Life happens fast… what are you waiting for? // Baraboo family photographer

I had a moment like this with my daughter today.

We were leaving the post office and I opened the back door to buckle her in her carseat. She monkey-wrapped her little legs around me as I leaned in to put her down, and she whimpered just a bit. We had more errands to run. Part of me just wanted to buckle her up and get going.

But another part of me knew that she needed a moment with me. So I gave it to her.

She clasped her hands behind my neck, and nuzzled into my neck, and there on the sidewalk I gave her about 27 little kisses on her neck and her squishy cheeks, and after each one she exhaled a sweet little sigh right into my ear. And the sun shone on our faces and the wind blew her wispy hair and we just breathed each other in.

It took maybe a minute. Maybe less. But I needed it as much as she did — it rejuvenated me. It reminded me to pause and inhale the sweetness of my lovely life once in a while.

And afterward, when I remembered this image I took for a client earlier this summer, it reminded me how meaningful the work I do is. Some photographers take beautiful posed photographs. Some stage adorable scenes with props and backgrounds.

I photograph relationships. It’s what I love to do and what gives me joy. And more importantly, it’s what my clients will look back on in 20 or 30 years, when their little girl is getting married — or even five years, when the moment to lift her up from the sidewalk and kiss her for a minute straight, is gone — and remember.

Remember not just what they used to look like, but how they used to be. And maybe how that changed, and maybe how it didn’t. But they’ll be able to point to their photographs and say, “This is how our family began.”

On that note, fall family sessions and mini sessions are opening very soon. Take an hour to honor and document your family as it is right now. Because it won’t stay like this for long. Life happens fast… what are you waiting for?