Thurston Family // Portland Family Photographers // Weeno Photography

Back this fall when I was shooting a ton of families, and after shooting tons of families all dressed up, and kids napped and not cranky, and feeling a little uncomfortable I realized something. Why do we try to portray ourselves and our families as perfect?

With the world of Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and everything else media we are surrounded by people who we think live a perfect life. I know this because often I find myself looking at Instagram or at photographers blogs and I just wish that I were in their shoes. And if only I had that one “perfect” wedding, that would make me BIG then I would be so successful. I would be well known, and I would make lots of money and I wouldn’t worry about the bills that I have every month. I know that just in my marriage, and what I think I should live up to. I want to be that “cool” couple on Instagram. They are so cool, and wear awesome clothes, go really awesome places, and for sure they NEVER fight or worry about money. NOPE! Not that couple. They are perfect.

The thing is… we only put on the internet what we want people to see. How we want to portray ourselves. I only post on Instagram the happy Kellen and I off to shoot a wedding. Not the Kellen and I where we are fighting about what time we should leave to get to that wedding and how I think we should get gas and he doesn’t. I post about how I have 3x as many weddings as last year, which is amazing, but I’m not telling you thats only 8 weddings booked this year. The online world is a world of lies and deception.  I’m included in that.

I know that truth isn’t always the prettiest. Which is why this concept of my new family photos are a bit hard to swallow at first. But I want to show truth in families, and when you’re kids grow up show them at different stages in their lives. I want to show them  your struggles, your greatness, the crying, the happiness. If a family makes breakfast every Saturday morning together and makes a HUGE mess and does it in their pajamas I want to be there to capture that. I have a vision of going into a families house and being a little spy, and showing the family just how great they are. What I’ve learned in my 28 years of life is that everyone does things different. And not one of those families is wrong. Its just different. Its their truth.

So think of letting me in your home, and capturing your family just the way they are. The Good and the Bad. The Easy and the Hard. The Pretty and the Ugly. Lets start changing our ideas of  “perfect” and making it truth. Lets share our struggles, live life together, and live in love. Lets be accepting of the families around us no matter how different they are. Lets show our kids that accepting something different is awesome, that not everyone has to be like us.

To give you a little inspiration I followed a family around on Saturday. I met them at their house and they did what they were gonna do. We went to the farmers market, ate some food and got some coffee. Came home, had some lunch played on the floor and took a nap. I’m so grateful to this family that let me see their true family, and capture it.

I hope that your family will let me in and tell your story.

 

 

 

Special thanks to Karyn Thurston of Girl of Cardigan. She’s an amazing writer who’s recently gotten published in the Huffington Post. She writes about being a momma, and all the things that go with it. She’s pretty awesome.