self portraiture part two.

Last month I wrote about how I would value having some more photos of our family that include me in them, and my plan to use the remote timer to help me get in front of the camera more. It comes as no surprise that it is much harder to compose a shot when you are in it, and so these photos are far from perfect. But, my hope is that my daughter will see these photos when she is older and not think about the poor composition, or how scruffy her Mum looks with mascara smudged under her eye, but see that we were together, taking time to do something we both love.

I have noticed how so many people I know will look at a photo that features them (and other people) and their only comments about the picture is how they are unhappy with some element of their appearance. I include myself in this, but I am trying to move beyond this, because I am certain that in the years to come when we look back at our photos of time spent with family and friends, our focus will have shifted to care more about the memories we made and the precious moments we had together, instead of how we as individuals look in the photos. I am sure there will be plenty of laughter over clothing choices and hairstyles that are perfectly acceptable now, but will appear outdated in time. And that is ok. But I don't want to look back at photos of our family and see that I am not in any of them because I looked a bit of a mess, or was carrying just a bit of extra unwanted weight, because ultimately, those things are not as important as being present.