Fall Came....and went.

Fall is my favorite season, hands down. And with Minnesota's unpredictable weather, you can never be too sure how long it's going to stick around. Ryan and I typically pack as many fall themed outings into the months of September and October as we possibly can. A pumpkin patch, a corn maze, a haunted house or two. I'm not quite sure what happened this year (life, maybe?) but we just didn't get as many things checked off our fall bucket list as usual.

We did however squeeze in a trip to our favorite pumpkin patch (6 weeks ago!). It's only a few miles from our house and it's run by a large family. Something about hundreds of pumpkins, free hay rides and the fact that they rely on the honor system when purchasing your goodies is just really neat.

 

Behind the Photo

This year I booked dozens of photo shoots, met many wonderful parents and took hundreds of photographs of their smiley {or not so smiley} children. Nearly every single one of those sessions began the same; with a sweet Mom who had clearly invested a decent amount of time and energy ensuring that faces were clean, outfits were coordinated and the shoot was not scheduled smack in the middle of Game Day Sunday. And while I most certainly admired the effort, more often than not, those sessions ended the same. With Mom worrying that a redo was definitely in order.

I never scheduled a single redo {newborns not included!} 

Because, here's the thing, "when it comes to kids and photographs, you never know what you're going to get." I hear it all the time. From parents, from friends and from fellow photographers. And sure, there is a bit of truth to that. You don't know if little Jack is going to pull through with that grin you practiced the entire car ride over or if sweet Ainsley is going to decide that her carefully chosen princess dress is the perfect attire for bug catching and puddle jumping. But you do know what you're going to get.

You're going to get goofy grins. 

You're going to get grumpy scowls.

And you may even get a tantrum or two.

You're going to get dirty hands. 

You're going to get wrinkled shirts.

You're going to get imperfect.

You're going to get real. 

And maybe it's just me but aren't those the best kind of photographs anyways?

So in the coming months, as your newsfeed becomes inundated with smiling faces and your mailbox fills with Christmas cards of families who appear as if they stepped straight out of a LandsEnd catalog, remind yourself that there is always an "imperfect" photo {or 10} that preceded that shot.

And those photos? They might look a lot like skinned knees, squished caterpillars, tear-stained cheeks and husband's who proclaim that family photo day is indeed the "worst.day.ever," but don't discard them. 

Print them. Frame them. Love them. 

They are after all the ones that tell the real story. 

Your story.  

**If you're in the Minneapolis area and looking for a photographer, check out Elyse Rethlake Photography. Not only is Elyse insanely talented, but she has a serious knack for catching the beauty of everyday. 

Three Years

I will trust you and honor you,
I will laugh with you and cry with you,
I will love you faithfully,
Through the best and the worst,
The difficult and the easy,
I will always be there whatever may come.
As I have given you my hand to hold
So I give you my life to keep
For where you go, I will go and where you stay I will stay.
 

Three years ago today, I made the best decision I’ve ever made. I married my best friend. The one thousand ninety-five days since have been filled with plenty of ups, numerous downs and lots of days in between. Not every day is perfect, in fact, very few are.  But there is nobody I would rather be spending my imperfect days with than this guy.

 

 

Kindergarten

 

Sunset Wagon Rides