Perfectly Imperfect

Remember just last week when we had temps of +18, sun, kids out on the bikes and enjoying being outdoors FINALLY?  Well what happened this week?  LOL  Gotta love mother nature.  At any rate, still great to be outside, even if cut short! ;)  So tell me were you a bit over zealous in packing up the winter stuff too?  I even went so far as to bring out the summer slingbacks..haaa yup laugh. I did :D

I'd like to share a wonderful post from one of many inspirational photographers out there Sarah Ulrich. 

Every year there is a wonderful convention held in Vegas for Photographers.  People travel from all over the globe to attend.  I plan on making it one of these days but for the time being live and breathe through the testimonials, Facebook pictures and blog posts of fellow photographers and friends.  The convention is called WPPI.    One of the hundreds of guest speakers there was Tamara Lackey.    Tamara spoke about the inportance of capturing families.  MY familiy is the most important thing to me as I am sure your own is to you, but yet many photographers shy away from photographing families ( because hey, lets face it, it can be a bit chaotic!) and many mothers shy away from having images taken with their children because of personal insecurities or physical hang-ups.  " I need to lose 10 more pounds."...  "I have nothing to wear."..."I'm not photogenic."  Sound familiar?  I know it does, I've heard it all before, and I am guilty of saying the same things myself...BUT...you know what...(well besides the fact that I can fix muffin tops and give you a little digital botox if you insist)...heeheeheee....

Your kids don't care!  Let me say it again, YOUR KIDS DON'T CARE!  Trust me they really don't ;)  How many times have your kids looked at images and said " Gee mom, you have a huge butt in that photo! or "WOW, look at your muffin top?...chances are, not too many.  Kids are most happy and most comfortable when surrounded by their parents, so why not embrace it?  It's great to have images of just your children, but when you pass your photographs down to your children later on, wouldn't you rather have them remember you?  The close bond your family shares?  The way your family just fits together?   I know I would.  I don't want my kids to wonder where mom was when all the photos were taken.

And that is my goal for 2010, to capture more families.  REAL families.  Not just families sitting in the grass smiling at the camera...but REAL families...interacting,laughing,embracing,heck maybe even dancing....H A P P Y...REAL families.  I like to think of it as perfectly imperfect, because that's what families are...perfectly imperfect.  Now don't worry, we'll grab a few of everyone looking at the camera too, but let's face it, that's not REAL...it's pretty and nice, but how often does that actually happen?  If your familiy is like mine...not too darn often :)

So...this is your fair warning.  Don't be surprised if I ask you to jump in some images with your kids...or ( gasp)...your spouse...and don't tell me you don't want to because you look fat...beacuse remember...this isn't about YOU, it's about YOUR KIDS ( and ahem....I'm the boss)  :) 

And because I am making everyone do it...*I* will do it too!  So...to those photographers reading this...who wants to photograph my familiy?  Haaa! Warming: I might have a muffin top and I am not photogenic, BUT my kids and my husband are pretty darn cute, and gosh darn it, I want photos with *me* in them!  LOL

And here are a few of mine from last week!