author: Jeanette Mesite Frem

I just read a fabulous article by a photographer about how she never wanted to be photographed because she felt she was too fat to be in pictures.  After a near-death accident, she realized that her family and friends wouldn’t have had any photographs of her to reflect on and she vowed to be in more photos.  She also realized that no one that loves her would look at the photo and think “there’s my fat sister” but instead would be appreciating her smile and her laugh and their relationship.

I know that most mothers are notoriously camera shy.  Most people find there are more pictures of their baby with the other parents or a grandparent or just the baby in the photo by him/herself.  Why aren’t mothers in photos?  It may start first at the baby’s birth, “I just went through labor, I’m too exhausted, I must look something awful.”  Then moms can be very self-conscious of any baby weight.  Or maybe mom is the one that is always holding the camera or camera phone and she doesn’t ask dad or her mommy-group friend or baby’s grandma to take a picture.

Whatever your reason is for not being in photos with your child, let’s change that!  Let’s do a Holiday Photo Challenge!  This challenge  is NOT about the holidays specifically, but it’s that time of year and hence there will probably be more people around to actually TAKE the photos of you.  If the photo has you dressed in a Santa hat or a silly holiday sweater, that’s great, too, but definitely not required.  Are you babywearing? Breastfeeding? Being silly?  Include those!  It’s not hard to take a selfie with your phone, and you’ll get better and better at it over time.  Then again, have you heard of the amazing app Clapmera?  It’s awesome.  It’s like a self-timer but for your iPhone.  There may be an Android version, too.

Up for participating in the the Babies in Common Holiday Photo Challenge?

Yes? Awesome.

Let’s start a movement where mamas are sure they are taking selfies of themselves and their babies/kids and that others know to take photos of moms and babies/kids, too!  I thought about making this a contest but then decided that we didn’t need a contest because you are all beautiful and all your babies are beautiful, so enjoy the photos, share them with family and friends, print them and just have fun being silly while taking photos!  Oh, and remember that there’s also the awesome option of doing a professional photo shoot with your baby/child/family, which adds another dimension of fantastic to your memories!  [But, hey, IF you happen to also want to be so generous to send your favorite photos for me to use in Babies in Common marketing materials, I’d really appreciate it (see P.S. below).]

Click here for the article that inspired this post and this challenge.  Enjoy!

P.S.  If you want to send your favorite photo(s) of you and your baby (or your baby and someone else or your baby doing something cute) to jeanette@babiesincommon.com to use in marketing materials, please include a note in the email stating that your photo may be used on the Babies in Common website and Facebook page AND that you give me permission to use it all marketing materials.  Thanks!