If you don’t follow my personal blog you might not have seen the personal project I’m doing this year. You can find old posts HERE and HERE. And it was totally and completely inspired by my friend Shalonda HERE.
And if you follow Shalonda over at Chubby Cheek you might think, “Wow. I’d love to do something like this but I’m not as good as her!”
Totally what I thought!
She’s amazing at capturing her girls and so often I see her beautifully composed everyday shots and just know mine don’t compare. But you know what? That’s ok! For me, I’m just happy I’m taking (almost) a photo a day of my kids. I don’t mind if they’re not all composed well or perfectly exposed even. So many of my shots are taken late in the day in our dark house. Most of my shots are snapped quickly while I’m cooking dinner or doing baths or folding laundry or some other task I’m balancing while at home between my day job and starting my Fresh Art night work. I’m in one room and hear the kids doing something so I grab the camera, run in, get a quick shot and get back to stirring my dinner before it burns. I’m quick. And I don’t think too hard about it. I capture the moment and call it good. I get it done and am happy.
I’m telling you all of this because if I feel inferior to other photographers (even my friends!) then I’m sure other people feel the same way. And I guess I was just thinking tonight about how that’s ok. There are a few shots in my daily life photos that I’m proud of… and I bet those are the ones I had time+energy to slow down and really think like an artist. Or maybe they were the ones I was channeling Shalonda! HA! All I mean is that I think looking up to other photographers can be a blessing. For me, it sometimes is the only thing that does slow me down enough to really think about what I’m doing when I’m shooting at home. It challenges me and even encourages me.
AND I think it’s ok to not always have the best shot. It’s your LIFE and so it’s not always going to be perfect! Like my shot from tonight. It was in our dingy bathroom with horrible lighting taken with a high ISO BUT just look at that little face! To me it’s still a perfect shot!
The moral?
Just keep shooting.
Love it! I feel the same way
Totally agree with you!! I always feel inferior too! But like you said…this is real life! I love your work!!! Beautiful and inspiring!
wow. This hit me hard. Thank you for writing this. Every single word spoke to me. The photo did too; my little one got pink eye TODAY! I have been so bad about taking my family photos lately. I feel horrible. THANK YOU.
pooor baby!!!! and btw i dont always take perfect shots either and that my friend is exactly the point…our everyday lives are so far from perfect but imagine how happy our kids will be someday to look back at the collection of not-so-perfect and a few kinda perfect shots we captured for them. ROCK ON SUPER MOM!
oh poor pitiful parker!!! hope that clears up fast!
I think we can fall into the trap of thinking everything we produce always needs to be PERFECT! And really, how much more perfect does capturing these memories get… even if its grainy or missed focus or other “technically” imperfect things.