UPDATE: April 6 2020 – Facebook reminded me today that I took this photo 3 years ago and it made me remember this blog post. I feel like so many mamas need to hear this right now! Are you documenting this crazy time we’re in? I sure hope so! If you need help learning that fancy camera, now is a good time to do it! www.preciousstonesphotography.com/cameraclass – I would love for you to check out the camera class that I’m offering. If you want some great photo ideas…read to the end of this post and join my Facebook group! There are 52 free photo ideas waiting for you in there!

Dear moms, stop taking photos of your kids.

You’re probably thinking I’ve lost my mind, right? I’m a photographer. Why would I tell you to stop taking photos of your kids? Well hear me out!

As moms, we strive to perfect everything, especially when it comes to our children. We want the best for them. We also want the perfect memories of everything that we do for them. How do we get those memories? With photos! But here’s the problem…while we are trying to get those perfect photos, we are stressing ourselves out in the process. We are stressing our kids out too!

I can’t tell you how many times I see a toddler, preschool kid, ornery elementary kid, or just a pain in the butt teen not cooperating for that perfect photo mom is trying to get. I’m guilty of this as well! In fact, just recently I tried to get a group shot of my four kiddos and it ended in ultimate failure. It was so bad that I lost my temper and gave up after 10 minutes of trying.  As you can see below, it wasn’t the best photo…and that was the best of all of them!

I wanted my kids (ages 3-12) to stand perfectly together and be those photographer kids that everyone thinks I have. But after a glass (or 2) of wine, I realized I needed to stop taking photos of my kids, and start capturing the moments between them. Would I love to have that photo where everyone is smiling and everyone is perfect? Of course! I’m sure I’ll get one of those soon with some heavy bribing of candy. But my attitude was wrong that night. Had I calmed down and let them run around, I guarantee I could have ended the night with many precious moments to plaster all over Facebook.

Attempt number 2 after I relaxed a little and let them be themselves. This is now one of my favorite images of them together!

A couple years ago, I committed to doing Project 365 and I actually finished it. It was a huge success for me.  You can check it out on my blog at https://www.preciousstonesphotography.com/category/project-365/ . It. Was. Hard. There were days where I had no inspiration or motivation, but I made myself do it. Doing Project 365 forced me to find the moments in the day without posing my kid(s). It forced me to find the fun/beauty/crazy/boring….in everyday life. This is something I forgot recently when trying to photograph my kids again. Are they all “professional” looking photos? Not even close. But here are some things to remember:

1. Kids don’t care about photos. They just want to be with you and they just want to play.
2. The happier your child is, the better the photos will be. Don’t force them to pose.
3. Capture your everyday life. Your kiddo is going to love looking through photos of you guys making cupcakes more than they are going to enjoy looking at an awkward posed photo.
4. The younger they are, the more creative you must get.

So, here’s the deal. I won’t start you guys off with Project 365 right away. I’ll be honest, if you haven’t done this…you need baby steps. We are going to do Project 52 and we are going to do it together. After 52 weeks, you are going to have an amazing collection of images of your children.  Every week, I will help you out with some inspiration and motivation on what to capture. You can take as many photos as you want, but you must take at least 1!

I want to help you switch your focus. I want you to stop taking photos of your kids and start capturing the moments of life. Capture the moment your little one has pb&j all over the table, chair, and their face. Capture the moment they dumped eggs on the floor. Capture the moment they climbed up in your lap for one more snuggle before bed. These are the moments they want to remember. These are the moments you want to remember! Capture energy, capture chaos, and capture emotion.

If you are interested in joining our exclusive group and being part this process, click HERE and you will be taken to it! There is no specific time to start and to end, so you can join in whenever you sign up. Just jump in with the rest of us and start learning how to photograph your children in a new way.

I can’t wait to get to know all of you and see your beautiful babies!