If you would have told me 15 years ago that I would be a mother of 3, staying at home, and own my own photography business I would have laughed in your face. At that time in my life the vision I had for myself “when I grew up” was very different than what it is now. The 19 year old me had big plans to graduate college, find a fantastic job as an executive with a corner office with a view, drive fancy cars, and own my own perfect house. Of course I had always planned on getting married somewhere down the road too, maybe when I was 30. Kids? No, I didn’t like other people’s children all that much, never liked babysitting, so how could I possibly want any of my own? Staying at home? Certainly not, I would be too bored all day. Driving a mini van? Are you kidding!?
The life I now lead is so unexpected but somehow exactly what I never knew I always wanted. I have a cute little rented home that is loud, and chaotic, but full of {mostly} happy little children. My mini van is 13 years old, not exactly fancy, but I wouldn’t trade it for a little sports car or luxury SUV (maybe I WOULD trade it for a newer mini van.) I stay at home, meaning I don’t go to a job outside of my family, but I am truly never ever bored, and almost never home for that matter! My career is much more creative than analytical, and incidentally is centered around other people’s children who I not only enjoy, but LOVE!
The changes in my attitude toward kids happened ever so slowly that I didn’t even notice they had shifted, and looking back now I don’t even know what I was possibly thinking! Today kids are basically my favorite type of humans. They are fun and funny, and just so damn cute! Don’t even get me started on how much fun they are to dress. I am a shopaholic, always have been, but when I started shopping for kids clothes, shoes, and accessories it became this whole other monster! But that is another subject for another post for another day 🙂
Let me get back to the subject of THIS post. Kids are real, and honest, and raw. They of course are unpredictable, and you hope that when they show up to their session they are having a good, well-behaved day. But reality is sometimes they aren’t having a good day. Sometimes they didn’t get a nap, or they hate the new clothes they’re wearing, or dinner is being postponed and they’re hungry. Do you know that those kids usually end up being the most fulfilling to my creative heart? I think it is because they are the ones who make me really work for it, who keep me on my toes, and generally I end up making a complete fool of myself for. The real gems are the shots when for one minute they forgot about the uncomfortable clothes or their hungry tummies, or when my ridiculous singing made them giggle or potty talk leveled the playing field.
I sometimes hear at the end of my sessions some variation of “I’m so sorry she was such a stinker, I hope you got at least one shot of her acting halfway decent.” To these parents I always say I’ve had worse, and it’s true. My own children are a NIGHTMARE for me to photograph, they behave far worse than any client ever has. And I, like you, think at the end of a session with them that there are probably just a bunch of junk pictures barely worth my time. It’s always such a big surprise when I look back over the session and find some real treasures. I imagine it is the same type of reaction parents have when viewing the final images from their sessions.
The fact is kids don’t always act the way we want them to, and often in new situations they act completely different than we as parents have ever seen them. But just as in life, or mine at least, sometimes what you end up with is way better than what you first expected.
