Dad. Husband. Photographer.

I seen a question  from someone online who's fear that having children will stop him for 3 years or so from pursuing his work as a photographer. I thought it was a very awesome question and thought I would indirectly answer it ;)

I think it's pretty relevant since today marks my 5 year wedding anniversary with my wife, Becky.

Five awesome years ago we were married but I started my photography business while we were engaged; She in fact, was my biggest supporter and gave me the kick in the pants to do photography professionally. Having that support is the first thing needed to have a successful photographic career.

Fast forward a couple years to 2008 when we had our son, Cameron. My photography business was finally doing really well for us. I was knee deep in it all! I couldn't be as helpful as I wanted with our son and I thought it sucked. But there my wife was a trooper and taking care of it all.

In 2011 we had our daughter, Addison. I learned this time around that being a photographer was great and all, but absolutely didn't want to miss time away from my little girl. So 2011 was when I fell off the map so to speak. I did my weddings and portraits more selectively and didn't update this site nearly as much as I used to.

I did this 110% voluntarily because I realized that being a good parent and husband is most important. Before I know it, my children will be off to school, college and then moved out so I had better enjoy it while it lasts.

Ironically, 2011 was when I really discovered myself as a photographer. It took me 13+ fricken' years to discover my style and what made me tick as a photographer. I wasn't obsessing over these rockstar photographer blogs, I wasn't on forums anymore and I didn't have anything to distract me from myself and my style. I didn't put any pressure on myself to shoot like so-and-so. I was just shooting a ton of family photos of my children just being kids and I had no pressure whatsoever. I shot what I wanted, when I wanted and, most importantly, how I wanted to.

Here are some examples. These are some snapshots that I took last week just using Instagram on my iPhone:

 I am in absolutely in love with these two pics. The first one is of my daughter. Yeah her head is cropped but I know it is her. This was a "daddy" memory. See we just got the kids a swing set in our back yard and her and I were passing the swing back and forth to each other playing. I know it's her. I am capturing the moment and it really encompasses the "mood." It makes me happy when I look at it so that makes it a good photo in my opinion.

The second image was taken a couple weeks ago when we visited Rushford Lake. The kids were about ready for bed so we hung out in the bedroom and watched a DVD on our laptop for a little bit. I snapped this shot real quick, once again using Instagram.

I showcase these two images because years prior, I would have never been caught dead cropping heads or taking dark, ambient lit photos. You know why? Because my "photo journalistic" skills bit the big one. It was only when I second shot for someone I knew or took snapshots that I experimented. As you can see, those are all my favorite shots...

So back from my tangent...
 
Having a wife and children helped MAKE me the photographer I am today... This is nothing to be feared of but rather embraced. I have never been more excited to shoot for my clients then I am right now.

You know what else I learned? How to do $#!% right in the first place. If I have a family and they need me to be a part of their lives then you better believe I am going to nail the shot so it requires little to no time in post-processing. Wow, I am suddenly an even-better photographer.

I cannot wait to see which child takes a liking to photography. I am like a giddy little school girl thinking about it. But even if they don't have any remote interest in photography I want them to at least see that anything is a possibility and that they can pursue what they love, whatever it is, be their own boss and love what they do for a living...

Teaching him young. Here I am showing my son how to use a camera.
Taken on Father's Day 2012 @ Letchworth State Park

In closing, when all is said and done and your time on this Earth is over, do you really want to be remembered as a rock star photographer for 15 minutes of fame or an amazing husband/wife and father/mother?

~ Mike