Summer, Summer, Summertime: Boulder Family Photography
Summer, summer, summertime. A wise man once said these words...or was it a Fresh Prince? In any case, these words seem to pop into my head often as the days grow longer and the sunsets more spectacular. When the night starts later and the bats fly just above me I think about magic. Not the rainbow sunset kind but the kind that happens daily. If you think about it, it is pretty magical that bats are gulping up thousands of mosquitoes and it is magical when snowmelt becomes rushing creeks and rivers. It's also magical when a little girl turns two and the only thing she really cares about, is that Mama and her Daddy are close by. I've seen it, this sort of everyday magic that isn't as in your face as a spectacular Instagram post but is a million (or billion times) more enchanting if you truly see it for what it is.
Once upon a time oh let's say about two years ago, a little girl was born. Though like many first time Mama's she wasn't sure that her little babe would finally get here. And as I saw her waiting, I remembered the words my prenatal yoga teacher said to me, "I've yet to see someone stay pregnant forever." And so, like those wise words, this beautiful little gal was born. You can prepare for your impending arrival by reading books, taking classes, and visualizing but the magic that is your child is that it doesn't matter what you expect, they will be just as they are. Some things may be as you thought but often they aren't. After all they are their own little being with their own personalities even if they don't quite realize they have hands yet. And the hours and the days go by and you haven't blinked (or slept) in forever and then it happens, they are 2. And the magical thing is they just keep going up and down, and many days in circles and backward but magically they change. You see them every day and yet how did it all happen? They once couldn't hold up their own head and now they can't stop running. They once couldn't say a word and now they are learning to speak in one (or TWO) languages. How magical is that?
We often think of magic as something unexpected but seriously, how could you prepare for how much you could love someone that poops incessantly, sleeps (ha!) sometimes, and makes you feel more emotions at once than you ever thought possible? How could someone so tiny change your life forever? And yet they do without any trying. Now that is magic.
When I met this brilliant little girl up on the mesa the light was....yes you know what I'm going to say. And we noticed and appreciated the beauty of the light and the way the temperature changed a few degrees in a few minutes but I noticed so many other things during that beautiful summer sunset. I noticed how this little girl couldn't take her eyes off her Mama and her Daddy. She was transfixed by them both. Whether it was her daddy running around being silly and making her laugh or the safety of her Mama's arms, this little gal sees magic every time she looks at her parents. I saw it myself.
When the sun dips just behind the mountain peaks and it glows it's beautiful light, I'm thankful to get to experience the beauty. But whether we have storm clouds, sunshine, sunrises or sunsets I hope you always see the magic I try to capture within each and every single family in front of my lens.
