Challenging Myself

It really hit me. It knocked me over like a ton of bricks. And I vowed I'd do something about it.

I was at a friend's house last weekend taking some family photos, when she pulled a gorgeous picture frame off the fireplace mantel. It was filled with photos of her little boy as a baby. These photos were beautiful! They were of him sleeping, with a blanket over his head, all kinds of candid, beautiful moments. I asked Jen, "did you have these taken?" To my surprise she said, no, I took them.

That's when it hit me. I don't have ANY pictures of Cooper just doing regular, everyday things. The things he's going to want to see when he looks back at photos of when he was a baby. Instead, all I have are the posed shots. Cooper in a pumpkin. Cooper in a Santa hat. What kind of mother am I? Jen pointed it out: not all shots have to be perfect. They just have to be of your child.

I'm challenging myself both as a new parent and as a photographer. These days I don't leave the house without my point and shoot. And I challenged myself tonight to capture my little guy as he slept. I didn't worry about perfection, creativity or even that much about lighting. I just wanted to capture him.

Jen, I owe you one! Maybe when Cooper is older, he won't hate me for putting him in the most embarrassing positions for the sake of a photo.

So, here's to imperfect photos, but perfect moments.

First, the photos that will be the reason for my kid needing therapy when he's older.

Precious moments that I finally captured.