Kristin Bell Photography » Blog

I don’t know about you, but my kids hardly ever wear clothes. . . or shoes.  Ever since he could crawl, if it is even remotely nice outside, Eliot has been making his way around our backyard with his bare little feet.  When I saw this week’s theme, that is the kind of image I imagined I would capture, but we ended up with some chilly days.  And, trust me, I am not complaining!  It’s been gorgeous. But when my babes were rolling around together on the bed, I figured this was a great opportunity for my “barefoot” image.  I got a lot of fun images, but this was my favorite : )

Our little group for this Project 52 is full of such talented photographers.  These women also happen to be mothers, which is a huge part of the motivation for documenting their families.  But it also means sometimes we have to combine weeks because . . . we’re busy ; )

The theme for Week 6 was strength.  I know — my photo of these camellias may not represent strength in a very literal way.  But I thought about strength a lot that particular week.  At the beginning of the week, one of my cousins was transitioned to hospice care after a long battle with breast cancer.  She was only 39.  We live hundreds of miles away, so I couldn’t photograph strength in person (nor do I know if I could have/would have if I was there).  But my cousin’s strength was unbelievable.  I can only hope that if I ever need it, I will have the strength to fight as hard as she did.  I thought about her mother’s strength, as she sat by her daughter’s side after bringing her to countless chemo treatments.  I thought about the strength of her two brothers, who she absolutely adored, and who wanted nothing more than to be there for their parents and their sister, despite how difficult that must have been.  And I thought about the strength of her two beautiful children, who have been through more in their short years than some people go through their entire lives.  The day I heard the news that hospice was coming in, my own two children actually napped at the same time, giving me the opportunity to step outside, get some fresh air, and think about the strength of all these people that I love so much.  As I tried to process, I was drawn to these flowers.  Our yard is full of camellias, and I love them.  Here, I was drawn to the light and the shadows.  And I was drawn to the fact that I actually think somehow, these are prettier on the ground.

Week 7 included Valentine’s Day, and the theme, appropriately, was love.  I was playing with light fall off, and I asked my husband to stand still for a portrait.  If you have children, I’m sure you know how rare it can be to really LOOK at your spouse.  That is, look and not be distracted by about a million other things.  I’m glad I had the chance to see Travis again. I love him.  And I needed him this week, and he was there.

I actually took this photo before I realized I would use it for this week’s theme: balance.  But as I was brainstorming about how I attempt to achieve balance in my life and what balance would like look to me if I could photograph it, it just came to me.  I am so incredibly thankful for my mama friends.  These two in particular are both stay at home moms each with two children roughly the same age as my boys.  Whenever we talk about the struggles of motherhood, I feel like we are on exactly the same page.  I realize how important it is to have women in my life who I can talk to when I think I am completely failing at this parenting thing.  I realize how much balance it brings to my life and my very long days when we can all bring our children to the park and someone can help with your baby while your toddler melts down.  And then they tell you how their child does the same thing and how they need more coffee, too. My little family has a big change coming up, so I think this has been on my mind a lot as of late.  But for now, this is what my balance looks like, and I am so very grateful for it.

Go visit our next photographer in the circle, Stumberg Photography!