I would laugh at parents who got 'tacky' professional photos of their kids

"Then I accidentally got some... I have so much to learn." 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the majority of being a parent is just realising you were wrong about things. 

I was wrong when I said my kids wouldn’t have screen time (haha!).

I was wrong when I insisted that parents could keep their children quiet at cafes if they just tried a little harder (hahaha!).

I was wrong when I said that my children would never eat plain pasta or frozen fish fingers for dinner and would only eat fresh, whole foods with the rest of the family (hahahahahaha!).  

Recently, I have become aware of yet another thing that it transpires I was wrong about, which at this stage really shouldn’t come as a surprise.  

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"I accidentally got some professional photos taken of my own kids."

See, I was always the kind of person who thought that getting professional photos of your family was… a little bit tacky. A little bit of a waste of money. Just a liiiittle, tiny bit the type of thing reserved for show-offs with too much disposable income. (Don’t worry, I refrained from saying this out loud when friends showed me their professional family photos). 

I mean, I literally walk around with a camera in my hand all the time. I have loads of photos of my kids.

The quality of an iPhone camera is pretty good (although admittedly mine is worse than others given how frequently the camera lens is smeared by small, dirty fingers) and pretty good is good enough for me, given that I am neither a professional model nor the publisher of a glossy magazine. 

Image: Supplied

We even sometimes get a family shot, if someone else is around to pick up my grubby iPhone and peer through its murky lense. Sometimes almost everyone is facing the camera! Sure, my kids are almost always covered in berries and/or yoghurt in these photos, but that’s just representative of real life, in which my kids are almost always covered in berries and/or yoghurt.  

What would be the point, I always thought, of a bunch of photographs showing our family neatly clean and polised in shades of white and beige, when we have never, ever been neatly clean and polished in history, and barely owned anything in shades of white or beige due to the aforementioned berries? Those photos wouldn’t represent our real lives, and so I wasn’t interested. 

That is, until my uncle booked a photographer to document my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, and I accidentally got some professional photos taken of my own kids.  

When I say accidentally, I do mean “by accident”.

Who knew a fancy-pants professional could nail the same vibe? Image: Supplied

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Very, very significantly better photos

I admit that everyone was wearing clean clothes, but there was none of the rigid posing, tears or bribery I expected at a family photo shoot.

Instead, the incredible photographer managed to turn a bunch of everyday moments - my kids sitting on the couch together, playing with their great-grandparents, showing off their toys, having cuddles with me and my husband - into some of the most beautiful photos I’ve ever seen in my life.

Image: Supplied

Am I biased? Well, yeah, duh, because they’re of my own family, and I happen to think my boys are the most gorgeous creatures to ever set foot on this planet.

But the photos are also objectively good. I would know, because I’ve shown them to everyone I’ve ever met and demanded positive feedback. 

Now, I’m sure you’re wondering: how do the professional shots compare to the iPhone photos I always insisted were “just as good”? Would you believe me if I told you they’re… significantly better? Like, very, very significantly better? 

Put it this way: I don’t think I’ll ever make fun of anyone parent who forks out for professional photos of their kids again.

I’ll be printing and framing these photos, putting them up all over the house and using them as my phone background, which is more than I can say for any iPhone shot I’ve ever taken. 

And in the spirit of honesty? I’ll probably be booking professional photos every year until my kids turn 18. 

Originally published as I would laugh at parents who got 'tacky' professional photos of their kids