Getting in FRONT of the Camera!

Why is it that I have a million pictures of my son James, about half a million with him and his dad, and a grand total of five pictures of me and him??  Because I’m always the one taking the pictures!! Is it like that for you too?  You’re BEHIND the camera instead of in front of it?  Most of the time when I’m taking pictures, I wouldn’t consider myself “camera ready” but I don’t want that to prevent me from capturing real life moments with my son.

So, I got brave recently and specifically asked my husband to take pictures of me and James together.  It was weird handing the camera to him and I had to relax and try not to get “posed” pics together.  In the first few, we were at a coffee shop, so pulling out the camera and taking pictures felt awkward, but no one really cares what you’re doing, so why should we?  I figured if she can do it, so can I.  I’ve been touched and inspired by Kelle Hampton to bust out my camera more, in public, even taking it to the beach last weekend.

It’s very difficult to get a “good” picture of a wiggly toddler with an adult, especially when he’s in the mood to run around, like most of the time.  But my husband persisted, kept snapping away, and the results are real life fun.  After discarding all the blurry ones or the ones where I hated the look on my face, we were left with a few I actually liked.  Baby steps.

I’m so glad I got in front of the camera for a change.  I’m encouraged to do it more in the future.  I know I cherish the photos I have of me and my mama together when I was young, so I’m hoping James does too.  Are you getting in pictures with your kids?  Do you take your camera with you on everyday outings? Summer’s here.  The time is NOW!

(And if you’re curious, I’ve been living in these little tank dresses lately- from Express.)

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Meet Megan

Hi! I’m Megan, mom to a thoughtful teenager and spunky young girl. We call Houston home and recently moved into our dream home. I traded my lawyer hat to become a full-time blogger in 2010. I love sharing my passion for affordable fashion, home decor, organization, & fitness to help inspire you to take care of you!

47 Comments

  1. Absolutely the same for me – I have so many pictures of my girls, and my girls with my husband, and very few of me with them. Your hubs got some some great ones here – esp love the one that's your new sidebar photo! I'm always nervous to bring my camera to the beach though – did you do anything special to protect it?

    1. At the beach, I put my camera in a plastic bag inside my bag. I was just very careful with it, but I highly recommend taking a camera to the beach. The pictures are priceless! I'll post some soon.

  2. I love the pictures with you and J ! VERY CUTE!! I think as Moms, we are ALWAYS behind the camera! I'm hoping to get a few good shots of me and my boys at the beach this year! Love those dresses of yours too!!!

  3. I'm really bad at this. I'm at my biggest ever in my life and so I purposefully don't get in any pictures. I have very few with my son. This is not good. I think I will just get myself ready and have my husband take a few of us. We need it. I need it. But yeah, I'm always taking pics of my husband and son!

    1. That's what I did for those first set of pictures- I might not have put on makeup and had my hair up, but I knew I wanted to get some pictures, so I made a point to spend some time getting ready and then I felt a little more confident in front of the camera. I found that the outside daytime photos came out pretty well since the light was good. Then, I edited a couple of them in Pic Monkey to smooth out my patchy complexion. I'm not afraid to admit that! I like editing the photo, but trying to keep it "natural" looking. I know the professional photographer we've used in the past edits the photos too. Have no shame! 🙂

  4. You are seriously the most beautiful mother! And yes, get in front of that camera, when he is older, you will be glad you did! I know exactly what you mean though, when I go to family gatherings, I have about 1.5 pictures of me 9the half being like an arm or shadow) and 100 of everyone else! Great advice!

    http://coffeebeansandbobbypins.blogspot.com/

    1. It's hard to get in front of the camera if you're not comfortable with how you look. I feel the same way. I think you are adorable and love seeing pictures of you (saw some really cute ones of you at Haven recently:) You have a gorgeous face and beautiful smile!

  5. My hubs is scared of the camera and by scared I mean he looks like he would rather be tortured then have to pick up the camera and take a picture. In a nutshell, I have hardly any pictures of myself!

    1. Tell him to get over it! 🙂 My husband was the same way at first- but because I always criticized his pics- they were always blurry! But he's gotten better and I usually set the camera setting for him or put the camera on auto for him. I hope you get more pics of YOU! 🙂

  6. The second picture is priceless…I love your expression. I've been thinking along these same lines lately too. We go to our neighborhood pool every.single.day. in the summer but I don't have a single pic of the kids at the pool. Time to bring it along and get some fun action shots. And same as you, I don't know if I could find a picture of me with the kids taken in the past year or two. Time to change that! Thanks for the motivation!

    1. Oh yeah, pool and water shots are great! And you can get some great action shots with fun expressions on your kids' faces because they are having so much fun and not looking stiff having to pose for a picture. I got some pool pics of James recently I'll have to share soon.

  7. You are so beautiful! No worries about being camera ready. I seriously think you were born that way. I see in one picture you got him to sit still by setting the iphone in front of him. So clever!

