Then he took the camera from me and shot his very first photos. I have to say, I'm impressed. Especially considering he didn't even look through the lens.
One of the things that is important to me with photos, is to show people who they really are. Hopefully, what they really are like on the inside; what their face looks like when they gaze at one they love, how they laugh, and how their family looks when they are together. It's a gift really. It's also the primary reason I don't do a whole bunch of skin smoothing and various "photoshopping" of skin and shadows. I do it sometimes, for random zits, for certain types of shoots, or people who ask for it (and pay extra for it since it's really time consuming). But I truly believe that people are beautiful. And I think it's important that we embrace who we are. And if we don't like something about ourselves, maybe it's something we can improve upon and maybe it's not. When I look at the faces of those I love, I don't see wrinkles and grey hairs and too-big noses. I just see deep inside them, and their face to me IS them.
So I didn't lighten my under-eye circles in this photo, or smooth my eyebrows that needed to be plucked. I did remove a zit from my forehead because it isn't always there, it just happened to be that day and I'd rather forget about its appearance.
But this is the way my son sees me every day. This is how my face looks when I'm gazing happily at him (which I am in this capture). And with every wrinkle and grey hair, he knows it's me. (Actually I pluck out the grey hairs so they aren't apparent quite yet). (I embrace many of my imperfections but am still in denial about that one).
