I always start with, "I'm not a professional photographer," whenever anyone asks me to take photos for them. This phrase really drives my husband crazy! He says, "do people pay you to take photos? If so, then you're a professional photographer!" In my eyes, though, I'm not a professional because I have no professional training, and I've never had any photography courses. I just love to take photos. It still amazes me that people pay me because I love it. I see it as more of a hobby. I never thought I'd have people pay me. I thought I'd take photos of my own boys (ha!) and of my friends' kids just for fun. With a lot of gentle nudging from my good friend, Jeni, I've found myself answering emails from strangers interested in having me take photos of their children. I still get nervous about it because I feel like these people are entrusting me with something very precious to them-memories of their children. I want to be able to give them true snapshots of who their kids are at that point in their lives...sometimes, they're looking feisty, sometimes they're chewing their fingers, sometimes they're sticking their tongue out at me. What I've found as a mom and a photographer, is sometimes in going after "the one" photo that you have in your mind, you find that you actually got what you wanted by "mistake" or in one of those photos where your kids weren't doing what you wanted them to do. I have one such photo taken at Christmastime....the very first Christmas that I was the mom of three boys. I wish I could show you what this photo looked like in my mind because it was nothing like what I got! At the time, I was so mad! I was sweating, tired, frustrated...you name it. I was so disappointed at the photo I ended up with. A few years later, though, I scrapbooked it, and I laughed, and I thought, "you know, that's how it was...complete chaos." That photo shoot is what led me to get the camera I have, and give up completely on photo studios. God bless that young, gum chewing girl...she tried. I realized kids need to be kids, and kids don't sit and smile on cue...you have to sneak in some shots and get them being who they are. This is how I come into every photo shoot I do...just let them be kids. So far, so good :) And I don't do weddings.
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