captured

Childhood is fleeting. There's no way around it.

As mothers, in our melancholy moments we know this all too well. And yet on many days we find ourselves inadvertently wishing it away, eagerly looking forward to things to come. I can't wait until she can sit up. It'll be nice when he's out of diapers. I'll finally have time when my kids are in school.

Or what about when looking to the future feels more ominous than that. I think the terrible twos are setting in. I am petrified of what the teen-age years might bring.

With an 11-year-old in seventh grade, I'm quickly approaching the reality of what has scared me most about parenting. THIS age. The changes are coming so fast my head is spinning. Body, mind, attitude. Changing, changing, changing. Don't get me wrong. It's wondrous watching my daughter bloom. But, putting it mildly, it's not without it's challenges.

The other night, while sifting through the archives, I came upon this shot of her from a number of months ago. I was stopped in my tracks. THIS IS my daughter. I know in years to come, as she becomes more and more grown up,  I will cherish this shot even more than I do now. It's a moment in my daughters life that is captured forever. It's images like these that keep us shooting, I'm sure of it.

Share with us a quintessential shot of someone you love. Let's see THE perfect capture.

What Unites Us

I knew there would be differences – the color of our skin, the food we eat, the place we call home, the way we greet each other, our language, the way we bathe, how we travel, the sounds we hear at night... Traveling to Africa opened my eyes in a beautiful way. It made me appreciate our differences, but spending time with my new friends and listening to their stories reminded me that in more ways than not – at the core - we are essentially the same.

As I scanned through some of my photographs taken in the past several months for a little inspiration, the universal nature of this moment struck me. Birth. A miracle each of us has experienced. Love. A gift each of us has the capacity to give and receive. Peace. A sense of calm we all cherish.

Today, please share a moment in time or a collection of words to celebrate our sameness.

Back to school

Yep, it's that time of year again. I realize us West Coasters are late birds when it comes to starting a new school year (my girls don't start until Sept 9th for goodness sakes) but I came accross a timely little blurb I wrote years ago about this time of year.

Being that we're all photo enthusiasts here I wanted to share with you perhaps my most favorite ways to use a family photo in an unique and meaningful way. Pick up your pencils moms, it's time to take notes.

Going to daycare or preschool for a young child is a big step into the world of the unknown. It can be difficult for both parent and child in the early stages of this kind of separation. In my case, my daughter is still weepy when I drop her off at school and it’s been almost 2 months. Who knew? On particularly tough days she seeks solace from the “comfort necklace” I made for her. It’s a simple heart shaped piece of laminated cardstock that I decorated with a photo of our family on one side a little love note on the other. It’s designed for her to hang around her neck (I used a lanyard with a clip on the end to hang it from) when she wants to keep us close.

When my oldest daughter began her preschool career I made one for her as well. She wore it everyday for almost the entire year. She even wore it when she went to babysitters or sleepovers with her grandparents. I loved that she could carry a piece of her father and I as she forged her own independence (albeit sometimes reluctant forging). When she would get nervous, she’d reach for it, hold it, and gaze at it as a reminder that she was not alone and we were always with her in her heart.

I hadn’t originally planned on making one for my youngest daughter. She acted as if she wouldn’t miss us one bit when she started school. But a week before her first day of school I began to feel the aching of our impending separation and decided to make one for her anyway; despite her super-confident attitude. As I tenderly cut out the paper heart and meticulously chose the photo and message for her necklace I realized that I was really making it for me more than for her. It felt good for me to give her something familiar, something that said, “You are loved” and that she would be reminded of that every time she looked at it.

It is true that my youngest hasn’t attached herself to her necklace quite as desperately as her sister did, but she still knows it’s tucked in her backpack, even when she doesn’t choose to wear it. It’s something very special and important to her. And on occasion when I pick her up from school and she’s got it draped around her neck, I know that a little piece of me was there for her when she needed it.

Like I said, that was years ago but the idea is still near and dear to my heart and the hearts of my daughters. My 11 year old still has her comfort hearts hanging on her bulletin board and my 6 year old will have one tucked away once again in her backpack as she heads out to first grade at her new school. It's just one more way to make the most of some of those many photos we take! Photo above is my youngest circa school year '07 at the tender age of 4.

So...you know what I'm going to beg of you next, don't you? With or without a family photo hanging from their necks, would you please share your first day of school photos of your little ones with us? It's that time of year again and I just can't resist them!

Water Play

 

Growing up, my family had a love affair with water. Summers found us engaged in the most persistent and ruckus water fights on the block. Perhaps the entire city! I have fond memories of long summer days at the outdoor pool, water parks, canoe trips, water skiing and the perennial favorite of kids everywhere – sprinklers and slip and sides. Now that I'm “all growed up” and have two tots, our family has been making water-fun memories of our own.

We live in the diverse and beautiful northwest and we've made Portland, OR our home. For six summers, our family has toured the area fountains, making it an adventure to find another gem tucked into a neighborhood park or the incongruous feature of a busy urban street. When the temperature soars, as it recently did with a week of 100-degree weather, the fountains bring together families seeking play and cool water. Our passion for the many and varied water features started when my son was just a year old and in a swim diapers. It was Father's Day, mild and warm. The fountain we chose was near an ice cream shop and so another summertime tradition was born. As I look back over my son's first years these are some of my favorite photographs. Golden sun on pink cheeks, water reflected in baby-blue eyes and chubby loveliness!

We now have a series of photographs documenting the changes in our family and each of our two children's growth – mama sitting in the shade breastfeeding the new member of the family, big brother protectively hovering over an unsteady toddler, and this summer, two silly and shrieking children chasing each other in cascades of water. Also documented in the photos is my emerging sense of myself as a photographer. The first years were a frenzy of picture taking to preserve the new and wonderful experience of being a parent. Pictures that were pleasing to the eye were a fortunate accident. One that I was grateful for but that I felt no personal responsibility in creating! The last several months have been another kind of adventure – one with camera in hand, seeking images seen in my mind's eye and delighting in the process of creating them.

 

Every child believes that they are an artist – they draw and create with the same reckless and confident abandon as they play. I'm grateful to be rediscovering my inner child in photography – and for a community of women and mamas doing the same!

Pictures and words courtesy of guest blogger / honorary sister Heather of Mama Mutterings.

The Beginning of Being

“What am I doing?” I whispered to myself.

I don’t even know what all the buttons do on my camera and yet there I stood in the corner of the room while she gave life to a person. I felt totally unqualified to capture such an event, but I couldn’t stop clicking and soaking in all the magic before me.

We watched her every move. She was deep in her work, working her way through every contraction, every doubt. I kept shooting, he rubbed her back, we waited and hoped we were doing it right. Somewhere in the midst of struggle, we discover the knowing. She knows how to bring life. He knows how to believe in her. The baby knows how to be born. I know how to hold that moment. Forever.

We all take our place, it is the beginning of being.

Where is your place to be today?  What moment are you holding in your lens?  What beginning do you want to honor?  The comments are all yours today, and special thanks to birth photographer Patience Salgado for being our guest.