mummies, get in front of the camera

One of the things that I do as much as possible is get family photos taken…………..with me in them! If I look back through photos when keira or the twins were babies it’s really hard to find any photos with me in them.  That makes me a little bit sad now. I just was so busy taking the photos or didn’t think I looked good enough to be in them because of my weight. How ridiculous is that! I used to take photos from the neck down or hide behind my craft project. It only takes a minute to ask someone to take a quick picture with you in it but it’s so worth it.

And when you have a blog you can be so self conscious about yourself and putting photos of yourself out there but you have to! People want to see who is behind the camera and the blog! It all gets a bit boring if you’re just behind the words and pictures and not in them! This blog isn’t just about my little ones or my craft or my green carpet or what came out of my oven, it’s about ME!

It does take a bit of courage to get started. I know! I’ve been there! But once you’ve started there is no turning back. You’ll be taking pictures of yourself, passing your camera to other people and sharing those pics on your blog. Here I am this afternoon, I’d had an absolutely crazy day, 4 hours sleep the night before, no make up, my hair had been in this bun since it was wet this morning, I’d just done school pick up and I was enjoying some ice-cream for afternoon tea.  But one day when I’m old and wrinkly and crinkly I’ll want to look back and see how I looked and remember what my life was like…….

And I’ll think what was I so worried about! So mummies get out from behind the camera, get in front of it, hug your little ones, strike a pose, show off your latest outfit, your hairstyle, hold up your latest craft project or wear it, don’t worry about makeup or losing a few kilos or any of that. Just start the habit now………………you’ll be wondering why you didn’t do it earlier. I do.

Comments

  1. You. Are. Gorgeous. Corrie!!!

    Thankyou for having the courage to, not only take – and share – photos of yourself here, but also to encourage *us* to allow/insist on taking more photos of ourselves!! I often look back on the photos of my little one and wonder why I’m not in them so much – yes, I was in a lot of the birth/early shots in the hospital … then, well, not so much. Many of the *few* photos I *do* have of the two of us are those “party” shots where one of you (generally me, lol) is holding the camera, in arm extended, facing the two of you … I will *try* to make an effort to have more photos taken of the two of us from now on. I would so much like to be able to look back on my photographic collection, in years to come, and be able to say that ‘yes, I *was* there, experiencing it all with her – not just recording it for future reference’!! Hugs!

  2. Even after only four hours of sleep and after a crazy day you still look stunning. I have to admit though I am just as guilty of hiding behind the camera. The direct result of this is that there are only about three or four photos of me and my daughter in the world. I want her to know that I did more than just take photos of her when she was a kid, I was right there in the thick of it dancing with her and crawling on all fours roaring like a lion right next to her. I think I need to take a page out of your book and get over my camera shy-ness.

  3. Love this! Thanks for the reminder

  4. Gorgeous. That is the only word that comes to my mind when I look at the picture.

  5. Lovely post – and you are so right we don’t get in front of the camera enough we are always hiding behind it. Your last photo is gorgeous – you look too young to have 5 children!

  6. Lovely post Corrie, I tend to take lots of “accidental” pics of my feet and it has become a bit of a way of recording where I was
    You are right though. It is good to see who is talking to us.

  7. Love this sentiment Corrie! You are beautiful & a great role model..

  8. You are wise beyond your years. I wish someone had offered that same advice to me when my family were young. It was always me behind the camera too.Still is! My nearly 3 year old grandson likes looking through our “old photos”and sadly there are not many of me. I’ve just indulged in a new Digital/SLR to capture our latest family moments and I’ll now encourage everyone to use it too. I hope all your beautiful followers heed your advice and get in front & centre of family photos for themselves & their future generations. Thank you.

  9. Well Said….Love your Little Sign for Emerson on the Christening Table just Goegeous….Love your New Look .
    Cheers

  10. Too true Corrie!! Over the last 6 years it would be possible to believe I didn’t exist in my little family!! Thousands of the kids, not quite so many of Daddy and barely one or two of me. I can spend hours baking cakes and a million other things for parties and we take photos of the children, the food but I am too busy so I never end up in the shot. I am also incredibly critical of myself so never like a photo once I am in it anyway!! Now the children are a little older they are getting good on the iPhone though so it does mean I can pass the camera to them to take one of me so I must make sure I do that more often!! Looking forward to your market. I need lots of FQs!!

  11. So true Corrie! And in any case, I think you’re looking fab x

  12. Mama of 2 boys says:

    Beautiful post Corrie & you always look gorgeous! I couldn’t agree more though, us Mama’s are so often the ones left out of the shot. Love the pic of your big family, stunning! xo

  13. Well said Corrie. Just this morning I had to pick out some pjotos for my little daughters ‘Child of the Week ‘ poster. Looking at my collection I realised I didn’t have many of me in them. Finally I found one and still I was critical of myself. After reading this post I went back and had a closer look of the shot and instead of focusing on my larger figure, I looked at my smile because it said it all ‘happy and proud’. So no more hiding and more smiling !

