Hissyfits Photography Blog

Just to state the obvious: I love to be behind the camera. Love it. For me, it is far more than merely taking pictures and hoping for the best. It is about preserving memories and freezing time. Forever. It is capturing wispy hair, grubby hands and fleeting expressions. It is bottling time. The sights. The smiles. The pigtails. The goofy 5 year old sideways glances. The innocence. The connections. The stories. Photography does something for me I can’t even begin to really explain. It is there and I know it’s there…but finding the words to share that feeling and do it justice seems impossible.

I love the thought of preserving memories for others. The idea of capturing their precious loved ones and giving them something they cannot give themselves excites me. Photos are priceless treasures…images shared with friends and family and passed down from one generation to the next. They are who you are at that time in your life. And I love that.

It is easy to get caught up in the mindset that you have to be “perfect” for family pictures. That your nails must be done, your hair styled just so and everyone in their best attire. I am as guilty as the next when it comes to that thought process. But I am learning. Each and every day I am learning more and more about myself. And I am learning that “perfect” only exists in our minds. It is so easy to think that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence…that so-and-so has it better and her life is just a bowl of cherries. If we stop and really think about it, I bet we can all agree that the lives we have created for ourselves are perfect for us. That doesn’t mean we don’t all have our ups and downs, good times and bad, because we do. That is just life. But we also create our own happiness.

Still with me? I am feeling deep! Grandma has the kids and I can actually focus…a rare treat!

My last blog post was a sneak peek of our family pictures. Me on the other side of the camera for a change…and my adorably adorable little family as well! Since then the fabulous Kamee has put the entire post up and I want to share a “few” images with all of you!! Head on over to her little corner of the world wide web to check ‘em all out! Or book a session if you are in the LA area! There is not a doubt in my mind that you will LOVE what you get from your session and leave with a new friend! She is seriously that cool!

Love these shots of my littles she captured. Yes, I have a bazillion and two pictures of them that I have taken and adore, but it is a breath of fresh air to get a different perspective. Different style, different composition, different ideas, different editing. All of which I lovety love love! Sassy pants here hammed it up while Huntler tried his best to not slap on his cheesy “nearly five years old” grin! Bless his heart, he DID try for her, he just doesn’t do “smile naturally” very well! But  you have to admit, this muscle shot is priceless!

Kamee and I met in the blog world. I first remember seeing her darling family forever ago on Jessica Claire’s blog. {They had some ahhh-ma-zing pictures taken at Disneyland!!} Anyway, as we bloggers do, I followed the links and one link lead to another which lead me to cute Kamee! I was mostly a lurker in the beginning…but after a bit I came out of hiding and commented! And as we bloggers do, we check out who it is that left the comment and therefore peek into the lives of each other!

It is crazy to think that was nearly two years ago! Holy moly where does the time go? No wonder I feel like I have known her forever…so much has happened in her life since I first started following along!

Anyway, back in March Kamee and her kiddos came to Arizona for a visit! It just so happened that it worked into her busy schedule to meet up with me and my littles for what was supposed to be a couple of hours to visit and chat all things photography. This girl has got it going on and I wanted to learn some of her deep, dark photography secrets! She {and her sweet sis in law!} immediately made me and mine feel like we were part of the family and what was supposed to be a short little visit turned into the kids and I hanging out forever and making lifelong friends! Huntler and Gunnar hit it off perfectly and little Larkin, well, she was just a doll face and let us love on her!

We have obviously stayed in touch and when she announced she was coming back this way in August, we set up a session for some family pictures! The retro 50′s take was TOTALLY her idea and I LOVE it! I can assure you that there is NO way I would be strutting my stuff in a modern day suit for the world to see! And YES, I was super nervous and self conscious {I mean, WHO wouldn’t be?} but she made me feel so comfortable and confident and after the first hundred frames, I almost forgot I was bopping around in a swim suit!

I can assure you, my rolls are not nearly as cute as his!!

I love what she captured for us. Are we all looking in all of the images? No. Are we perfect? No. But we are real. We are just a little family of four living in the desert and dreaming of the day we can move home. We have good days. We have bad days. But most importantly we have each other…and THAT my friends is what this is all about. Preserving memories and freezing time.

When I think of me, this is how I see myself. I love that she was able to capture this. I normally hate looking at pictures of myself, but I like this one. And no, I am not always wearing make up! And no, I do not highlight my hair. Never have…that is all natural my friends!

This one makes Kamee laugh out loud…me too. I LOVE IT! It is, quite simply, us. Chris going along with this fabulous outside of the box idea for a shoot that I couldn’t stop talking about smiling the part. Huntler giving ornery sideways glances at his Daddy. Gentry being the ever present drama queen with an attitude. And me, well, me smiling my signature smile!

This was seriously SO much fun! Kamee, thank you for the fabulously rad experience! You gave us a priceless gift…images we will treasure for the rest of our days! Thank you for being you. Thank you for sharing your talent. Thank you for preserving our memories! Until we meet again, sweet friend!

Filed under my-lil-lollies, by Bethany