Two years ago, I shared this on Facebook. It really hit a nerve with me and a number of friends who were also mothers started commenting, feeling the same way.
At the time I shared it, I was sat at home with a 7 week old baby. I had a phone full of 7 weeks worth of selfies with my new baby. And only a couple of non selfie pictures of us together.
I got hold of a photographer friend of mine and he popped over with his camera to take some pictures. I hated the ones of me (because of the huge amount of weight I’d put on). But I had technically decent pictures of me and my little girl. And pictures I loved of my baby and my beloved dog.
I think this was when I knew I wanted to get into photography again. I wanted to be able to take pictures of my family together. Good ones. And it wasn’t long afterwards I bought my camera.
Since then I’ve had pictures taken of me and my little girl a few times. Mainly by photographers I’ve known for years (Thanks Colin Hajee and Kim Rowlands!). We’ve also been to a photo studio in Bristol (zzzone) and spent a small fortune on family pictures (including the dog). They’re all over our walls in frames and on a canvas. The selfies are not.
But inevitably, I’ve still ended up behind the camera most of the time. Obviously.
I could take the time to take some nice pictures of me and my little girl. I think about doing it every week or so. But other things get in the way. More important things. Like the washing up. Right now I’m thinking I’m going to take the time this week to rectify this, but I know it won’t happen. Something always gets in the way.
Fast forward two years to December just gone and I came across another photographer mum, saying the same thing on Instagram. She posted a pic of her with her daughter (a selfie) and complained it was one of only three pictures of her with her daughter that summer. And there were tons of her daughter, her husband, because she was (as always), behind the camera. Just like me.
So I got in touch and suggested we do a photoshoot swap and solve this problem. She photographs me with my little girl, and I photograph her and her daughter. She was well up for it, so we booked a date at the start of January.
The weather was utterly crap. The lighting conditions that day were awful. But we didn’t care. We went up to Blaise Castle Estate. We took photos in awful conditions. We drank tea in the cafe while bribing our daughters with crisps and biscuits and swapped stories about how we ended up where we are now. And it was bloody brilliant.
We both ended up with lovely pictures (examples below) we can print up and put on our walls, use as our Facebook profile pictures, put in frames and give to family members. Perfect!
With Mother’s Day on the horizon, it’s got me thinking about this issue again. And I want to do something for thhe mums out there in the same situation as me.
Sadly I can’t give out a load of free Photoshoots. I’m not in that sort of financial position and I don’t get free childcare while I’m working. But I feel very strongly about this, and I am going to do three things!
1. A competition for one mum to win a free ‘mummy and me’ photoshoot worth £75. Be sure to follow my Facebook page for news about this!
2. A photoshoot taster day. Where the photoshoot is free and people can buy any pictures they like (or hint to the Dads in their lives to buy pictures as Mother’s Day gifts!).
3. A promotional offer, 20% off my ‘mummy & me’ Photoshoots in March, which can be bought as gifts for Mother’s Day. Hint hint dad’s - if your little ones are too young to be getting their mum a gift themselves, this would be a great one to get on their behalf!
It’s not completely selfless. Hopefully I’ll get some paying clients in the future from doing this. But in the meantime, I can at least put put my money where my mouth is.
To be kept up to date with these special offers/free Photoshoots, be sure to follow my Facebook page, Instagram and subscribe to my email newsletters/alerts! I don’t send emails often, but I do when I’m running special offers or freebies!
And this month, I’m going to take some time to set up my home studio and take pictures of me and my little girl. And my fur baby. Just for me. My mother’s day Gift to myself. Must lose half a stone first though, obviously.