With great birthday parties, the memories last a lifetime. I can still remember birthdays from when I was a youngster - vivid details - it's wonderful. But these days with the benefit of digital photography you can not only have the memories in your mind but also have a great photo record of the day. And with so many photo sharing sites out there, you can spread the love too! :-)
Here are some ideas for great memory keeping shots of your birthday child and guests:
1. The party table before the guests are seated. Particularly if you have a theme party set up, make sure you get good shots of the decor and the party table/cake before the guests arrive (and destroy it!)
2. The party table with guests seated but no one has started. Get a quick shot of all the guests seated nicely before they dive in to the goodies!
3. A photo of you or someone else serving the guests food and/or cake.
4. Each guest taking a bite of cake.
5. The birthday child standing next to each guest at the table.
6. All the guests standing behind the birthday child at the table
7. The birthday child with YOU (the parents).
8. Several shots of the activities and games in action.
9. Several shots of the birthday child opening gifts.
10. Individual shots of each of the guests with the birthday child and the gift they gave her. (This makes it easy to write thank you notes too!)
The list could go on and on. With the wonder of digital cameras you can take pictures galore and not worry because any that don't turn out can be discarded. If you're really brave, let your birthday child take the camera for a while and get the shots she wants for her scrapbook.
Now I know it's hard for mom or dad to be in charge of taking photos at some parties - you're busy with other responsibilities. That's why it's nice if you can assign a friend, teenager or one of the guest parents who is staying for the party to be officially in charge of photography.
That frees you up to do other things and enjoy the party. Give them a list of specific shots you want so they're sure to get them and then let them go crazy with the camera.
The more photos you take the more choices you'll have to keep, scrap and/or forward on to family and friends.