Pulitzer Prize winning author and photographer, Eudora Welty, once said “A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.” Many of the photographs I take are born out of my desire to capture and preserve life’s memorable moments; to forever freeze the fleeting little snippets of joy and happiness in my world.

But I often get carried away; overwhelmed, frustrated and distracted by my need for perfection during photo shoots with my children.

I was particularly frustrated during a recent shoot with my older girls. I was determined to photograph Amaya and Alyssa laying in the grass while staring up at soft, billowy clouds on a crisp autumn day, but the elements were working against us and my daughters grew impatient with my need for perfection.

So they quit on me.

They refused to pose. They refused to smile. They threatened to walk back into the house if I didn’t allow them to have some fun.

So I gave in.

Instead of perfect, ethereal-like images of my girls laying in the grass and staring up at the clouds, I got…

Girly giggles.

Horsing around.

Laugh out loud fun.

And real, genuine, sisterly love.

Moments that I’m determined to capture and stop from running away.

These photos are nowhere near perfect. But over the course of our shoot, my daughters taught me to let go; to quit orchestrating and calculating every element of their photo sessions. They taught me to let things happen naturally and showed me that there’s incredible beauty to be found – and photographed – during those unscripted, uncalculated and unorchestrated moments.

They’ve also shown me that photography doesn’t always have to be about perfection. It’s about stopping a moment from running away and having fun in the process.

Speaking of fun… I had a blast shooting these photos with my new Tamron AF18-270mm all-in-one zoom lens. It’s extremely versatile, lightweight and produces stellar images that have rendered my kit lens obsolete. It’s also incredibly easy to use! In fact, it’s so easy to use that I handed my camera over to my daughters and let them have at it.

Talk about an unscripted moment!

My 14-year old daughter, Alyssa, shot these silly photos of me. I borrowed her costume glasses, backpack and textbook to pull off the nerdy look. It was so much fun!

My Tamron lens’ ability to zoom in and out with ease made composing these shots a cinch for Alyssa. It’s straight-forward, easy to use and not the least bit cumbersome.

And believe it or not, I even handed the camera over to my 8-year old daughter, Amaya. Wouldn’t you know…she took a fabulous shot of her older sister!

Amaya snapped this portrait while standing on a step ladder on a fairly windy day, but thanks to my lightweight Tamron lens’ amazing vibration compensation, she turned out a crisp, beautiful image!

My girls and I had so much fun shooting these photos; posing, laughing and enjoying a few unscripted moments. And I also learned an amazing lesson in the process – letting go, having fun and stopping life’s moments from running away.

Have you heard?

Tamron is giving away its AF18-270mm all-in-one lens to one lucky reader here at Live and Love Out Loud. Click on the image below for more details.

*Disclosure: Thank you once again to the wonderful folks at Tamron for providing me with a Tamron AF18-270mm all-in-one zoom lens and for sponsoring my post about capturing those fun, unscripted moments.

Tags: Motherhood, Photography, Sponsored Post