Photographs

I have always loved photographs.  I got my first camera from my Auntie Arlene when I was eight years old.  We were on a family vacation and I remember her giving my brother and I our very own, for real, camera.  I knew this was something special.  This camera was long and rectangular and it required 110 film...back when cameras used film and when film needed to be mailed out to be developed and you would wait for weeks to see if any of your photos turned out. 

My first photographic subjects were my Cabbage Patch Doll and my Care Bear.  Delightful subjects they were... always smiling and they sat perfectly still.  After the dolls my next favorite subject was Pugsy, our family dog...a  black and brown haired Pekingese puppy.  I had rolls and rolls of film containing snapshots of dolls in different outfits and a dog sleeping, sitting, and jumping.  I was so excited to see my works of art when my mom would bring the developed pictures home from the Woolworth's store after the two week wait.  I'm sure she said enough was enough at some point as the cost of photo developing back in the day wasn't the 22 cents a print it is now.

I have had many cameras since that first gift. I have lost some and dropped some.  Some have been spilled on and covered with beach sand.  I eventually graduated from film to digital. And now I am pining over a new DSLR with a zoom lens to capture my sweet girls who are my subject of choice these days.  Learning how to take pictures (better pictures)  has been on my to do list for a long time.  My photography skills are parallel to my golfing skills...I have been doing both for many years but have never really gotten any better at either one. 

Until I get "photography course" crossed off my to do list...I regularly take the girls to get their photos taken by Rachel.  Rachel has been taking pictures of my family since the time I called and begged her to photograph my wedding day.  When we were getting married, there was not a photographer to be found that was available or willing to work on New Year's Eve.  I had picked up Rachel's business card at the local  trade show.  It said something on it about specializing in children's photography.  Well I was far from being a child unless you factor in me crying like a baby because I, lover of pictures, wasn't going to have any from my wedding day. 

I dialed Rachel's number thinking, what have I got to lose?  It can't hurt to ask.  After a few phone calls, my long, sob story about not having any pictures of the most important day of my life (I didn't cry...honest!), and several disclaimers from Rachel about her not being a wedding photographer...she reluctantly agreed.

And I just have to say...
They were perfect.

My Lexi...she was afraid of the real bunny.

Rachel has seen me get married and has photographed my family every four months for the last five years...seriously.  I admire her work.  I admire her patience as she waits through nursing babies, spit up on her props, and the odd pee break on the plexi-glass as she captures the most adorable pictures of my babies bare bottoms.  I am always amazed when she sends me the proofs...that she has captured Callie's crooked smile and her eye rolls and Lexi's gentle shyness and seriousness. 

I love photos.  They make me happy.  They bring me joy.  They are proof that our lives exist...that moments and memories actually happened...and won't be forgotten.