on photographing your kids and being in the moment...

My word of the year, which I shared recently on my instagram, is "intention" and for that reason I've found myself thinking a lot lately about how I spend my days and why I do the things I do. I want to live a life of intention in which the things I do day in and day out are connected to my overall purpose. I no longer want to feel like I'm running around doing "all the things" but rather doing the things that matter to me; Being present for my children and setting an example about what it means to live life with purpose, helping mothers document their family memories through my passion for photography, and leaving the world a more beautiful and loving place. 

I was thinking about all of this when we recently went on vacation, and grappling with wanting to take pictures while also wanting to be present in the moment. As mom photographers, we so badly want to capture beautiful images and memories of our kids, but how often do we forget to be in the memories with them? This week, I was listening to The Family Photographer Podcast (one of my favorites!) and host Jenny Stein was talking about this very thing and she said "Do you want your kids only memory of their mom to be of you with a camera in front of your face?" 

I am by no means perfect, and still guilty of spending too much time with the camera in front of my face (as I'm sure my husband will tell you!), but this year I'm making a conscious effort to be intentional about my photography and my time with my kids. In the moment, if there's an image I want then I will spend a few minutes trying to get the image and then put. the. camera. away. Because when I look back on my life, I know I'll be so happy to have beautiful images of beach vacations from when my kids were little, but I'll be even more grateful for the time I spent actually digging in the sand with them.

I would love to hear how all you moms handle photographing your littles! Do you feel you always have to have a camera in hand, or do you find it easy to put it down and get in the moment with them?

Some images from our vacation, in which I did not take very many photos but enough to be satisfied that I captured some great memories...