At heart, I am just a mom with a camera.
I’m sitting here listening to my boys sing and play in their beds. Daddy just got done saying “Jesus Amen” with Reiken and Quinny was slurping down a nice, warm baba (yes, I know he is 18 months but I just can’t deny him). I’m sure they won’t actually go to sleep for at least 45 minutes. And that is OK with us.
I recently realized that it had been a loooooong time since I had photographed my own children. Why? I LOVE photographing my own kids. By far, my favorite subjects (Jeff, my husband, isn’t too bad either…) The winter does this to me… the weather turns cold, gray and dreary and all my creativity and desire to shoot, or even be outdoors, goes out the window. (Maybe I should consider a vitamin D supplement….) I started feeling guilty about my lack of documenting my childs’ lives. Yes, I took photos at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Reiken’s birthday a few weeks ago (plus this shoot and this one too through the fall,) BUT, I hadn’t really done the best job I could just for my boys in a long while.
SO. Yesterday, my good friend Dana and I decided to rectify this little problem and hopefully get some shooting mojo back. The weather cooperated (the kids? mmmmm… no comment,) and all outfits were perfectly coordinated which is TOTALLY a requirement of mine in order to get jaw dropping, gallery wrap worthy shots. We were in a field, which is my favorite place to be, and everything seemed to perfectly align for about 20 minutes.
Now, before I show you the images (which you knew was coming, right faithful reader?) I just have to say that it doesn’t take a professional photographer, a fancy camera, perfectly coordinated wardrobe and rainless Northwest weather to take meaningful, priceless photos of your kids. I promise it doesn’t.
Just. Take. Pictures. A lot.
To prove it, I snapped away earlier this evening while Reiken was learning the hard won skill of hand washing. Now, he just turned 3 so being dirty/sticky/smeary is pretty much a 24/7 requirement, but getting to splash in the sink is one of his top 10 fav things to do. It didn’t take much coaxing to get him to play around on his little stool in the bathroom for a few minutes. In 10 minutes, I ended up with 13 images I really like. My plan is to put them all together on a storyboard and display them in our guest bathroom. In fact, I may or may not have already created said storyboard and it may or may not be at the end of this post. You’ll just have to scroll on down through delicious images to find out.
And? Pull out your camera, no matter what model, and snap away at your kids this week. I’m sure you’ll end up with a keeper or two also.
And a few of Miss Dana and her kidlets:
A keeper of just me (va va VOOM!):
And Reiken’s washing experience:
