The Fleeting Nature of Childhood

I am sure you have heard the old saying that “the kids will be all grown up before you know it”.  I have never felt more humble about a phrase I have heard so many times before as this one.

This spring, I took a step back from the insanity of mini sessions and professional childhood photography and just took a break.  A break from the pressure of shooting and a break from the obsessive nature of being a professional photographer.  I needed to take a moment to just stop and literally smell the roses.  I looked at my children who were finishing up the school year and actually realized that they were on their way to 5 and 7 and that I felt like my conscious life was comatose.  You hear it all the time but when you notice that you are ‘that’ Mom, it makes you stop.  I have been so obsessed with making artistic memories for my children, I have been literally missing their childhood summers worrying about what I was capturing, what I wasn’t capturing and trying to make that ‘perfect’ image before they grow and it is too late.

A New Angle on Childhood Photography

Childhood Photography drives me though.  What do you do when you are a professional child and family photographer in the Red Deer and Calgary area and couldn’t imagine not photographing moments as they present themselves through the Summer months?  It is like asking someone not to breathe or eat when you suggest that a photographer puts down their camera for a few weeks at a time.

What I decided upon was to bring my camera along to as many outings as I could this summer and hassle my kids less to do “pretty” images – the ones that Suzanne Taylor Photography has built its childhood photography branding on.  While they are the nearest and dear to my heart art wise, they take an incredibly long time to plan, set up, photograph and then edit.  The ‘time’ I just wasn’t prepared to part with more than a couple of times this year.  The best way around this dilemma was to embrace the style of photography that Suzanne Taylor Photography started shooting many many years ago now, and to document our outings and not pressure the kids to stand a certain way, move a certain way or to be honest, just suck the fun out of whatever we were planning on doing for the day.

We found ourselves West a couple weeks ago near Nordegg, Alberta for a day away from life.  Our family lives on day trips and mini-holidays while all the kids are still so young and rebellious.  This trip to beautiful Crescent Falls, Alberta was one of the best ways we have ever spent the day.  I photographed the kids playing in the green blue water (that was especially cold), climbing on the rocks of the basin walls (before my youngest son cut his foot – imagine that) and my oldest throwing sticks, logs, and rocks into the rapids of the two tiered water falls crashing to the ground.  Childhood photography took a new angle that day, and I was there to capture all of it – all while trying to be extremely unintrusive and most importantly ‘present’ in the day trip we were on.

A Simple Request for Other’s Who Capture Childhood Photography

If you are a parent, a photographer or an enthusiast who is reading this blog post, I really wanted to express that time is ticking and that today isn’t yesterday – much like tomorrow will not be today.  Today is the day that you are here with your children and while they work to savor every precious moment of their summer holidays, don’t take for granted the everyday childhood photography moments that happen right in front of you.  What good are the memories you have of everyone happy, smiling and enjoying life when before you know it, your children are grown up and you long to remember a time they were trying to tie their shoes, eating that famous spaghetti you make or even back to school shopping?  The day’s children live now can be remembered and documented so much easier then they were when I was a little girl – there is little reason not to.

An Easy Way to Journal Your Days

Another really important reason to photograph the every day of your children is to journal those moments for them to look back on.  I have a personal Instagram account that I put ALL of my personal and professional images into – with captions (yes, this takes a bit of time you CAN carve out of your day) and have the images and captions printed at the end of each year.  I have never been much of a journaler – even blogging is really hard for me on a regular day, but I do want to leave my children something about our days together when we were all together.  Our world is forever changing and all of this childhood photography would have no home if I hadn’t decided to create these books (and again – these captions on every image are VERY important to telling the story of our life).  This is my journal and this is my record of what we did, what we saw and what I saw my children seeing.  A photograph is such a simple thing to take in 2017 – they don’t need to be professional – they just need to be captured so the moment is preserved and saved for their story – and yours – later on.

Unexpected Childhood Photography Magic

I take a lot of ‘snapshot’ photography on my phone.  The limited followers on my personal Instagram account likely hate when I go on holidays because of the onslaught of up to 150 pictures a night I log into the program.  The documentary images I take though with my ‘big camera’ (I shoot with a Nikon 750) have very much a place to within the story telling.  Any professional photographer knows though that the first thing I do when I get home from a family outing I brought my camera along with is to look at the images to see if there was any ‘magic’ that was captured.  I am a professional child photographer and that set of skills is always with me that I have perfected and fine tuned over all of these years.  I never ignore an opportunity to capture something I think it is amazing.  These two images of my oldest triplet were captured just as the clouds passed over on that very sunny and warm day outside.  The light was amazing and I shot the second I saw the image frame itself as she built an Inukshuk and I stood in wonder, shooting as much of what I saw happening as I could.  This is how award-winning images should be captured – just a photographer in the right spot at the right time with their subject.   No pressure, no expectations – just wonder and beauty all around.

Never miss that golden opportunity to catch your child being who they are.  Whether you are a professional photographer, a parent, a film maker, etc. – you have the time NOW to capture moments that evolve as your days march forward.  Children don’t know how to capture these moments for themselves and that responsibility falls on the people that love them the most.  Document their day’s and yours with them – they will cherish them forever one day when sadly you are gone and they are left with the beautiful memories you took the time to create during the moments you shared.

Warmly,
Suzie
XO

(Curious about a family photography session with Suzanne Taylor Photography?  Why not read THIS blog post?)

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