Years, no......decades of working for a photographer gave me a deep insight into the importance of photographs. Photographs endure. They indeed capture the moment even though sometimes that moment needs to be released into the wild.
I enjoy looking at some of the "artsy" things people do photographically....and often wonder....why? But, far be it from me to rain on anyone's parade - the cheap and cheesy to me is someone else's Rembrandt and they are proud of it.
One thing that is hard to overcome is a level of discomfort when having photos done. Not everyone is good at smiling "naturally" on command. Even harder is holding that natural smile while a photographer desperately squeaks a rubber frog in front of a child hoping, no...praying for just the smallest adorable little smile.
But, I do recommend photos. Of all sorts. They are fun to look at as we travel through life and remember the events and circumstances surrounding that "moment in time."
When my granddaughters were still pre and pre-pre-schoolers, my daughter and I traveled to Amarillo with the express purpose of having a generational portrait made with my mother. Four generations is a big danged deal and I felt it needed to be documented.
Daughter, granddaughters and I loaded up in the hubs' F150 pickup truck with camper shell and off we went. I took the driving position in front of the oldest grandchild (you know the one with the longest legs) and tiny daughter rode in the passenger seat in front of the short legged little toddler. What was usually a 9 - 10 hour drive wound up taking us approximately 13 - 15 hours. I can't remember exactly as my protective instincts have since kicked in and rendered much of the trip a blur.
I do remember the children either crying or screaming to entertain each other for roughly 3/4 of the journey. The oldest granddaughter beat a constant tap dance on the back of my seat making me practically black out from frustration and nerves. My cell phone rang once and my daughter answered it "Hell speaking." It was.
Upon arriving (finally) at my mother's we were instantly met with a new series of problems, like where to park the truck, etc., etc., etc. My mother was terrified of offending the owners of the gated trailer park she lived in and it soon became clear I was expected to fold that truck up and put it in my purse to get it out of the way. But, we did finally come to a resolution on that problem only to have one of the kids break one of mom's objets d'art within about 2 hours of arrival. Now...mom had been urged to put away her "pretties" but she wanted everyone to see how nice her house looked.
The breakage proved to be traumatic and sort of set the tone for the rest of the trip as mom was kind of hacked, which made daughter uneasy and caused the babies to feel ill at ease as well. Then you couple this with my poor mother's inability to just relax and enjoy company and you have a recipe for disaster.
So....a couple of days rocked along and the tension grew and grew. Daughter and I were watching those kids like hawks and trying to keep them outdoors or gone from the house as much as possible. We purchased an inflatable pool.....then we were faced with the fear mom had of using any water to fill it along with the fact the kids might make noise outside. Truly, mom's fear of getting kicked out of the trailer park was almost rabid.
But, at last, the day of photos dawned. We all had our coordinating outfits ready (not matchy matchy - just colors that worked together nicely.) We loaded up and headed out in search of the studio...(with me wondering if I should call ahead and warn them in advance.) As we were traveling down the highway, I began to hear this electronic clicking sound. Clickety, click, click, click, clickety, click.
Finally, from her position in the rear seat of the truck wedged between 2 car seats, my daughter observed "mom, I think grandma has her arm on the door lock button." Which immediately drew my mom's retort, "well, you might have known it was MY fault." No, no, no one's fault - I'm just glad that is all it was. Blowup....prevented. Sort of.
We had to stop at the bank, because mom wanted to give me gas money for the trip. Her idea not mine - I was fortunately in a position at that time I could afford the trip, but she was firm - it had to be done. There was a mild dust up over how I pulled into the bank...ignored....and we arrived safely at the drive through. The check went in, the cash came out and I handed the cash to my mom (giving her the chance to count it before we left the window.) She tossed the envelope back at me with a "that's YOUR money..if you want to have money to go home on you'd better take it." Here is where I begin the blackout phase of the trip because apparently there were several relatively heated exchanges which caused the 4 year old in the back to ask "Mommy, why is my grandma having a temper tantrum?" Looking into the rear view mirror I could see my daughter barely keeping it together and I was having less luck than she was.
So....I had to ask...."ladies, are we up for doing this - or do we just need to call it off." By now, mom had experienced her epiphany and very regally announced "well, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd like to have my picture made." I was pretty sure my daughter wasn't going to be quite as easy to move into a good mood. She had been too stressed for too many days and she had mentally counted to three and was done with the whole mess.
After getting pretty badly lost in Amarillo, we did arrive on time for our session and I preceded the event with an abject apology for what that photographer was about to endure. Talk about earning his money! The kids were so uncomfortable with my mom, they refused to let her hold them. My daughter had entered her "do not touch me" zone and I was delirious with exhaustion from organizing, patronizing and refereeing.
Oddly enough, we have some great photos and I would not take a million dollars for them. Nor would I pay fifty cents to have them done again. Looking back, none of us were to blame and yet we all were to blame. You can't put three grown women that much alike in a close proximity to each other and expect smooth sailing.
So....I highly recommend family photos. I also highly recommend you have very low expectations, and a photographer who is proficient in Photoshop to make those all important head swaps. And alcohol, lots and lots of alcohol both before and after the photo session.
