe in a hurry, and then couldn’t visit her for another two years.

I wish I would have had camera in my childhood, teenage years and young adult life (camcorder was the in-thing so everything was video taped).

If I had photos from those years, I probably wouldn't scrapbook them, because of photo quality issues. But it would be nice to have old photos from those years, in my treasure box. 

I don't have a single picture of me, pregnant. At all. Not even 2 months, not even not noticeably pregnant. No photos for about a year before my son was born. Oh, I have tons of pictures of my ex. Tons of pictures of his older kids. Pictures of the dogs, the house. But not one single solitary photo of me.

The quote: If you want to know what someone values, see what the photograph, hits in the feels for me, for sure. So thankful to have divorced my ex.

Seven years ago we moved back to our home state from across the country, where we’d lived for ten years. Where I felt rooted for the first time in my whole life. Having to move from there (job transfer) was very traumatic for me and I went through a very intense grief process with it. My realtor (and friend) gave me sweet advice to take photos of every room, every outside angle, every nook. That I’d appreciate those in the future. When she said this my heart shattered in even smaller pieces than it already was, and I literally burst into hysterical sobs. I knew she was right. And I yet I could not bring myself to do it. It hurt too much.

I regret it. I have so many photos of our life being lived in that house, but I still long to see more of it. The corners that never made it in shots, the tiny dark hallway that my toddlers had scribbled on, the kitchen wall littered with schoolwork. I left my heart in that house.

I graduated from university twice and both times my dad’s camera did not work (or perhaps user error) so there aren’t any photos of mr receiving my diplomas.

But my biggest regret is that I don’t have really have any photos of me with my babies and then hardly any with them growing up. They are good now at asking me to be in selfies with them but I would so love to have a nice mom/baby shot of each.

I can think of so many, especially before the days of digital photography, but the way I look at it...I always have those pictures stored in my mind.

I wish I had more photos of my Dad. Apparently he was always the one behind the camera.

I tell people I am the worst scrapbooker ever because I don't take pictures. I just don't? Not sure why. Even after the advent of cell phone cameras and always having a camera RIGHT THERE - I still fail to go through the motions of taking photos 99% of the time. I just don't think about it in the moment. And then, when I want to scrapbook the memories, I don't have any photos.

My current DH, however, is the exact opposite. I would bet he averages at least 50 photos a day. A few an hour at least most days. Of everything. And anything. So in my head for family events I say, "I don't need to capture it. He's doing a great job. I can be 'intentionally present'." Or whatever justification I tell myself in my head. Problem is I don't have access to get to those photos even though we keep saying we're going to set up automatic upload to some kind of device somewhere. And if I say, "DH, I know you took some photos of that time at the pool three weeks ago. Can you send me a couple of good ones?" That becomes a chore for him...he has to go through 1,000s of photos to find the right batch and then get them to me.

We did a staycation a couple of weeks ago and I set a goal to at least take a couple of photos a day. You'd think knowing I was going to scrapbook it, I'd be better about it? But even that was a challenge. December Daily usually falls apart for me somewhere around day 17. So I have at least 2 mini Dec Daily albums started that I never finished because I stopped taking consistent photos.

So I guess my short answer to the OP question: everything. I wish I was better of taking photos of everthing.

Quite a few instances come to mind, especially from the pre-digital era of photography. I didn't have a camera at all when DD1 was a baby, so the only baby pics I have of her are a few that other people took and happened to give me a copy, but none are from infancy; they're all from about age 1 onward, and a few of those include ex-DH so I don't like looking at them (our split was the opposite of amicable).

I didn't get a picture of DD2 and I going on the Rock-n-Roller Coaster over and over when we were at WDW in 2010, so when I scrapped that page, I pieced together a guitar with the logo like the one in front of the coaster (red & white shimmer paper - yay!) It's a cute page, but not the same as photos showing DD's excitement & how much fun we had repeatedly going on it! Fast forward to 2016 WDW trip - you can bet I made everyone line up in front of the Rock-n-Roller coaster to get a picture with the guitar and logo in the background, as well as some pics of us going on it (beginning & end). And pics with DS, who was finally tall enough to ride it in 2016 with us and a bunch of his cousins. Thankfully, DH doesn't ride coasters or most thrill rides and loves taking pictures of people on rides (he considers it a fun challenge, LOL), so he got quite a few good ones from the 2016 WDW trip with extended family.

I wish I had gotten more pictures of my mom with DS, who was only 2.5 when she died. I wish I had taken more pictures of the house she and her husband lived in - it was sold and remodeled beyond recognition after he died (a few years after her). My DDs both have lots of good memories of visiting Grammy at that house, but we didn't take as many pictures as I'd have liked, and DS has almost no memory of my mom or that house.

ETA: One more: we took tons of photos of DS at his college graduation this spring, but somehow we managed to not get one with both DH & I together with him in his commencement regalia. There is one of him with me & MIL, and a separate one of him with DH, but none with just the 3 of us, aaaarrrrgghhh! We didn't even realize it until we looked at all the photos afterward. DH reminded me that he's ll be getting another degree next spring but I'm wondering what the chances are of him walking through a 2nd large commencement ceremony after having just done it this spring...

I think this is why scrapbooking is such a cool activity. We can display the photos we DO have and journal about the ones that got away. I am that crazy gramma with a camera or a phone almost always pointed toward the action, and sometimes there are great photos I planned to take. But often my favourite ones after the fact are those quick snaps that captured something I didn't register at the time.

A memory in my head is of my youngest two at a WalMart photo studio. Dd (about 9 months old) was not impressed to be awakened from her nap when it was our turn for the session. The photographer was desperately trying to entertain her with puppets and squeaky toys, but she was having nothing to do with that. Her long suffering big brother (3 years old) just wanted to get this over and get out of there. Then something DID catch her eye and she smiled. And her brother was so happy she was smiling that he leaned over and kissed her cheek. AND THE PHOTOGRAPHER DIDN'T SNAP A PHOTO!!! Instead, he said something like "No, no, look over HERE". The photo is okay. They are both looking at the camera and neither is crying. But oh I wish someone had captured THAT moment on film.

I don't have many photos of my husband's family. He has six siblings and no one including his parents takes photos when we get together. So I feel weird, I get weird looks from people when I do take a photo, and it overall feels WEIRD being the only one.

Oh, I’m so so so very sorry!!

I’m frustrated to have no pictures of my one and only pregnancy… but.. that boy is in decades of photos now. I’m still a little sad, but honestly, I started scrapbooking (officially lol) immediately after he was born, and those photos matter to me, so so so much more!

That said, it was the era of the floppy’s, then the micro cd’s, then.. expensive cards. I think my “open window,” if you will… made me more vigilant about those items. I am so very sad for you that such an important piece is missing!!

I went the opposite direction.. I made copies of everything, for my mom, for my mother in law, one for my house, and one for in the safe in case of fire. And printed multiple sizes. And scrapped. And framed. Lol. The last 8 months had been wading through the copies of copies of copies.

Your photos can never be replaced. But I hope, in the grand scheme, they were great in your mind! Let them be happy there!
❤️