Family Photo Planning-Why I Procrastinated

For the sake of this post I’m defining Family Photo Planning.

Family photo planning; verb– the act of curating a snapshot of a moment in time for your immediate or extended family.

I love taking family photos- I really do. And since I love them so much, one would think that it would not have taken me over a year to plan a photo shoot that would include Riley as a member of this family. I swear, I would look at our archives of family photo opts, and I would seriously have to question if that pic was taken before or after she was born. For Trey, we took professional pics (or pics with a photographer) all the time. We went from capturing his growth every 3 months, to every 6 months and then annually. With Riley, she doesn’t even have professional photos from when she was 1st born. Several photos in my phone, but nothing curated professionally just for her or us as a family.

Here’s why.

The work! The truth is that it is a lot of work. Everyone gets to show up but mom. That means me (raises hand)- I’m mom! I’m the one booking, creating the vision, determining the location, purchasing their outfits/looks. And as I adjusted to life with two, I just didn’t want to add another thing to my plate.

The Snap! Also I wanted to snap back. Like, back back! I wanted to lose some serious weight and you know what, wanted to be back to pre-baby. I may have said out loud that I’m not putting that type of pressure on myself, but without even having the time to do the work to achieve those results- in actuality- I did. I couldn’t dare to intentionally put myself in the position where I’m photographically captured “not looking like myself”.

And Riley! Let us not dare forget about Riley. Everybody knows that sometimes these toddlers cooperate in front of the camera and sometimes they don’t. I truly feared that I’d put in all of this work planning and organizing just for Riley to act like the toddler she is. Lol! In fact a toddler that needed a snack and a nap.

But you know what, in the spirit of the holidays- this past holiday season, I finally did the damn thing! I connected with an old colleague of mine- Kendra Bryson of Kendra Bryson Photography who was patient with me and my indecisiveness and we finally did this family photo thing. With a nap for this sassy toddler an hour or two before our session, Riley did way better than we expected and Kendra and her business partner did a great job keep her focused and occupied. A baby genius!

And it all worked out just in time for the holidays- CHECK IT OUT! 🙂

Photos by Kendra Bryson Photography

Already planning for the next one!

XOXO.