Why we women avoid having our pictures taken?
After my first child was born I was waiting to shed the extra weight that I gained during pregnancy. I was hoping to get my muscle tone back and fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes for two years. And then I got pregnant with my second one. He is now eleven and I still don’t ware same size clothes as before having kids. I did not exist in many photos in first couple years of their lives and I thought: kids are much cuter anyway, better to just take their pictures.
But we really need to make an effort to get in the picture. As Allison Tate says: our sons need to see how young and beautiful their mamas were and our daughters need to see us vulnerable and open just being ourselves. Too much of a woman life goes undocumented and unseen. We are everywhere in our kids young lives, and yet there are very few pictures of us with them. Someday you won’t be there and no one knows that someday may be tomorrow or forty years from now but you want them to have pictures of you.
We have all the excuses in the world for not being in the pictures with our kids. Being 20 lbs heavier or lighter doesn’t make a difference in who we are as a human being. What I realized as a photographer, I hid from camera since my kids were born. We gain weight and all of a sudden we don’t exist in the photos anymore. It doesn’t matter what weight we are, we can lose maximum 2lbs/week so we are 2 lbs better than the last week, what is that? Nobody may even notice it anyway. The fastest way to lose weight is to fall in love with yourself now and then it doesn’t matter if you lose it or not. Every single day you will get to wake up and say: I like the woman that I am today and this is the most powerful thing you can do for yourself and family. You are perfect now, your kids love you who you are now. They never look at your pictures and say I love my mom but I wish she was 20lbs lighter.
I want to challenge you this Mother’s day, get out of behind the camera and get in the pictures. If you like to schedule a professional photo session contact me, I will be honored to take your family pictures.
