It didn't really hit me until I was attempting to walk into my day job on Monday as a third party risk manager for a local non-profit. I didn't want to be there. And frankly had a hard time walking in the building. After a long weekend full of laughter, wonder and lots of twirling I realized how much fun I had just had the previous weekend photographing 12 girls. This is what I learned.

What I learned is giggling fixes everything.

Not sure how to pose? Giggle. Not sure how to say yes to wearing a tiara? Giggle. Want to have more fun? Giggle. While the levels of giggling varied it was definitely a constant throughout the shoots. I was reminded of the statistic of how often an adult laughs compared to that of a child. While I think my statistic as an adult was bumped for they day, I think the kids was definitely in line with the estimates. Which by the way is about 300 times laughing per day.

Doing it wrong was doing it right

But one thing the giggling got them through for was maybe a little bit of nervousness in front of the camera. Even if they were unsure of themselves they did not label it. They might give me a questioning look which we quickly corrected and moved on. Giggling some more. It was quite refreshing to just have fun and enjoy all the frills and twirls of a girl world. There was no concerns or stresses about how they look or what was wrong with this or that.

I mean don't get me wrong they sure loved inspecting how they looked in a tiara, but then again- who does not. But there was no worry if they were doing it right or wrong. They were having fun in the moment… and it made for a better experience. How often do we let worry of our appearance affect what might otherwise be an amazing time?

Presence

And finally what I learned from them is presence. Not too long ago… and actually quite often I am fairly guilty of not being present. My husband had organized a date with some friends and I was sitting there as we were bowling and I was thinking about the photo projects I wanted to complete. These girls were not busy checking their phones during the shoot or asking their mom when they could leave. Most of them in fact kept asking if they could try on one more dress. Determines to squeeze every ounce of pink and lace out of the shoot possible.

It is still refreshing for me to look back on that weekend. I told my sister in law not long after that this was something I felt I could do every day. And I mean it. Those girls were amazing. I loved how much they lit up the studio with their smiles and giggles. And I am so grateful they trusted me to photograph them. Hopefully this event is one step closer to moving towards my dream of photographing full time.

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