It’s one thing to meet up with a client, get to know their family, hatch a plan, and capture the important bits in an afternoon… That is what I specialize in.
Until I had my own, though, I didn’t fully understand what it’s like to be living with your “client” every hour of every day.
There is no plan! Life is unfolding as we go.
Moments are constantly popping up, and without hindsight to make it clear, it is very difficult to tell which ones will be the ones that tell the story in the end.
Moment: Dad built a pillow fort for Emmett because the west sun came around and threatened to wake him.
Moment: My mother exclaimed, “Look! He’s holding my hand!”
Moment: The cat finally accepted Emmett as one of his own (or at least as a pillow…)
My friends keep saying “This is going to be one well documented baby!” and “Emmett’s baby book is going to be out of control!”. I have to keep reminding myself that there is a balance between living and capturing the moment. I have to keep reminding myself what I tell my clients every day – that when you have a million pictures in your phone or computer they get lost and never enjoyed. I have to make sure I make the time to actually create his baby book, unlike the wedding album I was sure I would have time and motivation to create but still have not…
I also have to keep reminding myself that no matter how many photos I take of Emmett, the really important thing is that we have photos of us together as a family. The really important thing is that he look back on the photos and see that his parents loved him from the start – that we’re in it together. That’s one reason I, a professional photographer, hired someone else to come take photos of our new family.
Of course I will keep taking photos – as any parent does. And perhaps because I am a photographer myself more of those pictures than average will end up in albums and on the wall. But the photos taken by the professional will be our foundation.
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