An Eye-Opening, Re-affirming Experience…

Have you ever met someone that is so talented, passionate, energetic, and beautiful that you’re left feeling a bit… lacking?  And on top of that they are incredibly nice AND Christian, so it makes feeling anything but inspired by them just wrong? 

Enter Andria. She’s a photographer out of Seattle and when my cousin Lindsay was selected to receive a photo-shoot done by Andria, I hesitated not a second, before asking if I could come along to observe.  In the photography world, allowing an outsider on a shoot is not common-place, but then again, Andria isn’t your common photographer.  I thought I’d be at the heals of a long-seasoned pro… she’s 23 and has been doing this for a year.  The more I mull that over in my head I am, again, feeling lacking.

The shoot happened a few weeks ago and I watched, mostly silently, grabbing Lindsay an outfit here and there, but for the most part just trying to stay-out of the way and not hinder their groove.  I took a few shots of Andria shooting and I regret not getting the one of her laying down on the floor in this coffee-shop… but at least now, I know, that it is okay to lay on the floor of a coffee-shop to get the shot.     

As I observed I watched the light, the interaction between Lindsay and her fiancé, Josh, and of course, Andria’s roll in it all.  She wasn’t only “taking pictures” she was giggling, encouraging, instructing, and  relating.  She puts it perfectly in her blog… she gave them an ‘experience’.  I kept thinking, ‘Oh, I hope she got that expression… or that squeeze… or that side glance…or that giggle’ and now that I’ve seen some of their photos on her blog I am pretty sure she never took her finger off of the shutter-button!  Because it wasn’t only the ‘poses’ that she photographed, she captured the in between moments that are often times the best. 

As much as I wanted to be totally into and consumed by the experience, my heart-strings were being pulled each time I thought about my boys, who were at Grammie’s house, giving her a run for her money.  The shoot went until after 8pm and I knew I was asking A LOT of my mom and the boys to allow me this opportunity. At the time, (remember, AT THE TIME) I was thinking that even if I WAS feeling ready to start portfolio building, I couldn’t because it was too hard to be away from my kids for that long… 

But fast-forward a few weeks and now I’m feeling restless.  Restless with JUST doing this… motherhood.  I am not saying I want to give anything UP… I don’t want to hand my kids over to anyone else.  But all of these thoughts are coming at a time when respect from the wee-ones up to their mama and daddy is wavering.  We have numerous challenges throughout the day with Gage and Cooper being too rough with each other, being selfish, sassy, overly emotional and ornery.  I can manage this.  I HAVE to because it is my responsibility and I LOVE them… they are my number one responsibility… but doing it day after day after day, makes me feel, again, LACKING.  I am longing for an outlet… just a little something else in addition to motherhood. 

I think back on how my head raced with possibilities during this shoot.  And I think, too, about the freedom and energy Andria seemed to ooze… two things I have in very short supply.  I’m typically not a jealous person – the Lord tells us not to covet and in general, I feel very content with my life.  But I can’t help but long for a snippet of that freedom and energy and I’m praying that someday I can have that from photography… 

Anyway, observing this shoot was eye-opening and it re-affirmed many things I know to be true about life and photography…  I saw how critical the interaction is between photographer and her subjects.  I saw how important it is for the subjects to feel comfortable and to just be natural.  I saw how beneficial it can be to shoot a lot of frames.  I saw how important it is to for a photographer to know their style and for clients to, thus, pick accordingly. I saw how critical good lighting is to my style of photography, but for others no light can make for some pretty artsy stuff! But even among these lessons, the two best BEST things I saw because of this photo-shoot were:  the love between Lindsay and Josh… and the look of love on Kaden’s face when I walked through the door. 

After-all, LOVE is what its all about. 

To see Lindsay’s beauty, to see her Love for Josh, and to see Andria’s artsy, unique style, go HERE… and HERE… and HERE…