When Mums are too fat for photoshoots...

Sorry, I had to get your attention somehow. If you clicked on this, you're either amused or offended, but either way you're intrigued so keep reading..

I do a lot of photoshoots, my most popular sessions being newborn, milestone and cake smashes, all of which include complimentary sibling and family images. Yet 99% of the time parents will say "just photograph the baby", the two usual excuses being Dad hates photos and thinks he looks awkward in them and Mum thinks she looks too fat and tired.

Well despite how you *think* you feel, put that aside and tell me; how often are you in the photo with your children? What proof do you have that you exist in their world, when you ARE their whole world.. now read that again! I'm mainly going to direct this at you Mummies because let's face it, it's a common occurrence that Dads dislikes photographs, but he'll be in them if you tell him to be, moaning about it along the way, but he'll do it. So now I need to convince you Mums.

As a Mum myself, I know I'm hardly in any photos with my kids, and if on the odd occasion I am, it's selfies or bad photos my husband has taken from what appears to be his waist height looking up to ensure he doesn't miss out a chin. My mum friends can relate to this, as I'm sure you will too. So, how many photos do you actually have WITH your children?

We create life, then this little life takes over. Being a Mum takes its toll on our bodies, we are sleep deprived so we have no energy, causing bigger bags under our bloodshot eyes. We are so busy getting our babies into a routine that we forget to keep to our own, therefore we snack as and when we get a chance, meaning we naturally gain weight on top of the few pounds already gained through pregnancy. Our body essentially deteriorates, and so does our confidence.

So because you feel exhausted and your jeans are a little tighter than usual, you're convinced you look awful and tell yourself there's no way you want a photograph to remind you of that. Well let's fast forward to the future, do you think your baby will look at these images and say "wow Mum you looked tired" or do you think they'll just smile at the memory and see nothing but Mum. I know myself when I look back at photographs from childhood that my Mum cringes at, I don't see her clothes size, or how big the black circles under her eyes are, I just see my Mum and how she looked when I was little, as she of course looks totally different now.

We're not getting any younger, you'll never look like you do now, so I'll use the classic line of 'there's no time like the present' but it's so true. You'll only ever regret the memories you didn't create, the photos you weren't in, and the lack of impressions you've left your child. Because remember, these photos aren't just for you now, they're for your children's future. Don't leave them wondering why you didn't get involved in their baby photoshoot. Show them you were proud to be their Mummy, no matter how Motherhood made you look and feel.

Everyone hates having their photo taken, apart from professional models and Instagram influences. We all feel awkward and worry about how we'll look. But as a professional photographer I will pose you at your best angle, to enhance the features you like, and disguise the ones you don't. I do this day in, day out, I know what I'm doing so put your trust in me to give you the best photos. You will love the photographs of just your baby, but the important ones are the images with you in them, present, just as you are in every day of their life.

You are there with them every step of the way, nurturing them from birth, feeding them all through the night, caring for them when they're ill. You'll be the one helping them take their first steps and teaching them their first words. You are part of their journey, you're building their biography alongside them and being responsible for their memories, so capture that for when they look back at their legacy.

Be present in those memories, don't put it off and wait until you've lost weight or had more sleep. That day doesn't come, I've been waiting for that day for 5 years and I'm realising it's still just as far as it was when I first said it, I've lost those last 5 years of memories because I made it about me, I didn't want to be in my children's portraits because of how I felt, not realising I'm depriving them of their future memories.

What I've started to realise is that our babies will still love us no matter how we look. Fat, skinny, greasy hair, bold, rich, poor. Make sure you repay this conditional love by showing them that you were there. Years from now your children will be reminiscing and looking back at your photoshoot images. Memory fades with age, so photographs are the closest we’ll ever get to remembering the details from the past. Every image tells a story. Make sure you have stories you would like to relive when your children grow up. For you, but more importantly for them.

And if nothing above helped I'll also say this, the family poses of your newborn session, milestone photoshoot or cake smash are completely free on top of the shoot. When you come to view your gallery, if see the images and really don't like them, you don't have to buy them. I offer a money back guarantee on all creative photoshoots so you've got the reassurance that in the unlikely event you don't love your images, you can get your money back.

I think you've ran out of excuses, so why not get in touch and let's chat about what memories I can create for you and your family?

Disclaimer: There's no link to the Mums in the photos with the ones I describe above. I simply just shared images I loved alongside the post :)