Good Photos Tell You What Happened. Details Make You Feel Like You Were There.

That's what details do. They don't replace the moment. They make the moment mean something more than it could on its own.

The tips that follow aren't about replacing the big moments or the people or the milestones. You still need all of those. What details do is add texture -- the specific, particular, unrepeatable texture of this family, these people, this exact season of a life being lived. Without them a photo tells you what happened. With them you feel like you were there.

Here are eight places to start looking.

Photograph hands.
Honestly, I don't think there is a more overlooked subject in family photography than hands. The hands of the people you love tell a story that faces often can't -- small hands that are still learning how to do things, weathered hands that have spent decades building and cooking and holding and comforting, the particular way someone uses their hands when they're talking about something they care about. Hands change faster than faces do, and we almost never think to photograph them on purpose. Think about it: when did you last take a photo that was specifically about someone's hands? They are worth every frame you give them.

Pay attention to shoes.
Shoes by the door. The wear pattern on a favorite pair. The size that will only be this size for a few more months, or a size that used to belong to someone smaller and is now, somehow, enormous. Line everyone's up together sometime -- all the shoes from everyone who lives in or regularly visits your home -- and take the picture before you think about it too long. I promise you that image will stop you cold twenty years from now in a way you are not expecting.

Look inside what people carry.
What someone carries every day is a portrait of their priorities, and yet we almost never photograph it. The backpack with three keychains and a broken zipper that they refuse to replace. The work bag with a book they've been meaning to finish for three months. The purse with everything in it except whatever they're actually looking for right now. Open it. Ask first if you need to. Then photograph what's inside. That is a time capsule in a single frame.

Try portrait mode on objects, not just people.
Most people use portrait mode -- the setting that blurs the background and brings the subject into sharp focus -- exclusively for faces. But it works beautifully on the objects that define the people you love too. A well-worn book with a cracked spine. A favorite coffee mug that has never quite been clean enough. A piece of jewelry that never comes off. Try portrait mode on the things that matter and notice how important they suddenly look in the frame -- how the blur around them says this thing deserves your full attention.