memory making
Maybe it was just my childhood, but my memories greatly begin when I was 5. It was a big year for me and our little family of 3. I started kindergarten and my Mom made the decision to enroll in an accelerated nursing program to get her RN (which meant moving in with a few other nursing friends 40 minutes North of us for a whole year and just come home on the weekends). So it was mostly just me and my Dad. I remember watching Nick at Night on TV and trying my hardest every night to stay awake for his favorite show, M.A.S.H., which I never did. The opening credits would start and I'd be passed out by 9:05.
My parents also had rental properties and I remember always being dragged to go 'help' clean one out and prepare for the next tennant -- I hated those evenings and I'm sure I drove them to drink with my whining about being bored. But my happiest memory is what happened when my parents weren't working, volunteering, or entertaining....
FAMILY BIKE RIDES. Which I have ZERO photos of. Which is bizarre because I inherited about 19 photo albums full of vacation pictures (they took mostly without me) after they divorced in 2003.
Riding our bikes was something all three of us loved to do. Be outdoors away from the TV and ride around our quiet neighborhood.
So back to my disgruntled attitude about the photo thing.
PERHAPS it was because it 'wasn't a thing' back then ("lifestyle photography" didn't exist yet)
PERHAPS it was because it took effort to ask a friend or neighbor to take a photo (Vs. easy self-timers on every smart phone these days)
I KNOW it wasn't because we didn't own a camera or knew how to use one (as I mentioned all the photo albums before)
So after some therapy and digging deep, I figured out why I'm so passionate about capturing other people's family story. Because I don't have proof of my own. So what does a girl do when she can't change the past? Be better for her own family. Capture the mundane everyday stuff. Because THAT is what makes a family and a home.
Sure it takes effort and a tiny bit of planning. Sure it may cost you something. But totally 100% guaranteed you'll have no regrets when your babies leave your nest.
And aren't you glad the only option for family photography anymore isn't just random [crappy] family snapshots...see below... and photos for the church directory?
Me with my Mom and Dad around 1989. What are we even doing here? That's not even our car! hah
yessss
Guess what? Our little family of 3 loves bike rides, too! So I asked my friend, Deb, to come over for a beer and shoot us. It's us as we are ... not perfect, by any means. I'm unshowered with no makeup and Ryan had to buzz to a meeting shortly after, but it's captured. That means the world to me.
use your iphone!
.... or give me a shout. I'd love to be able to capture your family doing you at your happy place. A lifestyle session with me is fun, quick, and oh so easy.
