Crappy photos I love anyway
Knowing my state flower wasn’t something I grew up remembering, but in Texas, all the hype around the Bluebonnet every year makes it hard to forget.
My daughter already knows it’s the state flower, and we’ve had fun taking photos in them since she was a baby. Last year we missed them. My little guy wasn’t born just yet and they only last a few weeks. I wanted to get some pictures in the beautiful Texas flowers, but I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to. A lot of my family is visiting this week, and coordinating a trip with everyone isn’t easy.
After church we drove to a field and took a few photos. The lighting was harsh and my kids weren’t thrilled about the tall grass, but we made the best of the rare blooming field.
As I loaded these onto my computer I was whining to myself about the bad lighting, harsh shadows, and my overall disappointment. I’ve definitely taken better photos, but these will still be a moment I look back and smile at, knowing the trouble we went through to get them. The begging I had to do to get my husband to cooperate, the soothing I had to do for my overly cranky baby, the bribing I had to do for my preschooler. All for a few mediocre shots of my family.
If the flowers stick around through the end of the week I’m hopeful I can score a few more shots just before sunset… My favorite time to shoot. And if I’m lucky, I may even get in a few myself (after setting the camera settings and handing it off to someone other than my husband–Bless his heart).
Do you do all the picture-taking in your family? Or are you lucky enough to live with a photographer?
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I’ve created eBay collections with some of the items I love to use for memory-keeping, and storytelling, and teaching my children about the world, like our beautiful state flower.. Each collection featuring hashtag #ImBornTo created now until the end of the month will raise $1 for the March of Dimes. As of writing this post they’ve only raised just over $5,000 so far. We can do better!
If doing something good isn’t motivation enough, you’ll also be entered to win a $5,000 shopping spree. It’s easy to create a collection, I’d be happy to help if you have questions. Check all of mine out here.
*This contest is sponsored in collaboration with eBay.
Tags: family, memory-keeping, photography, pictures, texas bluebonnets
Mediocre shots??? May I one day be a “mediocre photographer”…lol. These are lovely, and defo worth your trouble! I’ve certainely enjoyed them
Thank you Mrs. JK. I am not very good at shooting in the bright sun. But I’m mostly happy with how these turned out. I probably shouldn’t be too hard on myself.
I love these pix! Love the precious memories! I am the photographer.
Thank you Jana!
These are great photos. I’m curious though, did you buy a nice camera and then learn all of the lighting and such, or did you sign up for a class and then get a camera. I want to upgrade, but feel unsure how much sense it makes before I take a class since I mainly still use the auto setting.
So I didn’t take any classes but I did read almost my entire camera manual and googled questions about settings. I hope that helps some. Getting out of auto drastically improved my photos. Try experimenting with a few different modes where you can change a few of the settings. You’ll get it in no time!
There must be something wrong with me- because I love these shots!! I know we are always our own worst critic but seriously, it looks like the flowers are circling around J- it’s a nice artsy effect.
I’m the photographer in my family and I get just as much crap about it as well. Just stand up and smile people!
I’m definitely the photographer/memory keeper in my family too! Although, I find it irritating when my husband won’t cooperate. You probably wouldn’t hear me say…”Bless his Heart”. 🙂 I’m in Waco and I haven’t seen any good patches yet…but I need to go scouting. I’m very much my own worst critic too….but these are wonderful memories captured!
Ooh I bet you’ll start to notice some up there soon!
And so funny you also have trouble getting cooperation from your other half. What’s so hard about looking happy in a picture? I just don’t get it 😉
Even if they aren’t your best, they’re still beautiful shots! And the memories are what it’s all about anyway! 🙂
Exactly! Happy I preserved the moment.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, these look great. And what they lack in technical amazingness (according to you…) your kids freaking adorableness makes up for. I think they are beautiful. I love the last one of J & T together. Her boots are killer. So, so cute. If you’re headed out around sunset – let me know! I’d love a chance to try again. :o)
Thanks mama! We definitely should go for a round 2 together! I loved your pictures as well!
I don’t see any crappy photos. These are great. At least to me they are. I’ve got much room for improvement when it comes to photography. The husband and I both like taking photos.
Thank you for your nice comment! Awesome that you both love photography! It’s handy when you want to be in one now and then.
I do all of the photo taking in my family as well. I hope to get us all dressed up nice to sit on the steps of the front porch with the camera on the tripod and my remote in hand to get a few family photos soon!
These pictures are beautiful as is your family! I’m def the documentarian of the family. I love snapping pics and looking back. I hope one day when I have kids they can look back into their history from the documenting that I’m doing now
Okay, GORGEOUS photos. And um, yeah, looking up my state flower ASAP! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
I’m the photographer, quite literally. I’m a wedding photographer professionally, so I’m always the one lugging the giants DSLR everywhere. These photos look good, when you look at them 10 years from now you won’t care about the shadows! I’ve been making it a point to shoot during “golden hour” from now on for this very reason, midday light is yucky 🙂