Confessions of a Photographer

I have a confession to make...

I'm human.  With a human brain and human body.  Human.  Humans make mistakes.

I'm a Mom.  With three young kids and a business.  Moms sometimes have "Mommy brain."  {there IS, by the way, medical documentation to back up the mommy brain theory ; ) }

Now I realize that, as a business owner, I have the responsibility to overcome Mommy brain.  I also realize that I am hardly the only business owner with small kids.  I realize that it is my responsibility to be...well... responsible.

SO that leads me to my big confession.  I have this wonderful client, "C".  She has fabulous vision and great ideas.  I adore her ... but I swear she has some kind of photographers' dark cloud over her head.  If the order can come in wrong, it does ... if the weather is going to act up, it does ... etc.  We joked about this at her last session.  We spent a long morning getting THE shot(s).  We were thrilled with how the children did.  No fussing.  Amazing.

I went about my business ... worked ... picked up my kids ... blah blah blah...mopped the floor... did some laundry... blah

A few days later I go to load all the images from the last several sessions from the cards to the computer (YES, I realize I should do this immediately after a session, but remember...human...kids).  

Except {wait} WHERE is my card from "C"s session?  Why isn't it on my desk?  What would I have done....

{GASP}

NO!!

run upstairs... praying the whole way...

OH NO!  YES!  I washed the card in the pocket of my jeans.  8g worth of hard-worked-for images are now very very clean and WET.  I think I melted onto the floor in a heap of prayers, tears and hyperventilating.  Because, my friends, THIS is a photographer's worst nightmare.

I googled it (isn't that what everyone does in a crisis?!).  Turns out I'm hardly the only one to do this.  The recommendations ... put the card in a bag of rice and leave it for several days - and pray hard.  So I did.  I wasn't sure if God really cares much about digital equipment - but I prayed anyway.  Just in case.

Turns out prayers and rice work!  Four loooonnnnggg days later, I plugged the card into the computer, closed my eyes, nearly vomited ... then opened one eye to peek ...  THERE THEY WERE.  Melt into a heap of relief.  And then sit in awe at the beautiful photos loading in front of me.  Thank goodness they were safe - 'cause they were beautiful.

Why WHY would I admit that I messed up to current and potential customers?  Because I want you to know that I care.  Know that I didn't sleep for four long nights worrying about those images.  Know that I put everything I have into each and every session and would be sick if anything went wrong.  Also, know that I'm human.  And while I sometimes make mistakes, I learn from them so I don't do them again.  Rest assured - I will never wash a card again.

Of course, it may also be helpful for you to know the formula for saving images off a washed cf card... just in case.

So - take a peek at these VERY clean images  ; )

By the way, this little guy is 3 months old.  I usually recommend NOT doing a session at this age because they are normally quite awkward.  But this sweet angel has me thinking twice about that theory!

I love the attitude in this one