That night as I was going through the pictures, I told my husband what I really wanted for Mother's Day was for me to teach him how to take better pictures so I could be in the frame. I really love all the photos I have of my sons and hubby, but I feel like most moms- I am missing from the photos. Rarely am I in the photos and a lot of that has to do with me wanting to be in control of the photos. Through no fault of his own, Brad doesn't take great pictures simply because he doesn't have a passion for it like I do. So I always want to be the one taking the pictures. I really want to give up my control issues and make sure I am in the photos too. And yes, even on the bad hair days and on the days where I feel like I need to lose 40 pounds (which, by the way, is about every day). And yes, even if it means that the photos are not perfect.
So, the next day I was outside taking pictures of John because he lost his first 'real' tooth. (He had two teeth pulled so this was the first natural loss!). Then he asked to take my picture. Although I would like to believe he wanted to take a picture of ME, he really just wanted to use my camera. So I did and this is what he got.
Again when I was looking through the photos, my immediate though was 'I am in a photo, but not with any of the rest of the family!'. So while that is still a work in progress (and thanks to the tripod I got in a couple pictures last week during my Day In The Life), I had another thought pop into my head. I realized I don't have to be in photos solely to show my role in my kids' lives. Yes, I am their mommy, but isn't there more to me than that? Don't I have hobbies and interests that are worth documenting with photos just like I do for my family? So for this particular picture I realized it shows what I am like at 7:00 in the morning. Still in my workout clothes from a 5:30 work out class because I don't want to take the boys to the gym day care. Hair pulled back because that's just what you do with curly hair when you haven't showered yet. Big smile on my face because I am hanging out with my oldest son on the morning he lost his tooth for the first time. All part of ME, not MOM.
A couple days later I read this post from Fearless and Framed which talks about photographing people around you. It just so happened I was going to a Mom's Night Out scavenger hunt with my Moms Club friends so I took my big camera along with me to photograph other meaningful people in my life. I have been in this group for about 2.5 years so I have truly enjoyed all the play groups, parties, outings, and I have definitely valued our MNOs! All perfect reasons to snap a couple photos and I was in one of them! :)
So, have you taken photos for YOU lately?
Jen Faith Brown is a family photographer specializing in storytelling family photography session, either in home or on location. Jen is married with three young sons who keep her quite busy and give her abundant practice in photographing always-moving children! Jen is now booking 2015 sessions in Flower Mound, Southlake, Highland Village, Lewisville, Coppell, Frisco, and surround DFW areas. Please visit www.jenfaithbrownphotography.com for pricing and to view sample galleries.
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