Tomorrow Things Will Fit Differently.

The warm summer breeze still lingers at our backdoor, but before us lays the promise of fall. 

The school bells have rung for most of us and a new journey is upon us again.  For some the season trickles in slowly and others dive in head first with school, homework, sports, music lessons…the list of course is endless and each year it seems to expand.  It is amazing how time carries so many different perspectives, but as a parent I know I wish I could grab ahold of it to slow it down. Why won’t it see I need more of this day with my family? 

My name is Amanda diMonda and I am a child photographer based out of Wantagh. I am so excited to be a part of the Patch blogging community!

This blog will be about photography, family, children and all of it mixed together on a personal level. I hope to inspire you to slow down and remember those simple every day moments with your children and loved ones. 

My first entry comes a day after my own children started their first day back at school.   Yes, I have to admit it is nice to have the extra time to complete my job and everyday tasks without little ones needing your attention as well.  But I can honestly say I am one of those moms that wish this day did not come so fast.  I did cry, I worried, I wondered all day, and I felt as if I was missing an arm or a leg or maybe even both. 

I found myself in the parking lot 20 minutes early to pick them up and was so anxious to hear about their day and if they would be smiling coming out of those big school doors. Guess what….they were!  They loved their teachers so much they did not want to leave. 

The smiles stayed on their faces through the night and the stories came out slowly, however, once it started it was as if a flood gate opened and their lives as third graders came into full view. And so we begin another chapter in the story of my children’s lives. One in which the words seem to be written too fast.

Today, I am thinking of all the details that makes them who they are at this stage in their life and it amazes me how much has changed in such little time.  I have so many not so distant memories of them dancing around in tutus and I swore they would never tire of wearing dresses. Somehow overnight they did. 

The heart and soul of my photography is to capture those little everyday details that make our children who they are today.  The way their little arms wrap around a favorite teddy bear, the intent look of determination as they try to tie their shoe for the first time.  An older child sitting in their room filled with items that make up who they are becoming, reading a book on their bed or face timing their best friend.  Things that seems so ordinary….as they are.  But these ordinary moments on these ordinary days, will one day be extraordinary. 

It’s amazing how we forget tiny details. Ones we swear today we could not  possibly forget but then time creeps in and we do. What a gift it is to have these simple yet special moments frozen in time with a photograph. 

So when your children come home today from school pick up your camera. Do not make them sit and smile at you…rather observe them run to their favorite lovey and capture that look of pure joy as they remember why it makes them feel so safe. Click the shutter when you see how their eyes sparkle as they look out the window on this rainy day thinking of the answer to their math problem. Even take a picture of those glittery high-top sneakers or the way those new lacrosse shorts hang on his tiny frame. Tomorrow things will fit differently…

- Amanda diMonda is a lifestyle child photographer based out of Wantagh that specializes in children portraiture from newborn up to age 10 whose theme is "capturing the essence of childhood naturally." For more information, visit www.dimondaphotography.com.