personal :: long days, short years (Part 1)

"the days are long, but the years are short," someone(s) told me about mothering. i’ve found it to be so very true. some days are downright ETERNAL, and as both my children are simultaneously melting down and hanging around my neck, making impossible-to-decipher demands, i catch myself wishing it away. the hardest thing for me about become a mom was (and is), hands down, the loss of personal space and time. it is in that department that motherhood feels most sacrificial for my introverted self. likewise, it is also the centerpoint of much of my daydreaming (ah, it would be so nice to have the day to set up however i choose, engaged in various creative projects, reading novels, journaling and lingering in prayer, running errands alone....)

but my firstborn will be 3 in just about six weeks and those 3 years have flown by. how can it be that this firecracker of a girl is nearly 3?! her baby fat is already melting and her body is getting more proportional like a KID. she’s a kid. i have to face it. 

today i’m thinking about this phenomenon -- the short years and long days thing -- in connection with photography. i’m feeling very glad that the photographs i have from these short years built of long days are the kinds of photographs that they are: photojournalistic, storytelling images. i know that i’d be disappointed if i didn’t have those images of disheveled children playing on dirty floors, and if instead all i had were collections of pretty pictures of manicured, stiff kids posing grudgingly in a studio. because the latter would tell me virtually nothing about the personhood of my littles, or the fleeting characteristics of their babyhoods and toddler years. oh, man. i’d be so sad. 

i like Smile Sessions and Mini-Sessions... i love them. i love to shoot them, and they yield frame-worthy images, images you can send to grandparents and get rave reviews. but i hope they won’t be all. i hope they won’t serve as the primary documentation of the families i do them for. i hope hope hope that they are either learning how to use a camera in order to do the job of catching all those ordinary, sacred, messy, and fleeting moments and details at home, OR that they will consider letting me (or some other gifted visual storyteller) come into their home every so often to tell those stories. 

Family Photojournalism sessions yield storybook-worthy images. which is why these sessions include such book. :)

friends, we only get to do this once. they will only be 2 once, and only for a blink. 

well, now that i’ve got that off my chest, here are some of my family’s own cherished photojournalistic style photos from the last year. 

first, a Hazel-centric collection...

I'll post a collection of images of Gus' past year in a few days!

family photojournalism :: the verwys family

a [long] while back, i submitted a photo session to an auction benefiting a cause related to birth education and alternatives in the greater Grand Rapids area. Emily won that auction, much to her delight. she was giddy, which made me feel great. still, it took about a year to finally get the session on the books, as we waited for the birth of her daughter and the renovations of their new home to occur. finally, the day arrived. 

i walked into their amazing, totally unique space and watched them all play together happily for about an hour. they had a family dance party, played on the floor, read books, baked cookies, and cuddled in their hammock. i did this session in the family photojournalism style, because i had [rather easily] persuaded emily to let me do it that way. :)

two daughters looks like lots of fun, doesn't it?! not that i'd trade my son in for a second daughter. ;)

'round here

our kids are nearly-3 and 1 years old. there is abundance of life -- messes, laughter, screeching, falls, triumphant firsts, hugs and kisses, and all the rest -- that comes along with living with tiny people. and one of the most satisfying hobbies i have is photographing that life. i use my iPhone a lot these days, but remain committed to breaking out the Big Camera relatively often, too.  i'm hoping that what this hobby accomplishes is the creation of a photographic record of their childhoods, of my marriage, of our home and our people. this feels important, not optional, nor merely fun. 

which is where the nudge for teaching the Light and Life workshop comes in, I guess. i want others to know how to do this for their own families, too. tell your story, people. you will never regret it. 

anyway, here's a random sampling of recent life at the Collier house (really, just at our own house). 

WELCOME

i'm so glad you're here. 

i want you to know that as a photographer, my speciality and my greatest joy is telling stories. stories of the ordinary, beautiful, raw moments and spaces that make up your personal history. when you invite me to photograph you and your family, you won't be dressing up, having make-up artists work on your face, or even smiling at the camera. you will simply carry on, doing and being all that you do and are. 

this post is at the top of the page because here you will find links to more information and examples of my two specialities: birth photography and family photojournalism. 

take a look...

birth photography

grand rapids, mi birth photographer and birth photography

family photojournalism sessions

grand rapids, mi family photographer and family photojournalist. visual storytelling and documentary photography.

family photojournalism :: the oliphants and pecks

two sisters. both seeking first the kingdom of God. one through fostering and adopting, the other through missions in the third world. 

they invited me to spend an evening with their families, documenting them playing together for one of the last times in a long time, as Jamie and her family are about to move to another state, then overseas.

there's so much love in this family. and i had such a nice time being with them that i had trouble leaving! furthermore, they let me sit on the horse, which is pretty much the best treat ever.