When you take a picture, do you immediately think about posting the picture to social media?  Do you find yourself specifically taking photos to post on social media?

Or how about this? Have you ever been outdoors taking photos or experiencing a moment somewhere when unexpectedly that moment is interrupted by the thought of posting the picture to social media?

This ought not be! We are missing out on cherishing the moment and experience.

Posting Pictures on Social Media and Losing the Moment

Like so many others today, I like to post pictures on social media for a variety of purposes. Those reasons include posting photos for ministry, for business, to promote a blog post, to illustrate a question and of course, just for fun.

But sometimes when I’m enjoying an experience, the thought of sharing that moment on social enters my head. When that happens, part of the moment is lost, especially when I decide to immediately act on that idea.

Too often today, we make life about sharing the moment with those who are not with us. Instead, we ought to enjoy the moment for what it is and enjoy it with those who are with us. If no one else is with us, we can just enjoy the moment with God, who gave us the moment. Why do we want to make our photos and moments about social media and getting likes?

I like being on social media and posting pictures, but we need to slow down.

Shoot Now and Post Now. Why Bother Cherishing the Experience?

Another part of what I like to do on social media is look at the photos of others.  I am a member of several different Facebook photography groups.  It is fun to be a part of those groups and to see what others have captured with their cameras. However, I too often see photographs posted on these pages that people just took or took only hours earlier.  It seems like they rushed to post and lost the moment. Did they take those photos to enjoy the moment or just to share them on social media? If we’re hurrying to share pictures on social media, we are detracting ourselves from enjoying the experience of the moment.

On one Christian photography Facebook page that I follow, a photographer posted photos every day while on a photo adventure. He uploaded the photographs that he took each day or the previous day. He would write where he took the photos and where he was going next.

How could someone really enjoy their photo trip experience when they’re posting to social media every day during their trip? I wonder if they are truly enjoying the moment. Are they enjoying time with God? It would seem to me that something of the experience is lost if the goal is to post pictures to social media every day.

I believe that today we too often make photography about getting a picture for social media instead of for the pleasure of the moment. I speak not from a place of judgement, but from a place of guilt. I know, I have been there. I’ve missed a lot of moments by photographing them with idea of posting the photo.

Something Old School

How about we try something different? Why don’t we make our time about the experience and the moment.  We could make our time photographing nature more about a moment with God that He has given us so that we can wonder in His creation. And oh, by the way, we can think about sharing those photos later. But in the moment, think about God, and think about the moment.

That idea sounds rather old-school, doesn’t it? Taking a photo without thinking about posting it on social media.

We can apply this idea when we are with others. Be sure to enjoy the people that you are with when you experience a moment you want to capture with a camera. Take that photograph for yourself and for the ones you are with. Don’t take it just for social media. Sure, you can eventually post it at some point in time but wait and let the moment be just for the moment.

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