I’m always so excited when I get to meet up with this cool family. I photographed mom and dad’s wedding at Chautauqua around 5 years ago and these days they are spending their time wrangling their two adorable munchkins. Last time we met up there was only one kiddo but now they have two little girls! We were a tiny bit worried after this session that we may have overplayed our hand with the timing. It’s so hard balancing the prettiest light of the day being so late in the evening with such young children. But, I felt pretty good about what we were able to get despite a certain baby girl not being in her most smiley mood that evening.
I always feel so bad for parents when they show up for a session and their child isn’t feeling it as much on the day that we pick. Sometimes that can happen even if we do everything in our power to create the perfect conditions for a happy baby. I know with all of our incredibly busy lives it can be frustrating when it’s not all going according to plan. But, I have to say, documenting these less perfect moments is good too! I love looking back at our family photos of me and all of my siblings when we were little. In some photos we look like little beaming angels who would never even think to cry or frown when a camera is shoved in our face (nothing could be further from the truth, just ask my mom!) And in other photos we look like the little monsters that I’m sure my mother was often convinced that we were. Of course I love seeing the super cute side of us but I quite appreciate the cranky photos too. I love that the “realness” could not be contained! When I was in art school studying photography I fell in love with Diane Arbus and I always think about her photos of crying toddlers when I’m photographing children who just aren’t in the mood. (See here for an example: Mom Holding Crying Child, New Jersey’, 1967)
I know that this is not the side of life that parents want captured at their professional photography session, but I can’t help but think that it’s beautiful too! Isn’t there some motivational poster saying about life not being as good without the bad? All that being said, I’m building this up as if our session was full of crying toddlers and that’s not the case at all as you’ll see from my favorite photos below! I just wanted to give a little nod to the not so perfect moments in life and reassure all the parents out there that it’s ok if your little one isn’t “perfect” at the annual family photo session. I promise, one day parents will look back at photos of their little ones with their adorable little frowns and tears and their hearts will melt just the same as they would with the big happy smiles. And then they should give each other big high five for making it through parenthood:)
Head over to the FAMILIES page of my website to find more information about booking your own family photos!
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