Dear Mama, Here is why I won’t Photoshop you

Dear Mama,

I know you might feel insecure with your body. So many of you reach out and jokingly say, “you can make me look thinner right?” And I get it- I spent years looking at images of myself with disdain, picking apart the imperfections I saw. We live in a culture that constantly tells us we are not enough. The longer I do this work and see YOUR beauty through my lens the more passionate I am about encouraging you to embrace your body. We rebel against that lie that we are not enough when we celebrate our right now.

Beloved Mama, here is what I want to say to you (& remind myself too), Comfort zones are meant to be stretched and stepping out and owning your created beauty is the best example for your kids.

Real talk: imperfectly perfect images that share your authentic story are what this is all about. I want to encourage you to embrace your right now and I am going to encourage you to live fully into your fabulous selves at our session. Life starts TODAY- it is all we have! I’m not about making people look thinner, fake, or unrealistic. In my opinion there is too much of that in our world. I want to capture the REAL stuff; your messy & beautiful life. Because THOSE are the moments that matter. THOSE are the moments you’re going to want to remember in 10, 20, 50 years. Of course, if your child scratched themselves or you got a pimple the day of our session (THAT happens ALL the time 🙂 or you accidentally got mud on your jeans (something that is temporary) I will definitely edit that in our images.

Dear Mama, You have hips and a booty and a few more smile lines because you are LIVING life! Celebrate your right now. If chronic illness has taught me anything it is that a body is a powerful thing. God says it is good and I will not hate or allow others to speak ill of His creation.

Your kids want to remember you right now. Life does not start when you lose 10 pounds friends. It started and you are living it right now. Don’t waste the precious time hating what God says is good.