I have been known to get emotional at weddings.
I tear up when the bride dances with the father. I get choked up when a couple embraces after they listen to a particularly eloquent speech from a close friend. It can be pretty embarrassing to sniffle a bit as I 'click' away on my camera.
Now you may be wondering why I'm telling you all this. {I promise, there is a point.}
Human life is incredible. I feel so blessed to have been given the gift of capturing small day-to-day moments. My summer has been consumed with documenting weddings, so it was a refreshing opportunity to shoot this lovely family's birth story.
As I processed these images when I got home from the hospital that day, I thought. A lot. About different things. The beauty of birth, the tenderness of love between a parent and their new baby, and the intense emotional reaction I was feeling as a result of shooting these pictures. As I edited the photos that captured the wonderful, beautiful emotion that filled their hospital room, I found myself blinking back tears on more than one occasion.
When I discussed my "overly-emotional" reaction with my sweet husband, he said something that made me feel a little better. "Cate, you're passionate about what you do. You connect with your client's on a personal level, and that's why you get emotional." What a smart man I married. ;)
I loved documenting this birth story so much. Thank you to this sweet, sweet family for letting me share in their joy for a few minutes!
(PS: On a more comical note, I had a brief rendezvous with the hospital security following this session...apparently walking around snapping photos merits a call to four or five burly security guards who briefly scare you silly with their interrogation.)