I think that as parents, we all want the “nice” shots of our kids smiling and looking at the camera. You take 500 shots in hopes of getting one… JUST ONE that you can send to grandma where the kid is sort-of looking at the camera. I know, because I do that with my own kids. But I think that in the hurriedness of daily life we tend forget how extraordinary the ordinary is. In going through some of my past files, I came across this beautiful session with my good buddy, Dylan, which I had to share. Although the photos are now a few years old now, what I absolutely LOVE about this session is that Dylan’s mom hired me to come to their house and take photos of “Dylan just being Dylan.”
Dylan and I spent an hour or so together during which time he showed me all of the things that he was into at the time. He adored his Thomas The Train set and would make elaborate tracks on the living room floor. His mom made him an amazing “boy” bedroom where he could play with and keep all of his cars and dinosaurs. Dylan had such fun showing me all of his treasures before we went outside and took a spin in his motorized red sports car and played at the park. And guess what? Along the way we got those beautiful smiling, looking at the camera shots too.
Today, Dylan is 3 years older than he was in these photos, and his interests have changed. He no longer makes Thomas train tracks all over the living room floor, but rather makes Star Wars space ships out of Legos. He doesn’t ride in the motorized red sports car because he’s too big for it. But the photos from this session capture that brief slice of time that he was in at that moment before time relentlessly marched on.
The images that result from an in-home lifestyle session are ones that will be treasured more than any portrait you could get from a Picture People or a Target Photo Studio – because in looking at the images you not only remember what your child looked like at that age, but you essentially freeze time and remember WHO they were in that very moment. And that’s what great photography should do.
