Confession: I am rarely happy with the way I look in pictures, and even less happy when I'm doing self portraits with my tri-pod! However-I am challenging myself to get in the frame more and more with my children so that they will have evidence of me and of our daily life together during their childhood. 

I recently decided to join in on a Project 52 (taking a picture a week for the entire year, usually but not always led by a prompt or theme that changes each week). This week is week 20 according to the calendar but actually my first week to join in. The prompt for the week was "Motherhood" and instead of strategically choosing a day when I looked and felt my absolute best I decided to wait and do it when the mood struck. I strive for authenticity as a lifestyle photographer and am trying to keep it real as much as possible. 

There really are days (like today, actually) that everything aligns and I end up in clothes that I like, with freshly washed, styled hair, and makeup. But...the day these images were taken wasn't one of those days. I was in a ball cap and ponytail with no make up, and clothes that had been sweat in, spit up on and disheveled throughout the day. 

My older kids were gone for the evening and it was just my husband, my infant and me at home. We were in the living room sitting in the floor playing with our son as the evening light flooded in through the windows and I just knew this was the moment I wanted to capture. Having my husband available was a bonus because I didn't have to use my tri-pod! I tested the light first by getting a few shots of him and my son (which I ended up loving despite them being a little under-exposed). After getting a couple of sweet moments of my guys, I handed the camera to my husband. 

Black and white was the clear choice for the images that I'm a part of (see above about my attire for the day LOL) 

I think he did a great job and am so happy to have these images. The solo shots he captured of my son are some of the my absolute favorite of him to date.