3 Ways to Love Life (According to a Young Photographer)

My five year old steals my camera whenever she can.  She's the most determined little girl when she's setting up a shot.  She'll take pictures of anything--cats, babies, rear ends, her own feet.  And it's all equally intriguing and equally beautiful.  As I found these photos other friends took of her yesterday, I couldn't help but think about what she's teaching me.


1.  Concentrate.
If my little girl can do it, surely I can take a minute and look around.  All of a sudden, I find extraordinary things to love.  I appreciate my surroundings instead of moving through them like they are mere inconveniences on my way to where I'm going.

2.  Look closely at your subject and be patient.   (You may have to hunch down and look completely ridiculous)  She's not self-conscious about this act of observing her world.  Who cares what friends think?  She's living with flair whether anybody thinks it's weird.   She passed up pie and shopping to stay there and get this shot.  She knew where the real joy was. 

3.  Everything's fair game, even your flip flops.

Do you know how many feet pictures my daughter takes?  She loves her feet, she loves shoes, and she loves that one toe of pink nail polish left over from last month's kitchen beauty parlor afternoon. 
 

Living with flair means I need to focus on my world, observe it closely, and know that everything is fair game for flair. 

Photos courtesy of Lauren Kooistra and Rachel Schrock.