My favorite photo, after a session, is not the one where everyone is sitting nicely, looking into the camera with pleasant smiles on their faces. It is not the photo where everyone looks perfect with no hair out of place and no wrinkles in their clothes. Yes, I know that these photos are important to many people and everyone wants those shots to hang on their wall, but to me, that is not real. Real life isn’t perfect. Real life is messy and wrinkled. Real life is silly and fun and a little bit goofy sometimes. Real life is emotional. When I look at those photos after a session they are not the ones that make my heart beat a little faster. They are not the shots that make me tear up or laugh out loud with joy and excitement. They are the not photos that make me say “Awwwwwww!”
My favorite photos are the not so perfect shots. The photos that show the real, raw, natural you. The photo where a mama is snuggling her baby or the one where dad is making a goofy face to get a giggle out of his baby girl. They are the candid, real moments that aren’t necessarily meant to be caught on film (or digital memory cards 😉 ) I think that is why I love weddings so much. There are literally hundreds of these moments happening throughout the day and I just gobble them up!
I had the pleasure of photographing the Lawshe family again last week and as I edited their photos I was hit by this realization and had so many of those “Awwwww” moments that I just had to share them with you.
Xan Odom Moody - Beautiful work-as usual, Emma!