Photographer gets Photographed

The problem with being a photographer is: you are never in any of the family photos. There are about a million photos of my husband and son, but I am never in any of the photos, because I am the one that is taking them. Yesterday, for the first time, my husband and I had pictures taken of just the two of us.

When we got engaged we were very young, and my father didn’t bother to offer to help with the cost of the wedding, actually he told me that traditionally fathers only paid for their daughter’s weddings if the girl still lived at home. (Yeah, right!) So, with my waitress’ income, I tried to put together a wedding. Looking back, my big day was laughable. Nobody helped me with anything. As a matter of fact, my 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment was full to the brim with females all asking ME to do something for THEM. I had never been to a wedding before my own. One thing I really regret was my lack of knowledge in preparing for a wedding. I didn’t know anything about engagement pictures. We didn’t have any taken, not that I could have afforded it!

So, 5 years later, my husband and I decided to remedy the situation. We hired a photographer for a couple’s portrait shoot, our engagement pictures! She was absolutely amazing! I have yet to see the photographs, but she made us both feel comfortable. I can’t wait to see what she came up with! I am also looking forward to having her shoot our entire family in a few weeks, and if it’s possible, maternity pictures also. I am not pregnant, but we are planning on adding to our family soon.

I regret that I don’t have more pictures of my son and our family. I stumbled upon a few infant pictures of him the other day. He looks exactly the same, but so different. Those of you that have children will understand that statement. They grow so fast, they change so much. I am vowing to do a better job with chronicling the life of our family; I want family pictures every year. I can just imagine little Jonathan collecting pictures for his wedding slide show asking me why I am not in any of the pictures. I am going to have to teach my husband how to use the point and shoot… I want my son to know that I was with him just as much as his daddy is.

The one behind the camera is always absent. I used to think I liked it that way; I am very, VERY self-conscious in front of a camera. My eye is too critical to see myself in a picture. I only see the things I don’t like about myself. That has got to change. I am changing and growing too, and I am worthy for my life to be chronicled.

Note: I would like to thank Emilie Dowd Photography for these beautiful images. It has been so long since I have had my photos taken. My husband and I are both grateful for all the time you took to make sure that we got photos that we really wanted. Omaha is lucky to have you!