The Story Behind the Camera
The other day, my three-year-old grandson, William found a little wooden box that holds various family photographs of my children and their children. He brought several photos to me with excitement as he recognized his parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. He pointed and delighted as we did a who’s who of family loved ones. I found myself recounting the day many of these photos were taken. One photo of my husband and I with our grandchildren, in particular, stands out.
The most challenging aspects of snapping a photo with 13 people under the age of 12 are, 1, getting them together; 2, distracting the stubborn refusal to look happy; and 3, coercing them to face the camera. The goal for everyone to smile? Just isn’t going to happen. Seven of our grandchildren are under the age of 5, after all.
When William brought this photo of my husband and I surrounded by our grandkids, I started laughing out loud. The memories of that snapshot are etched in my mind. I remember the date for this photo shoot had been on the calendar for months. I hired a photographer to come to our lake house. Our crew is big in number, and I love nothing more than having my favorite people together. I’m ok to admit my grandchildren have surpassed my children in status as very favorite people, although I do really like my kids.
This resurfaced photo is pretty cute, I must say. My husband and I are surrounded by our grandkids. We are huddled together on the lawn. Both of us are holding a child, and several of the older kids are also holding the littles. Arms are intertwined, and even our little grand dog chihuahua, Bosco made it into the frame.
What you don’t see and what makes me still laugh is the recollection of the line of parents behind the camera trying to get the attention of all the kids so that they are, at best, facing forward. The moms and dads are hootin and hollerin, jumping up and down, singing “Baby Shark,” waving their arms and yelling the names of the babies who are more interested in following the nearby squirrel run up the tree than the off key, over-volumed litany of sing songy, grand gestures from behind the camera.
I realize photographers have their challenges when it comes to capturing attentive photos of children. In the case of this Saturday morning photo session, the photographer wasn’t the only one hard at work. Rather, the heavy lifting of energy expended was done by the team of cheerleaders behind the camera who should have been on the payroll. I can’t help but think of the panoramic story that extends way beyond the photo frame. The effort was all worth it.
As William and I had fun searching the photos for his mom and dad, I realize what makes any photo perfect is the story beyond the camera. In the case of my world, there’s always the presence of imperfection even in a snapshot of coordinating colored outfits. Some kids are wearing shoes, some aren’t. Some have tucked shirts, some don’t. Some are smiling, some are on the verge of a full out melt down. All of that doesn’t matter. What matters is I have them all in the frame, and memories of the craziness just behind the camera.
The good news is I will always have this photo to mark the moment when we were all together. The better news is we have since added another grandchild which means we are overdue for another altogether snapshot. I’ll have to tell my adult kids to be ready for action.