It shouldn’t be hard to get a picture of all 3 of us should it? Yet casting back through the hundreds (maybe thousands) of snaps taken of Euan over the last year I can only think of a handful featuring Mum, Dad and Baby. The ‘now we are 3’ photos we do have are a lovely reminder of special days out or time spent with family and friends who have captured the moment for us. They’re rarely prize-winning pictures though…self-portraits snapped at arms length tend to have that slightly odd ‘we’re-so-happy-but-why-is-our-child-trying-to-escape-our-clutches?’ look about them. Like this one taken on a lazy Sunday afternoon when E was 8 months old.
Photos taken by other people can be disappointing and I admit to feeling a bit deflated by someone elses efforts on my behalf (ouch, slap my wrist for being so ungrateful!). So with this in mind I was intrigued by Lucy’s ‘Me and Mine’ challenge to capture a monthly family portrait over the coming year. Perhaps it’ll inspire me to get creative, learn to take better photos myself (seriously considering this fab looking e-course) or force me to be more pro-active about seeking out and guiding someone else to take the picture in my mind’s eye for me.
Euan had his first birthday in January, shared here, but we missed that all important ‘now were are 3’ photo. We don’t have one from his first Christmas either. Fortunately we celebrated my Mum’s birthday the day after E’s and she took this shot of the 3 of us during her birthday lunch (thank you Mum, beats no photo at all!). As it’s my birthday next week there’s no excuse for not being on the ball with this month’s picture!
Of course there is a third category of family portrait after ‘self‘ and ‘random passer-by’ and that’s the professional photo shoot. On a chilly Autumn morning a few months ago we went up to our local gardens to play with E while our friend Shane discreetly clicked away in the background. He really captured the essence of the fun we have now we are 3, the absolute joy our little man brings us and the delight he sees in everything.
(this last photo is our favourite: it shows E pointing to the trees saying ‘ook’ (look) – his first word after Mummy and Daddy. He says it a lot and always turns to check we’re marvelling at how great the world is too.
If you’d like to take part in the ‘Me and Mine’ family portrait project check out details on Lucy’s Dear Beautiful Boy blog post.
Such a happy bonny baby! Greetings from snowy Chicago! (minus 12 celsius right now) Susan Hayward
Lovely photos of a lovely family :).
Those pro shots are magical, how lovely to have had them taken outside, so much more full of life and fun than any studio shot. Enjoy your birthday, and good luck with the photo project!
Gorgeous photos. The autumn leaves make such a perfect backdrop.
Lovely photos, what gorgeous smiles!
Gorgeous photos. I actually am rather fond of an at-arms-length portrait, they may not be the best technically, but it gives you a good excuse to get close up and cuddly.
Thanks for joining and linking up with our project. See you for February in a few weeks! x
Susan – phew, that’s cold, I bet the kids and dogs love the snow though :o)
Narf – awwww thanks :o) {blushing}
Janet – it seemed right to play outside for our shoot, although we have some lovely indoors ones too (well who can resist the sight of a baby in a nappy?). I’ll pass your kind comments on to Shane and thanks for the birthday wishes
Lauren – thanks for your comment and welcome to my little blog. I’ll look forward to catching your me and mine with your lovely boys
Nic – E’s a very obliging subject and has a way of making everyone he comes into contact with smile :o)
Lucy – they certainly have their charm and beat no photo hands down. Thanks for the inspiration and I’ll look for to catching the February round up in a few weeks
One already? That is truly astonishing. The main thing is you all look so happy and that’s what makes the photographs special.
thanks Choclette – we marvel at where the time’s gone too. As you can imagine our potato growing was non-existent last year.
What a great idea! We have exactly the same problem – I can’t think of a single photo of all 3 of us… oops! And I’m horribly ungrateful about other people’s shots of us too (blush!). I love your pro ones though, so gorgeous. I’m not a fan of studio shots but love the natural setting of these,
Fantastic photos. We had a couple of good ones taken by strangers this year sorry last year.
it is hard to get a good shot of the whole family – we have occasional photos of the three of us but many are disappointing. I love the professional ones – would you believe that we have never had professional photos taken of the three of us. Maybe one day!
Beautiful photos so pleased you linked up! xx
Kate and Johanna: what a shame you don’t have a Shane living near you – capturing children in a natural way is quite a talent isn’t it – and making the parents look presentable, even more so!
Denise – that was a stroke of luck
Lucy – me too!