What I have learned….

This will be the last post of 2011 and how quickly it went by. I am so thankful for all of you that continue to support this crazy photography dream. I appreciate you more than I can express. I wanted to share a little something that I learned this year when I photographed my own family. We had a reunion to celebrate our little family and just enjoy our kids so of course I thought it was the perfect opportunity to get family pictures. I only get to see my brothers once a year so this was so important to me and my dad. I knew I would be able to capture the majority of the shots but I needed another photographer to help and actually get me in a few. Brett Morton , bless his heart, showed up to help. He had no idea what he was getting into and I am so thankful he didn’t turn and run!  I had a small taste of what the moms who show up to a session are feeling. As a mom we have to make all of the decisions about clothing, hair etc and then do our best to get the family to that location happy and with as little food on there face as possible, not easy! We decided to have the session in the evening on 4 mile drive in Kalispell… gorgeous weather and perfect lighting. I started with each family separate because I was still waiting for my hubby and daughter to arrive from a trip to Eastern Montana. My sister-in-laws ( I love you two!) are always so thankful for the images we capture but my dad and brothers make me work for it! They know all of my tricks and think it is soooooo funny to find my limits ( I love you boys too)!

So we had about an hour of Brett and I taking turns chasing the kids around and trying to get them in an atmosphere where they were REAL and not too posed.

By the time my hubby arrived we had about 5 minutes of light left and no time to change their clothes. My baby girl had just woke up and hadn’t seen me in a week, CRANKY! We jumped into position and just captured what we could. In that ten minutes Brett told the story of where my family was in 2011. All of our personalities were there!

    My intentions are always better than reality and by the end of the photo session my head was spinning and I was so completely frustrated. I wasn’t sure if we had capture what my heart wanted.

Here is what I learned…

No matter what the clothes look like, if a kid is pouting or you are totally frustrated that it isn’t perfect …you can come away with an image that makes you tear up when you look at it.  I am so blessed to have my family. I will take as many pictures as they let me because I want to remember every detail of them… not just the super fake camera smile.

2011 was such an amazing year and I am looking forward to 2012 and the surprises it holds.

Merry Christmas and I’ll see ya next year!