FAMILY SESSION: Remember December

Christmas time feels like a long time ago.

The balsam candles, the brisk breeze biting your cheeks, the sun shining in those bright blue skies, layers of fleece and pockets full of chapstick to ward off the bitter cold.

I write this as I sit in a tank top, shorts and flip flops in 90 degree weather sipping on ice water and longing for ice cream.

It seems a little ironic.

I’m at the tail end of my “blogging catch up” from the fall/winter.  My June calendar is almost filled up with families wanting to capture the sun-filled season and these warm, summer moments in their “life story”.  I am reminded of the “why” behind family pictures.

I teach Snapshop classes because I value “lifestyle” photography…a photojournalistic approach to family life…in the everyday. My camera is attached to my hip or at my fingers tip at any given moment.  Sure, an iphone comes in handy when nothing else is available, but in my heart, EVERY moment counts and therefore, I treat it with the same value as I would for my wedding pictures…I want the ‘story’ of my life to come to life again in the pages of a scrapbook, the framed images on my walls and the slideshows on my computer.

Simultaneously, there is such value in allowing someone else the camera to capture the entire family dynamic. I know schedules get hectic and you can’t control the comings and goings of viruses, scrapes and bruises…but, before I know it, that time is gone…

If I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast, let alone what my eldest wore during her first steps and now, I only have 4 more years left with her before she heads off to college. I want to be sure to capture moments and seasons of time that are most important so that they ( and I ) don’t lose the memories.

I understand that photography is an investment…the equipment alone is astronomical…add on the learning involved in order to utilize everything to it’s greatest capacity…it sometimes seems a bit overwhelming…

However, coming from someone who only has the memories in pictures of a little sister that went home to Jesus way before I was ready to let her go…coming from someone who sits with her daughters to look through scrapbooks and laughs & cries while we reminisce the “olden days” and pass down the stories…from someone who enlarges the “outtakes” from her own family sessions because they depict the essence of my daughters…

Perfection isn’t necessary…

I know we all want what we envision as the “magazine worthy” shot…but, you realize that “those” shots aren’t REAL, right? And if I have my choice between what is REAL and MINE versus what is just appearance & fake…I’ll take authenticity everytime!

This session was almost into December…the tail end of one holiday, heading into another…into the hectic of jingle bells and shopping sales…Kids are ready to be finished with school, parents are ready to be finished with shopping…but, it’s also the time where everyone and everything stops for just a bit…and we all remember how GOOD it is to have one, to LOVE one another…

We met at a tree farm and spent our time running and laughing and hugging…I think little brother would have loved to jump in the pond...but fortunately, big sisters kept him busy, along with all the huggin' and cuddlin'!!!