Capture candid family moments with the PowerShot PX

Capturing joyful moments of everyday family life couldn't be easier with the new Canon PowerShot PX. Smart enough to recognise faces automatically, and operated by voice commands, the PowerShot PX is the perfect stand-in family photographer, ready to shoot at a moment's notice and always present in the heart of the home.

Digital creator and photographer Eimear Varian Barry, whose snapshots of her life and family have earned her almost 97,000 followers on Instagram, is a single parent and usually the person behind the camera.

But with the Canon PowerShot PX at her disposal, Eimear doesn't need to be left out of the frame anymore. Using this smart camera with automatic detection and shooting mode, Eimear has her own digital family photographer at hand to record those seemingly insignificant moments that often turn out to be the most special.

"I think it's amazing that the Canon PowerShot PX captures moments that we might not think would make a good picture," says Eimear. "Those shots, for example, of the kids colouring on the breakfast bar while I'm loading the dishwasher. I know I'll look back at those in 20 years' time, and think, ‘Those were the days!’ For them to be taken naturally is just amazing."

The effortless shooting experience with this camera is down to clever features and scene recognition technology that have been developed over many years. Once switched on and placed on a surface, the PowerShot PX uses facial recognition to automatically search for a subject and will adjust the composition to capture images that fit everyone in the shot. It will take lots of images and then the app will recommend which are the best. By recognising faces that feature regularly, it offers priority shooting of people important to you.

So, when you're busy cooking, having a conversation at the kitchen table, enjoying a family birthday party or simply helping your kids with their homework, the PowerShot PX can help you capture radiant expressions and the beauty of the ordinary without you having to even think about it.

For Eimear, simple moments such as playing with the dog or reading a story on the sofa are the ones she treasures and wants to share. "It's really nice to have those moments captured, especially without realising," she says.

Though Eimear has had a camera in her hand since childhood and prefers her Instagram to have a more curated feel, at home, she explains, it's nice to create images of the everyday that aren't part of a photo shoot.

"I think the PowerShot PX is such an amazing camera to have in those moments. For example, I'm at home on my own with the kids all week. I'm a single parent. I don't have anyone to take a photo of me and the kids baking or out in the back garden having fun, as it's always me behind the camera.”

What helps with this is the hands-free operation of the Canon PowerShot PX, made possible through voice commands, and its ability to compose and shoot its own pictures and videos with the pan-tilt 3x optical zoom lens. It will also select the best photos and videos and organise them on your behalf, allowing those precious times in life to remain uninterrupted.

"The voice recognition is amazing because if you're in your living room, and you think, 'Oh I just want to remember this forever', you can," says Eimear. "It gives me as much happiness looking back at those candid photos as it does at the more curated images."

For the times that you want to step into the shoes of the photographer, it's also easy to control the camera from a smartphone app where you can shoot and view captured videos and stills.

The compact and adaptive design of the Canon PowerShot PX means it seamlessly blends into any environment in your home.

For Eimear, her breakfast bar would be an ideal place to position the PowerShot PX as that's where a lot of family life tends to happen. "I would like it to be in the kitchen, because it's open plan and the breakfast bar is the heart of the downstairs," she says.

"Being around the breakfast bar in the evenings when I'm preparing dinner and the kids are colouring – that moment where I'm just doing everyday mum stuff. It's not glamorous but it means everything to me. A picture of me coming in with the washing while they're doing their homework is a visual example of my everyday life as a mother. And those are the moments I want to remember," she says.

We all know that life doesn't happen behind the camera, it happens in front of it. But how will you choose to remember those chapters that make up your life as you know it? For parents like Eimear, the PowerShot PX could be a brilliant tool to document the people we love, now and in the future.

"It's impossible to remember every single moment of your life. Honestly, I can't even remember being pregnant. I know that sounds crazy but it's true! When we do look back at photos, we're thinking, ‘Remember that? I totally forgot about that.' So, I think it's a beautiful idea to have those memories captured and for them to be taken naturally. It's really amazing."


Written by Lorna Dockerill