Mama, Get IN Those Photos. Friends and Family, YOU need to capture them!
Part of me knew years ago that my child’s photo albums would have mostly pictures of them alone or with their daddy, and very few with me. I didn’t plan for it, but that’s the life of a professional photographer. We are always the ones behind the camera and carriying a tripod and remote around everywhere is not exactly feasible (especially with an infant!), which means that we are often left out of the photos. So it should come as no surprise that this shoot, and many before it, did not even have one with me in it.
My husband has been super supportive about agreeing to take photos when I hand him the camera with the settings ready to go, but I truly wish he would do it on his own. Yes, we are talking cellphone snaps at this point—I’d love ANY with me and my baby girl.
Case and point: what started it out as a sit-here-wrapped-in-a-blanket-so-I-can-test-out-my-new-studio-backdrop photo-op turned into a beautiful moment. My daughter was not having it to sit on this bench and would only calm down for mama, so I put my camera on the floor to tend to her. In a split-second decision, I decided to whip out my mom bun and ask my husband to click the shutter (the settings were all ready anyway). This was the absolute best thing I could have done! I don’t even care about all of the flaws of this photo (disclaimer: I did however photoshop out the weird distracting ear chunk that was popping out through my hair). It is a beautiful moment of my kiddo snuggling up to me and both of us just breathing in the love. All because I decided to ask. Otherwise, I would have to rely on my memory—and we all know how real mom-brain is!—so I am oh so very grateful that he is willing to be my human tripod every now and then.
And for the record, you do NOT have to be a professional photographer to capture your life! Capture it using your cellphone or a regular camera, it doesn’t really matter as long as those images exist. And then print them for safe-keeping so that your entire kiddo’s life isn’t reliant on the existence of social media or the cloud. They could disappear in an instant. And YES, I do actually print every single photo I would be sad to lose. I’ve got boxes of prints, and I do go through them at least once or twice a year to rejoice. They don’t need to go in fancy scrapbooks or albums either—just print them as your backup. It’s worth it, I promise. There are no words to truly describe the heart-wrenching sadness that comes with losing a hard drive to failed technology.
So if you are reading this, and you can’t remember the last time you took a photo of your spouse and your child(ren), make a point to do it today. It doesn’t have to be fancy or staged, just capture those real moments. Even the awkward ones can have sentimental meaning. Just make sure it’s in focus 🤣
Cheers!
