What I learned from getting my own family pictures done

It was time. It was time to put down the tripod and hire another professional documentary photographer to capture a day in our life! I needed to be fully there and present. My good friend, Ashley Shope of Roots 2 Nest Photographs was it for me! She was perfect. All the photos in this post are hers. 

I didn't bat an eye about the cost of the session. I was willing to pay anything for these memories to be organically captured. It is so important. Imagine if you had hours of your childhood photographed by a professional while you had family dinner, played with your family members, and got put down for bed. It would be priceless! 

One thing that was pretty hard for me was that I couldn't turn off my photographer brain. I was anticipating angles and what settings she would need for each shot. Not all of you are photographers so that may not be a problem for you. But everyone has those things that they fixate on, especially when someone is in their home. You become a host. "Are they thirsty? How can I make them comfortable?" You become a different parent. "What will she think if I discipline my child? What will she think if I don't?" You become self conscious about your home, your outfit, your hair, your dishes, etc. Thankfully we did a 4 hour long session which really allowed for me to let go and forget that she was here and our family got into our normal groove. 

I was worried that I wouldn't photograph well. When I take my own pictures, I'm very aware of the angles and can look at the back of the camera and fix anything I didn't like. I had to fully trust Ashley as a professional. I had to know that she would do her best. But I appreciated that she took a shot even when she knew I wasn't "picture perfect"! Seeing these photos taken when I wasn't perfectly prepared for them was so freeing. I still felt beautiful. I still loved the moment and my self esteem sky rocketed!

I know what my family looks like, but I loved seeing what my family looks like from an outsider's perspective. The things that Ashley felt were interesting and special about our family were photographed and highlighted. To me, they are normal parts of our family, but to her and many others, they are different, in a good way.

It also helped me embrace the chaos and happiness that is our life right now with two young boys. The pictures just make me smile and make me a happier and more chill mom. I've really learned to not sweat the small stuff lately.

I'm glad I resisted the urge to fix my chipped nails. It definitely wouldn't have been on the to-do list that busy Saturday and I love that I just accepted that this is reality!

We love the moments. We love the photos. We love that our boys will have these images in an album to look back on for years to come and we will be able to tell them story after story of this part of their childhood that they may not remember.

This is part of our visual history. Do you have yours? Call me!