Oh man am I ever so much in love with this little man. Every day he steals my heart all over again. I know every mom believes their child is absolutely beautiful, and I am no exception. Isn’t he beautiful? I’m gushing…..
Late yesterday afternoon I packed up my boys (my oldest was my photographer’s assistant) and headed to Bluff Park. There’s this great little antique shop there , On-A-Shoestring Antiques. I bought an old, funky painted high chair from there last week and got a chance to talk to the owner. He is SO sweet – you’ve gotta stop by there and tell him Hello. Anyway, I got his permission to shoot around his store sometime – and he graciously told me I’m welcome to anytime! So I dragged my little guy and crossed my fingers in hopes he’d give me an opportunity to capture a few great shots of him. He did ok….if you consider constantly moving, looking down at his feet, pointing at the dogs next door, running away from me, and climbing on anything and everything doing OK…well, then he did just fine! haha!
So for you moms out there who swear your child turns into a monster in front of the camera…well, admittedly I have actually seen it happen…let me just say, it’s OK! I totally get it. I understand the stress. You want the pictures to be perfect. You want your child to smile. Sit still. Laugh on demand. Twirl around. Etc. I get it. I totally get it….funny, I know better and part of me still hopes a miracle will happen and Sam will be a little angel during his session. Never happens.
So here’s the deal: let. them. have. fun. period. If they’re not having fun, they’re probably going to cry…or scream. And you’re going to pull your hair out. And we don’t want that. I’m not kidding when I say Sam NEVER LOOKED AT ME. Yes, I have some photos of him looking at me – but only because I had my finger on the “trigger” and was ready to catch that millisecond when he happened to glance at me. But he was in a new location. He was busy being adventurous and curious. He could have CARED LESS about me and my camera.
We were out shooting for maybe 20 minutes total. I was chasing Sam the entire time, meanwhile getting eaten alive by mosquitos (we even sprayed!). Oh, and I should also mention it’s about 100 degress here and 100% humidity. So we were literally wet when we were done.
Why am I telling you this? Because it’s the truth. What you see in images don’t always portray the truth (toddler running around like a crazy kid hyped up on caffeine). What you see is literally a MOMENT captured on camera. A glance. A quick smile. That look of excitement when he first lays eyes on the puppy in the neighbor’s yard. Whatever it is….it’s a moment. And it’s my job to capture those moments.
And sometimes the photo isn’t perfect…but you can’t help but love it anyway…this one makes me smile every time. :)
I’m not gonna lie – he sat maybe 3 seconds in this chair!
Again, just a glance. Look at his little hands…Sam, please don’t ever grow up.
Isn’t this location beautiful? Sam was more interested in the cars going by in the road in front of the store. (Which of course meant more chasing Sam to ensure he doesn’t kill himself!!)
Last one for today. As you can see, he’s not sitting still and smiling perfectly….but I feel like I was still able to capture the expressions and even movements of my little Sam. He’s all boy – of course he’s not going to sit still and cross his hands and feet for me! And why would I want him to? That wouldn’t be him!