Let's Back Up

Let's back up.

Let me introduce myself and this blog.  I am a lifestyle photographer.  I happen to think my children are the most beautiful things in the world, but I know I am biased.  You will see lots of pictures of them, as well as pictures of others.  You won't see a pretend life that is fairy tale perfect - and please don't let these pictures let you think otherwise.  I love reading other people's blogs, and have for quite some time.  What I don't love is the appearance that their life is perfect - because let's be honest, that is quite annoying.  Their houses always seem immaculate - clean and decorated to the T.  Their children never have a stain on their shirt and they eat home cooked meals all the time.  Don't get me wrong - I sometimes like to cook (but a screaming toddler usually gets in the way), and I really love looking at pretty pictures of pretty houses.  But I am a working mother, I lose my patience, my house is almost always a mess, my kids don't eat organic everything, and my hair really, really needs highlights.

I almost always avoid the "About Me" information on social media sites.  What do I say?  Who am I?  If I answered truthfully I'd say I don't really know.  I change all the time.  Five years ago I would have said I loved shopping and motorcycle riding.  Today I rarely shop for myself and my husband and I haven't been on a motorcycle in over a year.  Five years from now I don't know who I will be, but I can say I am becoming more confident in who I want to be.  I want to be true to myself and my family.  I want to be an inspiration to my children, someone they can look up to.  I want to be a good person, who people trust and respect.

In this blog you will find real life.  It is beautiful and something we don't appreciate enough.  We value the "perfect life," when the emphasis should be on the beauty of simple things, the everyday life.  My photographs may not show children perfectly dressed from a catalog, or a magazine worthy house - but it will show the beauty of a family and children that are loved more than life itself.

So whether you find my children as beautiful as I do or not, I hope they inspire you to see the beauty in life in as they have inspired me to capture the excitement in their childhood.

That is what beautiful photography is to me.

*Photo credit to the hubby on this one.  I asked him to stand on a ladder for this shot and he did it without even complaining.  He's cool like that.*