I Love Custom Photography

Why I Love Custom Photography…or…Custom Photography is one of my Favorite Things

I was looking through our photographer clients’ portfolios the other day, as I am wont to do, and one image triggered a bunch of memories and feelings for me. No, it wasn’t a newborn! (They get all the oohs and aahs!) There was an image of a young teenage girl who was obviously going through her awkward phase and yet the photographer had captured a stunning shot. She looked kind of wistful yet at peace and the background and lighting all came together. She will be able to look at that beautiful picture and say to herself, “I look like that.”

Photography seems to play this unique roll in our modern lives. Somehow, if we can look amazing in a photograph, it makes us feel like we look amazing. Even on our bad days, we can carry that image of ourselves in our minds and know that sometimes we look awesome! And custom photography can give us that gift when we need it most. I think of the pictures I have from my youth and think what a gift beautiful portraits would have been.

Like too many people, I don’t like having my picture taken and I rarely love the way I look in a photograph. But I love the pictures of me with my new baby. The reality of the morning of that photo shoot was me in my best effort at 5 minute makeup after not having slept for 2 months. I still had pregnancy hair, and even though I did do it that morning, nothing I did seemed to matter. I was wearing a nursing shirt (because my baby ate every hour – seriously) and maternity shorts (because anything touching my abdomen was uncomfortable). But a good photographer can get past all of that and capture the amazing part of that time that you actually want to remember (thank you Cherise Kiel).

Another eye-opening moment happened when I was trying to find a photo for this website. I realized that there wasn’t a single recent picture of me that didn’t involve goofy faces or someone else in the shot. And Jenny and Laura look so glamorous, I wanted that, too! It just hadn’t occurred to me to have individual pictures taken in a year filled with family and baby madness, but I am so glad to have them! So don’t be fooled by this lovely blog header picture! Yes, if I spend considerable amount of time on hair and makeup and a photographer chooses my lighting and then does a bit of photo-shopping, I look like that. And yes, I know that it isn’t an every day occurrence. I know that sometimes, I look like this (before you go on, promise to look quickly and then look away!).

 

 

(Thank you to my sister for tagging me in this photo on Facebook. And yes, I did think of un-tagging myself. But then I thought, “No, that’s fair, obviously I sometimes look like that.”)

 

 

 

 

 

But it doesn’t matter. Because I have the proof that sometimes, without too much effort, I look like this.

 

 

 

 

And every once in a great while (if Marry Jordan is the photographer), I look like this.

 

 

 

 

And I think we all need to carry that knowledge with us.