  14. This is good advice! I have almost no photos of myself with my twins when they were little (didn’t help that I was half-nekked most of the time since I was breastfeeding what felt like day and night haha!) and I really wish I had more. If there is a next time, I will definitely be taking your advice :-)

  15. Anne Longden says:

    Spot on! I’m really quite sad that I have (literally) only a few photo’s of me with my children when they were tiny. And for the same silly reasons you mentioned – didn’t think I looked good enough or was thin enough. Soooo crazy. You look gorgeous by the way….

  16. I agree!! Most of the blogs I enjoy reading include photos of the writer. Some have overload but most are just right. I personally will not just read a blog full of photos of someone elses kids (even as cute as they are) unless they are friends and family of course. Its good advice that I’ve taken. I try to include lots of photos of me on my blog.. I hope people dont think I love myself (thats what I worry about) but I know my kids will be glad to see me there one day.

  17. Thanks for this post, Corrie!

    Just recently I needed to look at some of my old photos to check on a growing facial mole, and realized I can hardly find one decent close up one of my face! Most of the photos taken are all about the kids! Thinking back, I was very conscious of my look, thinking about weight, no make up, no decent photo worthy clothes, and of course too busy with taking pictures of kids instead.

    I do plan to get myself into the picture from now on!!

  18. Corrie, you look beautiful!You are so right! I need to take your advice, there are very few photos of me… Thank you for stepping out and being a great encouragement for those of us who hide behind the camera! x

  19. Corrie – you look fabulous, even with dirty hair and no make-up . We ARE all to critical of ourselves; when other people look at these same photos that we don’t like, they say that they are beautiful. I think we need to look at photos of ourselves as an outsider more often – and realise that we aren’t half bad, most of the time!

  20. You all look so beautiful at Emerson’s christening and your priest looks so young!! I love Emerson’s name in the frame too and its meanings :)

  21. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-tate/mom-pictures-with-kids_b_1926073.html

    Great post subject Corrie. I spotted the above link on Facebook. It really hit home for me when I read a Mother’s comment that there are even photo albums without herself in them. Sadly, we Mothers need to ask ourselves how our children would remember us if we didn’t pose with them. I do remember that my siblings and I don’t have many photos with our own Mother, she was a single Mother and was always behind the camera, no tripod or self-timers either. Today’s camera technology gives us no excuses really.

  22. Totally agree with you and the other commenters. I am so guilty of hiding from the camera. I do like taking selfies on my phone with the kids occassionaly but I must admit I often tilt the camera so that I’m only in a third of the photo. Whoops.

  23. Oh Corrie you look fabulous!! It sure is lovely to see your smiling face and I agree whole-heartedly, it’s high-time us mum’s put ourselves in the view-finder for once! After all, if it wasn’t for us there would be no kids, craft projects, reno’s, baking or latest shopping finds to blog about. Thanks for the inspiration :-)

  24. I can totally relate to this post. I’ve put together my two daughter’s birthday parties in the last four months only to spend the evening of each one in tears because I have no photos of me and my girls from the day. As the mum you spend the day running around the kitchen and miss the fun stuff. Well, no more mummy-less photos for me either, I finally entered the digital slr world today so no more excuses (or tears) from me. The photos of you and your family are always gorgeous and they are what makes this blog such a great place to visit xx

  25. Lovely post and a great reminder! What child ever looks at photos from their childhood with their mum and says “she could have lost a few more kilos”?! None! Photos of mums with kids are precious and will be cherished! That said, I’m still learning myself – so easy to take photos just of my little man by himself, rather than together with him. I am pretty easy-going about the photos that do make it onto my blog though. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have any of me there!!

  26. Great post! I have been so focused on making sure i take as many pics of my second bub as i did the first and i never really think to jump in them as well. Will have to do so more often.

  27. After only 4 hours sleep Corrie!!!! Where are the bags???!!! You look positively fabulous in each and every one of those photos. I can see where those kids get their looks!

  28. Susan McGuire says:

    I am another mum who does not have many photos of myself during recent years. I always think I look too tired or too old and I often feel a bit embarrassed at my appearance. Unfortunately we can not all look like models or beauty queens so saying that I am going to try really hard make 2013 a year in which I get into a lot more photos. Thanks for inspiring me and sharing with us :)

Leave a Reply to Erin Cancel reply

*

Optionally add an image (JPEG only)