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This one is different. Michelle is my sister!
When Michelle and Kate’s second daughter was born, I decided to drive out to Columbus to visit. To snuggle with my older niece and smell some fresh baby. Of course I brought my camera along for the ride, and decided to pull it out and photograph one Saturday morning and evening.
This was HARD. Not taking pictures, not being aunt- but doing them BOTH at the same time. I found ‘photographer-me’ getting annoyed with myself for missing photo moments (in order to give my nieces attention and become part of the story myself)… AND I found ‘aunt-me’ getting annoyed with myself for missing quality time (in order to step back and take pictures as a patient observer!).
You know what I figured out by the end of the day? I CAN’T DO IT ALL. Not well, that is! (Probably should have figured that out by now haha.) So when we had a late night dance party, I got a fun picture then I put my camera down and joined in. And when we had a tickle party, I ditched the camera entirely.
I allowed myself to make conscious decisions about what I wanted to photograph vs experience. And when those internal critical voices started yapping away in my ear, I ignored them. Because this was the experience I decided to have, and I was content with my decision to take it.
All this Disney’s Frozen talk must be getting to me. I’m learning to LET IT GO. HA!
(PS Any of this convo about balancing photography with experiencing the moment ring a bell? Probably because I hashed it all out once before when I went to Morocco. Check out that blog post for more philosophical ramblings along with some killer photos.)
Michelle and Kate live outside of Columbus, OH with their two insanely adorable little girls (I am not biased at all.). You’ll notice that a giant chunk of the day is missing from their photos- because we left the girls with their grandparents and snuck out for some adult time at the theater… We saw Les Miserables! It was a fantastic performance, and I feel like I’m fairly qualified to say that, because I have easily seen Les Mis over a dozen times. Somehow they managed to bring some COMEDY into this show, and if you are familiar with Les Mis, you will understand how impossible that seems.
Anyway enough broadway reviews.
Enjoy the pictures. 🙂
BTW I prefer the video format but if you prefer having control to flip through the images, here are my favorite photos from their session in the gallery below…
