Camera Play

Yesterday, Madelyn was refusing a nap--again. She's been doing that a lot lately. She may be of the age where she doesn't want to take a nap, but she still needs to take one. But anyhoo, I figured if she wasn't going to sleep, we might as well play a bit while Carlyn slept.

I pulled out the manual and figured out how to use the self-timer on the camera and hooked up the remote trigger so I could be in the frame with her.  I discovered that this is not an easy task---especially with two people in the picture and one of them is a preschooler.

I'm woefully absent in years of photographs. I'm very comfortable behind the camera, and incredibly uncomfortable in front of the camera. It's so easy to see the flaws---wrinkles, gray hair, and extra pounds have nowhere to hide. Far from perfect. But, you know what? That's just the way it is. The good, the bad, and (dare I say it?) the ugly are all just a part of real life. So, for now, I'm just getting over it, getting on with it, and getting in the picture.

Whenever my kiddos complain about how they look in pictures, my favorite retort is, "It's a camera, not a magic wand.", and my second favorite line would be, "I'm sorry, but I can't Photoshop ugly.". (Yes, I realize I won't be winning a Parent of the Year award. It's just how we roll around here.).  I now feel their pain.

Oh, well. Here's a smattering of the out-of-focus, poorly exposed, weirdly cropped snaps of our session together....but I'm in them.


And I'm so glad I was.