Pressing The Pause Button On Growing Up

Our children grow up way too fast.  Some days they seem to grow an inch during a nap or leap to a whole new level of sophistication in their speech or play when you turn your head for just a moment.  It can literally happen overnight.  As a parent, I often have moments of wanting to push the pause button on this persistent, unstoppable and bittersweet passage of growing up and the impermanence that is childhood.

But there is no way to push the pause button on the march of time.  We can, however, do our best to preserve these moments with the help of writing, story telling, framing artwork, video and, of course, photographs.  

I organized our first “formal” family photo shoot when my daughter was three months old.  I say “formal” with quotes because the photographer was a friend of mine who does not make his living with photography but has an intense passion and talent for it (and a lot of gear).  Instead of being compensated with cash he said that we could just buy him a piece of camera equipment he had on his wish list.  I was so grateful to be able to have some wonderful moments captured in the comfort of our home with someone I knew and trusted on the other side of the lens. 

As my daughter’s three-year birthday approached and she went through another overnight leap in her development, I found myself in a panic to capture this time in our lives.  Her hair, cheeks, eyes, nose, chin, elbows, feet, how she holds her body, interacts, moves through space and her wonderful facial expressions.  Her babyhood is long gone and the toddler years seem to be going at mach speed.  I wanted to somehow encapsulate it all.  Especially since we hadn’t had any organized family photos taken since that three-month photo shoot.

I am lucky to have a mom friend who is now a professional photographer.  We first met when our babies were mere weeks old.  I’ve been admiring her work via her blog for years and her style speaks to me.  She was the one I trusted to memorialize our family as we turned three. 

I chose her not just because she is a friend.  I chose her because she is extremely passionate, talented, and professional and has a knack for capturing unique and unexpected moments.  I knew that I would feel comfortable with her.  I am not someone who is at ease in front of the camera.  So, having a natural relationship with the photographer is very important to me.  Sarah’s point of view, eye for editing, flexibility and relaxed personality made her the perfect fit for our family.

We are fortunate to live in a city where there are so many photographers from which to choose.  We are not limited to the photo studio at the mall.  But because there are so many choices, where do you begin to find someone? 

Before hiring a photographer, become familiar with their style of work.  Most photographers have websites and blogs these days where you can see their portfolio as well as what they have currently been up to. 

If you have young children, it’s essential that you have someone who not only has experience taking photos of children, but enjoys it as well.  Kids can spot a fake from miles away.  Take into account what style of photo you like.  Indoor, outdoor, close-ups, formal, candid, playful, more posed, color, black and white, classic, more artistic etc.

There’s also the question of what to wear.  The clothing was what I stressed about the most.  Not the weather for our outdoor photo shoot, not if our daughter was going to be amenable that day, but what the heck I was going to wear!  I wanted us to look natural, comfortable and like ourselves but special and pulled together as well.  Then there’s the task of coordinating but not too much.  No matchy matchy!  What family walks around with matching shirts all of the time?  (No offense to those who like to be matching for pictures, just not my style)  Here’s a fun blog post by Danielle LaPorte from White Hot Truth about how to look your best in a photo.   

Be sure to choose the right time of day for your photo shoot as well.  You know your family best.  Make sure tummies are full, bodies rested and everyone is healthy.  I knew my daughter would go along with the picture taking for only so long.  I came prepared with the trusty mommy tool of bribing.  Once she seemed to hit her wall I pulled out a special sucker to convince her to go a little longer.  Of course, then she wouldn’t put the sucker down.  I ended up having to somehow get it back so that we didn’t have hundreds of shots of her eating a sucker.  It did, however, buy us another 20 minutes or so.   

We had a magical experience at our photo shoot.  I’m so glad I motivated to do it and feel so fortunate to know of someone like Sarah.  I recently saw a sneak peek of some of the photos and I was nearly brought to tears.  They are so special and were able to capture our family perfectly at this time in our lives.  Now I just need to practice some serious objective editing in order to choose which images to display and how to best display them.  Any advice?    

Do you have a photographer you love?  Any experiences, good, bad, funny you’d like to pass along?  Do share in the comments! 

Sarah Heitman of Sarah Heitman Photography is who we used for our photos.  Obviously I recommend her!