  8. I have this same problem, plus I find that I don't take the time to get shots of the four of us all together (maybe it's the impossible challenge of getting a 3 and 1 year old to pose simultaneously 😉 ). These shots are beautiful! They're inspiring me to get in front of the camera more; I've turned into a camera hog ever since upgrading to my "fancy" camera. xo Heather
    ps I'm a new follower and I love your blog btw. 🙂
    pps The tank dresses are so cute and perfect for our horrendous Scottsdale summers.

  9. I have a total of 3 pictures in the house from when my daughter was born and I'm in the picture. She's 21 months old now. :/

    I'm going to make more of an effort starting today to document my children's' lives with me in it.

    PS Love the pic with the graffiti! How fitting!

  10. I love your tank dresses!! I have the same problem; hardly any pictures of me and my kiddos together. Gotta change that. I don't want to wake up one day when they're all teenagers and want to cry because I have no pictures of myself cuddling with them when they were little. Thanks for the inspiration!

  11. Great pictures of you and James, Megan! You with both be so glad to have these when he grows up! I try to get one every year around my kid's birthdays….just me and them. Sometimes we do the self timer which always makes for funny pics together!

  12. Love these! Yes, it seems always one of us is missing from the picture!! Dad was always manning the video camera and me the other. Katie, however has become quite the little photographer allowing us to get more pics of the two of us.

  13. I think the pictures turned out great! I agree, I didn't have hardly any pictures of me and my son and I didn't even realize it until a few years ago when he nearly died. After that, I started taking more pictures of him and I together. They feel staged but at least I have a few of them. I am somewhat limited since he can only sit in a wheelchair or the lazy boy but regardless, I at least have some photos now. I don't know how to edit my pics and now you have me nervous about all kinds of things and I am much older! Your dress is really cute by the way. I love those dresses for summer.

  14. Get in FRONT of the lens? Yikes!!!! I suppose you're right though – when I'm gone, my poor family won't have any photos of me. Love your pics, btw!!

  15. Oh, I love these Megan. I SOOOO need to do this. I am always behind the camera and it makes me sad. I am in the same boat. Not a huge fan of being in front of the lens. Glad you posted this!!! You look awesome 😉

  16. Cute pictures! I agree, I don't have little ones but, I always miss on having someone take a picture of my Husband and I when we are out even when it's a family function or out to dinner with friends. It happens often when I later look at pictures that I realize we didn't get any of just the 2 of us. I just started following your beautiful blog.

  17. You are so freaking gorgeous!!! Seriously?! Where is the age on your face?! Great idea to hand over the camera…I never do anymore either bc the person i see in pics isn't who I am in my head. 🙂 Unless of course I'm posing in an outfit! 😉

  18. Love these photos. How sweet! I also need to make an effort to take more photos with my daughter, instead of always being the photographer. You look absolutely gorgeous in these photos.

  19. You are beautiful in these pictures, and it's so great to see pictures of you and James together! 🙂

  20. At first glance I thought that the last picture was at the beach….the roof in the background sort of looked like rippling waves! lol…..Cute pictures of you and James…you will be so glad you got in those pictures when he's grown and off to college, trust me!

  21. It is so true that James is going to want to see his Momma in pictures when he grows up. We take a lot of pictures and video using our iPhones, the camera is pretty decent and then you don't miss a moment. It is funny, when you look back on these pictures in 10 years, you will think how great you look compared to 10 years later lol Love them all, especially the no makeup ones, they are true life.

  22. Adorable pictures! There is something about a boy and his momma…..those shots will be precious to both of you – for years to come! I am new to your blog….and I really am enjoying reading through your posts and looking at your pictures. I live in Texas too….near Dallas/Ft Worth – and I am so tired of the big, dark, Texas look….love the lighter kitchens and decor in your home….you are getting me inspired! 🙂 Thanks!!

  23. Pretty pretty momma. No, I don't get in the camera with my kids enough. Got a million of them with Josh. I need to get better about that!

  24. I hear you on "being" in pictures, at every family event I get asked to make sure I take pictures. sometimes much to certain family member's despair. hehe. I can "convince" them by saying their 93 year old aunt/grandmother requested them. I have learned to just shove my camera in someone else's hand and say can you take our picture with who ever is around. Heck I was there, I made an effort to look presentable, I want proof too! HA. I might be a bit bold about it, even ask strangers but I want photos of people in my life and since I am apart of my life I would like to be in some of the pictures. I admit I like good semi posed pictures but its fun to have real life ones too! Just make sure you get a few of each, just in case! You gotta just be determined to get pics, just seem my recent family picnic posts, I'm in some. I'm in them because I handed my camera over or "told" someone to take a picture! Oh and of course I edit mine too! Especially before sending them to family members. I want to be displayed looking presentable! HAHA….. love your classic style

  25. You look great!! Wow, I can't believe how big James has gotten, I was just looking at his little diaper toddly steps the other day you snapped of him…

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