Why Getting in Front of the Camera Matters

Getting your picture taken isn't necessarily the most natural or comfortable thing. And even as a photographer, it's not something I do super often. But recently, I decided to commemorate a season of life with some special photos with our littlest baby, Asa. We've been tapering off nursing and it had me a little emotional, knowing that this is our last baby and this era of nourishing my children with my body is almost over. I didn't have any photos of me nursing our older kids, so this felt important to me so that I have a visual representation of such an important period in my life.

But why photos? There are other ways to commemorate your nursing journey, like jewelry made of breastmilk or keeping a journal of how you felt while you were nursing. Other than the obvious reason that I'm a photographer, there's one really important reason that I chose to capture this season with photos. It's that photos are powerful emotional portals to important moments in our lives. When we look at photos that are important to us, it literally takes us back to that time and place. We can hear our children's giggles and remember how happy they were. We can feel the wrinkles on our grandfather's face and remember how strong he was in those last days, how connected we felt even as time was fading. We can smell that newborn scent and sense the closeness we felt with our sweet babies as we held them in our arms and gave them life. Nothing else quite has that power.

As a mom (and especially as a photographer), I'm not often in the photo with my kids. I take a lot of pictures of them and I'm so grateful that I have little catalogs of their lives so far. Sometimes we take selfies that show us on a hike together, or playing in the driveway. I'm trying to capture those little moments, and it's nice to have my phone because it's so easy to do that. But most of the time I haven't showered, and the angle is... well, less than flattering. And you know what? I know my kids will cherish those photos someday because they'll see us together, loving being together. But I've also realized that I deserve to love and cherish photos of us together, too. That's why I prioritized these photos, knowing that a quick snap on my husband's phone could not possibly do justice to the beauty of this experience for me.

So here's my encouragement to you - invest in the good photos. Let someone else take on the stress of making sure you look good and really capturing the true essence of you and your family at this season of your life. You won't regret it.

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