They were watching from the window, waiting for me to get there. When I first pulled my car along the curb of this family home, the kids ran outside yelling, “Tara’s here! Tara’s here!”, jumping up and down. We all started dancing in the driveway – I think that might be the best welcome I have ever gotten from kids I was working with, and I loved it.
I mean, my own kids don’t even do that when I pull into the driveway.
This is Le Anne and her family. We went to high school together, and she stumbled across me online. What luck for both of us to find each other again.
(I posted a few from this session previously, here.)
Her home is in the same neighborhood that I lived in from the age of twelve, until I left at seventeen.
I grew up in the orange groves that surround her now, the ones her home was built on top of.
It was pretty strange to be there again, working, at the age of 34, with a girl I went to Prom with at the age of 16, who now has a house just like my parents and two kids of her own.
Time is a strange beast and it is passing us by faster than we can take in. Le Anne wanted her session at home, to have images of a time in her life that is so important, and so fleeting. That she loves so much. She is a big sap just like me, and teared up several times during her session, which in turn made ME tear up. I am so happy I got to freeze these moments in time for her and her sweet, sweet little family.
To slow down the slipping, just a tiny little bit.
xo.
Tara
PS:
Abba – Slipping Through My Fingers
Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that Im losing her forever
And without really entering her world
Im glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl
Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think Im close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when shes gone theres that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I cant deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didnt
And why I just dont know
Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see whats in her mind
Each time I think Im close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers…
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile…
absolutely beautiful!
I actually choked up at the last image. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
Oh, those words. I read them, but didn’t listen to the song. I don’t have time to sit and cry right now (which the song would inevitably make me do). Beautiful images and inspiration to have some taken soon – in my home, with my babies, while they’re still babies.
So yeah you take beautiful photographs but what gets me every time is how you tell a story both with the photos and with the words. I can’t count the times I visited here and gotten goosebumps. So here I am again, with goosebumps and soggy eyes, scrolling back through ‘the story’ trying to figure out what exactly ‘got’ me this time.
ummm, now i’m crying like a fool at work! lol!
Excellent! Brings back my memory of waiting for you at Gasworks, and Taylor being so excited, like we were meeting a rockstar. Well, you ARE a rockstar :)
One of the best sessions you’ve ever done…
Tara…you always have a way of making the ordinary look extraordinary!!! Love it!
I love all of these, so absolutely beautiful!
Just reading this made me tear up! And I don’t even know you!
it’s so true…every single day, every single week…with each new addition to our family, with each new activity we participate in as they grow…their accomplishments, their sadness’s…my frustrations and a pursuit to make sense of it all….it’s just moving right along making meaning out of my life!
Tara, what a gorgeous session. It’s hard to pick a favorite from this. I am so drawn to the husband/wife shots. So real and genuine. I need shots like that throughout my house.
Awww, these are so great! I don’t even know this family but I feel like i can see who they are through these pictures. I’d love family pictures like these!
Beautiful Tara! It’s my dream to hire you when I have kids one day:)
The first one with 99% of the cat is my fave.
tara i can’t even tell you how much i love these and how much i relate to what you see. i see those things too.
Tara, this was a beautiful statement to our time together. The lyrics to that ABBA song…straight through my heart! How did you know that I am feeling that way about my Sarah right now? She starts kindergarten next fall and I am feeling all of these emotions. I even compose letters to her adult self in my head (I plan to write her a letter that she can open when she is 25) and I think about all of these things that we are going to go through. Time has already slipped through our fingers since we took these pictures! Nates two front teeth are already coming in. In a flash I will forget that gappy grin. I am so thankful that you captured it! You are such a blessing! I am so blessed to have known you at 16, at 34 and hopefully I will say it again when we are celebrating 60! Love Smushes to you all!
These are amazing – and as soon as I saw the title, I started humming that song. We just watched Mamma Mia the other day and that part {and song} always makes me cry!
Tara I always love your work but these are so perfect!
beautiful images and story to go along with it. love sessions like this. it really shows authenticity and that is really what photography is all about to me.
Gorgeous photos. I have never heard that Abba song (that I know of – I don’t recognise the lyrics) – but my goodness.. that made me stop and think. My niece turned 14 today and she is like a daughter to me (I raised her pretty much) and those lyrics just made me cry. As always, Tara, you’re wonderful!! :o)
your words and your images of this beautiful family spoke to may heart. You are a master in capturing family love, Tara!
Tara – Fantastic photos! You can definitely feel the love that this family has for eachother. And I big puffy heart love that ABBA song! I have wanted to scrapbook a page with those lyrics for a long time.
You can tell they’re beautiful people. Easily. I love the coloured pencils and crayons in their individual tins. I adore the 4th from last image – whenever I attempt this I get distortion at the edges – you don’t – are you using a wide lens? Or (as I suspect) you’re just amazing:) Vxx
Great photos!!!Way to freeze the moment. And that song has made me cry every time since the first time I heard it. It’s a great reminder to enjoy the moment. Thanks for sharing.
that song is a heartbreaker……pure and simple. I can’t even think about Bethie growing without crumpling up inside….
Tara your photos and your words continually touch me.. You have a gift with not only capturing love and life, but also an amazing ability to perfectly articulate your thoughts in a way that touch and effect the people reading them. I am an aspiring Photographer in Vancouver British Columbia, still trying to find the courage to spread my wings and submerge my self into truly leaving my mark in the ever evolving and inspiring world of Photography. I want to thank you for continually inspiring me not only to capture heartwarming and real moments, but also reminding me why I love photography so much. There are days where I find it all very overwhelming, and struggle with technical versus capturing what’s real and beautiful to me. Then I see your work and read your words, and it makes me want to capture as much of what I can, there is beauty all around us. Your work is proof of that. Thank you.
These are WONDERFUL!
How awesome that you were reunited in this way. Beautiful images, Tara. I especially love the one on the bed with their feet – too cute!
Oh man, with four little girls of my own(ages from seven to five & a half weeks), those Abba lyrics kill me every time!
Beautiful, as always.
Oooh, all that at-home-family-love sweetness!
argh! one of the reasons I can’t put the camera down. every day is so precious! and with kids even more. so often you take a photo and then only later realize how absolutely amazing and unique that moment was. Other photos you did not look at twice after some time also become special, there is so much we take for granted….
I have had the lione ‘slipping through my fingers’ in my mind this week, just like a motto that has had me hanging onto moments with my family more than ever, effecting the way I see them & photograph them, so it was amazing to visit here & tonight & see this post & title. xx
I LOVE all your house settings, just the simplicity of home and everyday life! Just beautiful!!!
This family seems so honest and down to earth. Seems like in all the pictures, they’re saying, “This is us! Here we are!”
you always make me feel better about something. Today it was the beast of time. And of course I got teared up as well. That song kills me.