We had our first trip as a family of four this past weekend and Sage did so great on the drive! Phew! What a relief because Brighten hated the car for about …well… she still has a hard time haha. Thank goodness for iPads!
We stayed in Greer and drove out to the Family Reunion at my Great Uncle’s cabin in Greens Peak about 30 minutes away each day.
I knew I wouldn’t have the time to take pictures of everyone and every activity the whole time, which is what I would have loved to do because that is what my grandma did without fail each time. Since I had a nursing newborn and a 3 year old in tow I settled for having my camera out for 5 minutes at the reunion and 5 minutes at the cabin in Greer.
I was thinking about how interesting portrait/wedding photography is as a job. It’s something that you need to keep up with to keep and improve your skill- like dance, or painting or any of the arts. But unlike painting for example or even a landscape photographer a portrait photographer doesn’t create ahead of time and sell later they create when they’re hired. So when I take a break, like now on maternity leave, it’s important for me to intentionally continue to use situations I have available to keep my skills strong.
I think a lot of people who see a professional photographer shooting in a non-professional setting automatically think they must just be a hobbiest. I shed the worry of people thinking this long ago for two reasons. 1) I refuse to be too prideful to take pictures in non-ideal settings- it’s too amazing of practice for me! 2) I want the memories! I have the knowledge and resources to capture some incredible memories of my family. What an gift that is for me and will be to my posterity.
Can you imagine if all I had to show my grandkids at the end of my life is pictures of a bunch of other people haha.
I’m looking forward to sharing more of my family with you while I’m on maternity leave! <3
Alyssa
P.S. Have you seen Hunting Hitler on Amazon PRIME video?!?!? Trent and I are watching it as I write this. It’s crazy! You need to watch it… after you check out some of my favorites from my 10 minutes total of shooting time.
(Shout out to my Aunt Lynn for taking the cousin group photos that I am in 🙂
Love all these pics and especially the people in them!