It all started when I became a mom
Like many "moms with a camera", it was when my first daughter was born that I picked up a camera. From the moment she arrived and I lay there in the hospital just staring at this perfect little human, I immediately felt this deep, deep need to document our days. I didn't want to forget a thing, and I felt a desire to leave her a record too. I couldn't ignore it. I didn't even have a smartphone at the time, so I carried around my little point and shoot camera in the diaper bag and photographed everything I could about her. The little things and the big things, and wrote it all down in a blog.
By the time her sister was born, I had graduated to a smartphone, and the convenience of a camera in my pocket at all times was game-changing. The blog continued, with all the anecdotes I could find time to include of our days with a toddler and a new baby, and as time passed, a toddler and a preschooler.
My ongoing project is turning my 5 years of blogging for my girls into books they can read as they grow. My sincere hope is that as they grow up and become parents themselves, they will enjoy and appreciate this glimpse into me as their mom and the silly and messy and beautiful moments of their early years.
Many of those photos are not great. Lots are blurry, because little kids move fast and my little camera didn't stand a chance at keeping up. It's ok, because it's still better than nothing. I'm glad I didn't delete the imperfect images. They are still who we were, who we are, and a record of our family.
Once I was able to come up for air and breathe a little, after the early years of motherhood and tandem breastfeeding and chasing toddlers, it was time to really learn. Smart phones have come a long way, and they can and do take some beautiful portraits. They are not a substitute for a proper camera yet though. When I want to create my most beautiful images, freeze motion, use light creatively, and have the most fun, I pull out the big guy and get my kids in front of it. Don't get me wrong, I still photograph them all the time with my smart phone, and I'm still immensely grateful for that camera that's always in my pocket or bag, but I also truly love my other cameras and what they can do.
When I photograph your family, I aim to show you the connections between you. I help your family pose, and guide you into the moments that will show you who you are together. The connections and moods, the whirling dirvishes, the impromptu hugs that make family life beautiful deserve to be preserved. Not every image will follow the "rules", but I want you to have them and that's why I deliver large galleries. And why I keep clicking. And so your gallery will include images that follow all the rules, and plenty that don't too. Kind of like all of us, right?