Last year was a searching year for me. Due to the economy, business was slower than it had ever been before. Pair that with my meeting God and choosing to live for him along with the craziness that is raising a family while owning a business and keeping it all together…Well, let’s just say I felt a bit lost.
All through last year I kept asking God to show me what I am meant to do with this photography thing. There had to be more than just running a business. I didn’t want to just run a business. I wanted to do something purposeful. The thing is, I’d been doing something purposeful all along. I’d been taking photos for people, capturing visible memories for them. Yeah, I know my website has said how important it is to me to have and make and give those photos. I truly believed it. But I didn’t realize how important it was until now.
So, I’d been asking Him to show me, guide me, help me, teach me. And then probably one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life happened. I received a call asking to photograph a family session. It immediately became a high priority for me. You see, this family was losing a loved one; a baby; a part of their family. Immediately, my heart wrenched, the tears flowed, the calls to my friends and neighbors to arrange childcare for my kids, the switching of schedules. This had to happen.
Going through the motions of the photoshoot wasn’t difficult. We knew that it was going to be crazy. With a sick baby, 2 older kids, a sunny but windy and freezing afternoon. We just made it happen. We tried to get the kids to be happy (but let’s face it, who is ever happy when the wind is blowing and it’s 32F outside?). I suggested that we try to go inside to their home and see if we could get some shots there. I had zero expectations because I just asked God to take over for me. He could handle it, I just needed to press the shutter.
Little did I know that this would be the last day that this sweet sweet child would be happy, up, talking, loving, giggling, squealing…alive like a 2 year old should be.
Once I got home and began processing the images, I immediately started beating myself up. This was not the most amazing session I’d ever done. The wind was blowing. The cheeks were rosy. The sun was a little brighter than I normally like. Some of the images were soft. I felt a bit like a failure. Add to that: I broke down every time I started a new image. This was the difficult part. I’d been talking to the parents off and on for a few days after the shoot. I was hearing first hand about the decline of sweet Layla. So processing these, knowing what was happening, was just so hard. Layla’s mom and dad feared that they didn’t have enough time…that meant I didn’t either. So I powered through the images.
I never realized how affected I would be. I never realized just how important this was. I never realized how thankful they were. I never realized that, with all of it’s technical faults, this IS the most amazing session I’ve ever done.
Then, Shanna posted the most amazing testimonial that I’d ever had.
“Christie took beautiful pictures that day. Pictures that I will cherish the rest of my life. Not pictures I will walk by and glance at; pictures that will remind me of the last “good” day we had with Layla. The last day she was able to lift her head up without crying. The last day she was able to sit up and read a book. The last day she smiled. I am forever grateful to Christie Lacy. She has blessed our family tremendously by capturing a precious moment in time.”
So, long story short: This is it. This is why I do what I do. This is what I feel God wants me to do. I must look at every single session from this viewpoint.
She wanted to put them on as soon as we got home and prance around. I haven’t taken real photos of her in so long that I decided that if I could get her out the door, I’d be able to shoot a little. She wanted everything to do with it for all of 5 minutes…maybe less. I’d totally forgotten that photographing your own kids can be super stressful!
by Christie
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