Candid Shots...Capturing the "Real" You

Photos.  My favorite pictures are candid shots, taken when someone least expects it.  They are laughing their real laugh, not the phony-posed glamour smile.  A moment caught...without thought given to setting or angle.  A genuine, unadulterated snapshot that seizes a genuine moment, capturing the personality and glimmer in someone's smile.  

Reflectively, I look through pictures every so often. Daryl and I both have said goodbye to our dads for now, so pictures of them especially make me smile.  My favorite picture of my dad is not the professional picture he had taken for the church directory.  No, it's the picture at a wedding where he is holding three glasses, all inexplainably half-full, and his camera is hanging around his neck like usual.  Someone snapped off a quick picture of him, carefree and natural.  It's priceless.  It captured his essence.  I love it!

Laughing 'til they cry!

It's in these unpolished photos which reveal the personalities of the ones I love.  When I see a mouth wide open and head tilted back in deep laughter, I can almost hear them in my mind.  It beautifully portrays them...the real them.  I don't notice their moles, double chins, disheveled hair or crooked teeth.  I just love the picture since it embodies them as                                                              I know and enjoy them.   

Fun times w/Scott n Kim

Admittedly, a professionally taken picture, especially of a family, is lovely in its own rite.  It deserves a place on the living room wall. But I assure you, my children NEVER smile quite this way except for the staged family pic.  I'm glad.  I'd rather them smile with that gleam in their eye, mouth open and a bit of mischief showing through their brows. 

The Christmas pic that didn't
make the cut!

  I think that candid pictures are a bit like grace.  When there is love present between people, we see the essence of who they are and love them.  We don't see the wrinkles or moles.  We see them!  As we look at their face captured in a picture, there's kind of a silent sigh of satisfaction that says, "I sure love this person.  I'm so thankful for them."   

Next time someone quick snaps a shot off of you, don't worry about how your hair looked or whether they caught you laughing with your mouth wide open.  It'll be this picture that they look at with the greatest fondness since this is the essence of who you are.  Be gracious to yourself, too.  You're adorable, lovable and captivating-just as you are!