~Babies on Ice, and The Illusive Balance~

Last spring I went on a crazy raid of the local library for any and all portrait photography books.  It took three different trips with a backpack to get them all into my car.  Yes, I know I'm a little crazy.  The book I found most interesting was a compilation of essays and photographs of professional photographers who also happened to double as mothers.  In almost every essay there was a common thread, discussing the balance between living and enjoying the moment with your children versus observing the moment and locking it forever in time from behind the lens.

As a young mother of lively babies my favorite subjects are my children.  They're full of life and personality and I really do want to save those facial expressions for all of time.  At the same time I've noticed o how easy it is for me to get stuck behind my camera, watching others experience wonders and laughs with the babies.  It's so easy to memorialize magical moments for my children, but I don't really get to be part of the memory or experience.  I'm just the one behind the camera.  So I continue to try and find a balance.  In fact this January I made a goal to try and live more in the moment and enjoy my children that much more.

All that being said, I didn't take a single picture from January 18th to February 18th. 31 days people!  That is entirely too long.  I went on a vacation, visiting my family who love and dote on my children like they're made of gold and I didn't take a single picture until the very end. We took the kids to the Thanksgiving Point dinosaur museum. We visited my Grandma Marion and her friendly little kitten, Pricilla.  (If I could guarantee that my kitty would be just like Pricilla I would actually consider having a cat.  She's that wonderful.)  We walked around BYU with Alec's eye sparkling in delight.  Oh, how that boy loves BYU.  We took many trips to Costco, buying every delightful looking fruit in sight.  We watched in awe at how Krispy Kreme doughnuts are made.  Yummm.  We went swimming at the Lehi Rec Center practically every other day and the babies were delightful, and brave, and sometimes Lyssa was downright fearless.  We took the babies ice skating for the first time. We visited my BFF from college.  All this and I didn't take a single picture.  And you know, at first I didn't care.

Then we told my sister about the skating babies and she was in shock that no one had documented this momentous event. Deep sigh.  It was time.  That next week I finally pulled out the camera and we took the babies skating again.  Only this time we all went with understanding that I would simply photograph the event.  I didn't have to feel disappointed in not living in the moment and there were enough people to help make the "moment" happen for the little ones.

Everything worked out but this was not quite the  answer I'm looking for.  I can't just do everything twice.  There are too many factors.  So I guess I will just continue looking for that illusive balance. In the mean time, I present babies on ice!  :-)

Thanks, Robert and Grandma Shannon for all the help and all the fun!