It’s About Time | Atlanta Child Photographer

Life, Photography, Portrait sessions

July 1, 2020

Ever heard of the cobbler’s son? The cobbler would make shoes for all of his customers but didn’t make shoes for his son. I don’t remember the exact details but maybe the cobbler didn’t have time to make him shoes. Maybe he was too tired to make shoes for his son after he made shoes for everyone else. I really don’t remember. What I do remember is that his son’s need was put on the back burner to please others. I can so relate to this story.

The last family portraits I captured of my family were in 2014 when our son was 9. He is currently 15. We had been talking about taking pictures for years, literally, but it never materialized. Why? Getting our schedules in sync was a problem. Next, we had to decide what we were going to wear. No, that shouldn’t be that big of a deal but you don’t know my husband. Finding the time to do it was a major problem too. We were always running around doing this and that. Plus my husband’s work schedule was weird which made it even worse. Finally, we have a pandemic and everyone is home with nowhere to go. Now is the perfect time. So we thought.

About a week or two ago, we started talking about family portraits again. This time the problem was that we all need haircuts. I can actually get away with not having one but my husband and son could not. If I let them continue the way things were going, they would have looked like two extras from a 70s blaxploitation film. That did change briefly because my husband attempted to cut our son’s and his own hair and enlisted my assistance. I have never held clippers in my hand before, so that should pretty much tell you how that went. If you’re familiar with what a fade is, then think the opposite.

So, this weekend, they both went and got haircuts. I still want a haircut but if I don’t get one prior to the portrait, we’ll still be okay. To start things off, I took some portraits of my son. The last portraits I took of him were in 2018, right after he turned 13. What a difference between then and now! This time, I had him pick out a shirt he wanted to wear which was unlike last time. Last time, I just snapped him in whatever he had on. Also, I captured those initial pictures in about 5-8 minutes, just before it started to rain. This last time, I set him up properly and took my time. Since I didn’t like his entire outfit, I didn’t take full body shots. Maybe next time.

I thought the images came out great but I wasn’t prepared for what the lens captured. He no longer looks like a “boy” but a young man. In fact, one of my friends said he looked like a grown man! Now that shocked me. I’m not ready for that, at all. It’s bad enough that he sounds like a grown man, now he has to look like one too? The fact that someone thinks my son looks like a grown man actually bothers me. Considering the climate we are currently in, him looking like a grown man can be problematic for him and that’s putting it mildly. In addition to that, it just means I have even less time with him before he leaves. I had another friend that asked me if he wants to model. He can smize really well! I’ve thought about that but that’s really not his thing but you never know. He’s at a stage where he wants to work and make money, so maybe we’ll check out that avenue.

Regardless of everything above, I am glad that I have updated pictures of him. Now I have to tackle our family portraits. For some reason, my husband likes to give me a hard time during our portrait sessions. I guess he finds it amusing. I think that’s another reason it has taken so long for us to schedule a session. I just haven’t wanted to deal with it. Lol. Well, when it finally does happen (which I hope will be in the next week or so before their hair grows back) I will post an update. Until then, enjoy these few images of E. He’s not a big smiler in pictures but I was able to get him to laugh a little. What I really love and have always loved are his eyes.