late afternoon lullaby

 
Her fourth child, and no less the miraculous wonder than her previous three. This was one of the most amazing families I’ve had the pleasure of working with for more reasons than I can adequately describe here.

As to be expected with a newborn shoot including several other young siblings, nothing went particularly smooth with this one. The session had to be done late in the day, and everyone was worn and a bit frazzled by the time I arrived. A severe electrical storm not long after we began wreaked havoc with my lighting, and the two week old baby boy, exhausted, still would not sleep.

In another room, the father worked patiently and lovingly to soothe the over-excited trio of siblings while this adoring mother sat with her baby and softly sang him lullabies. The room had been quite dark with still threatening clouds hanging heavy in the sky, when all of the sudden a brief break between them let through strong rays of late afternoon sunlight. I almost missed the moment, as I’d been sitting across from the mom, caught up in her gentle singing and not expecting to photograph. I was happy to have gotten a few frames shot before the clouds overtook the rays of light, not because the resulting images were the most worthy of the session (in fact none of this set were chosen by the clients), but simply because I was present in a moment where the air was fully saturated with warmth and love.

I can’t count the number of times over the past years when I’d be feeling the least up to doing a shoot, and then wind up feeling the most grateful for the experience afterwards. It is in these illuminating moments when I’m reminded, that for me, it truly isn’t the resulting portrait that motivates or moves me to act, but rather it’s the feeling I get in being in front of something I find beautiful, letting it all in, and releasing the shutter at just the right time.

~Cynthia