Yes you read right! I bought myself a Mother’s Day gift. Now what did I buy myself you are wondering. Well I bought a mother and daughters photoshoot. Yes we participated in one of those photos you see all over Pinterest. The reason I wanted one of these was I don’t have really any nice photos of me and my daughters, the self timer shots are always at the worst angles and my husband isn’t the best at capturing nice shots. He’s very much a 1 2 3 CLICK! “Yeah that’ll do” man with photos. Also given the last year we haven’t really had the opportunity to have professional shots done together like we did with our first when she was a baby. I wanted a nice photo dammit! So this photographer I have used before and is a friend of a friend she was having a Mother’s Day shoot for mums and their kids at her now open studio (yay! No new COVID cases shits almost normal) so I jumped on the opportunity. These will be a nice keep sake and also I know how talented she is and how friendly and laid back she is.
So despite me liking the idea of a Pinterest worthy photo of me and the spawns, I didn’t want us to be in pretty much identical outfits as if were in uniform. All I think of is that episode of Modern Family when they all are wearing white for a family photoshoot and Jay says “what are we a cricket team”. I wanted our outfits to somewhat work but not be an identical look, fortunately for me I wore some loose pants (yep they sound like track pants but they are nice they look almost like a skirt) with multiple colours that could work with a number of my daughters outfits without them being the same as mine. The girls honestly were easy to find and outfit to wear and make them look great but it was me that was a bit of a journey to make me look at least like a polished turd. Im going to be honest here since having spawn number 2 I have been self conscious about my appearance due to pregnancy and a few other medical problems since having her. I thought you know what bite the bullet and get over the insecurities because I’ll never get a chance to have a photo with these two at this age again.
So I made sure that I chose and outfit that was flattering and comfortable but wasn’t a moo moo or lounge wear. So I ended up booking my hair to get touched up and re-pinkified for the morning of the photoshoot it meant I would have to be pretty much organised the night before. This meant leaving the spawns clothes out ready to put on just before we left (I’m not risking spillage). The morning of the photoshoot I put just my eye makeup on not my face because I didn’t want it to wash of while I was getting my hair coloured. I figured I had time to get ready once I got back and would do my makeup quickly and do the worlds quickest curls. Fortunately for me my hairdresser is actually my friend as well and she powered through my hair and even gave it some beautiful curls which meant that all I had to do when I got home was apply my face makeup and put on mine and the smallest spawns outfits. Once ready it was go time.
The shoot was in a home studio not that far from my house. The whole experience was great it literally felt like we were just at a friends house and she was taking photos of us while I was talking to her and the girls were playing (in excellent lighting). The time just flew with it didn’t at all feel like we had been there for almost 45 minutes. Not long after the shoot ( a few days) I had a look at the proofs and WOW! They blew my expectations. My original package included 7 shots of my choice but it was ridiculously hard to chose I liked them all pretty much.
I ended up buying all of the photos for a bit extra (not complaining at all), it was a great Mothers Day treat for myself. It was a little stressful with getting ready and everything but once there the experience was actually pretty relaxing and laid back. Plus at the end of the shoot I got a cookie and chocolate. SCORE!!! Its a nice keepsake of me and the spawns, plus they look super adorable in the photos. So when they are driving me up the wall (and I feel like selling them) I’ll just look at the nice photos of us genuinely smiling and happy. This was an early gift for myself but it was a great purchase for myself. Im not a fan of getting photos of myself professionally over the years I am trying to get more comfortable in front of a camera so this was not in my comfort zone at all, but saying that I will suggest giving a photoshoot to your mum for mothers day- obviously it doesn’t have to be on Mothers Day. But its a nice keepsake for her to have some up to date nice photos with the kids. Its also a great way to support a small business, seriously just look online and find a small photographer business and go through them. Every photographer Ive ever used is a small business and they are generally cheaper, friendlier and the whole experience is a lot more relaxed and personal. You don’t feel like a number. Now all this talk about mothers day I really should finish off my mums gift.
IM OUT!!!
Yes below is the photo from my shoot……
SHE GAVE IT A TRY 