Smitten & Swoon is a family photographer in Boulder. Family photo sessions can be quite chaotic. I never find myself leaving the house thinking, “Wow! We all look so amazing today. Everyone’s hair looks great, all of our clothes look good together, everyone’s in a very cooperative mood…” No, what I’m usually wondering is how I ran out of time to brush my daughters tangly hair, or how I didn’t realize my son put his shirt on backwards, or I’m pondering the fact that there’s STILL legos all over the floor even though it feels like I spent the whole morning cleaning. When we are responsible for getting another human being out of the house in the morning (let alone two or three) and making sure they’ve had breakfast, their teeth are brushed, the dishes are done, and their clothes somewhat match, it can be stressful. Add a photo session to the mix and it’s very stressful.
At gallery viewings I often hear clients say they can’t believe we got so many great images amidst chaos. But what you may not know is how everything calms down inside the lens. The background gets dreamily blurred, and the artistic vision of the photographer finds the moments after everyone smiles to capture the real emotion of love within a family. In just five seconds, we can capture a whole laugh start to finish. We can play an entire game of peek-a-boo or hide and seek. Five seconds is long enough for the perfect kiss or the tightest hug. It’s enough time to photograph the sparkle in someone’s eye. Five seconds here and there and suddenly a whole gallery of love and tenderness and real happiness emerges. This is what I love about photography. In the chaos of this family photo session, they came away with artwork worthy of decorating their lives.
