Last Mother's Day I treated myself to a "Motherhood Story" shoot with Victoria Gloria... I have worked with a few photographers over the years, but this shoot was different. Victoria came into our home, a very personal space, for 3 whole hours! Maybe If you aspired to be a model this might sound appealing... I however, am behind the camera because it's where I feel comfortable... and if I'm being completely honest, I have a hard time looking at photos of myself. It's true, I was terrified to even set a date (which was changed about 3 times, by me, because I'd freak out and cancel)... So if you're reading this, never have had a professional take your photo before, I'm with you on being freaked out about it... but hear me out!
As the one always behind the camera I knew I needed some photos of just me and the kids. I loved the thought of a "Motherhood Story" because as a stay at home mom, this is my daily life and has been for about 4 years now. I knew that I would regret not getting any "real" photos with me in them during this time in our lives. My husband offered several times to take a snapshot of us... but c'mon, it's so not the same. I wanted her to capture us, playing, emotions etc... Daddy can't do that because they'd be wanting to play with him.
So, after much correspondence with Victoria (who is one of the nicest and most understanding photographers I've ever met) we settled on a date and I stuck with it. My skin crawled just thinking her camera was going to be one me for that long, in my own (messy) home nonetheless, but I trusted in the "process" and went along with it.
In hindsight, I think a major fear was not looking like all the other polished moms...you know, those long gorgeous lashed, beautiful haired, pouty lipped super pretty moms I envy and see sprinkled all over Insty and Pinterest, (and don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, I see polished moms everywhere I turn on the internet...) It sounds silly, now that I'm actually typing this out... but idk, the nerves came from fear of not looking good enough... but I forced myself to get over it and decided I'm me and these are my babies and I just love them so much...
So... after giving it much thought, I decided to go with "real"... no professional hair and make up, no fancy new outfits... because my heart has always been guided by authenticity. It's what makes me happy. The real, it's what I'm all about.
So here I am, with my babies, hair up, hands dirty... camera FINALLY down.
Victoria, thank you so much for these photos and these memories. You've inspired me to want to do this for mothers, to give someone this gift is astronomical. I cherish these photos more than you'll ever know! xoxo