“Do you Think you Need Stitches?”

“Do you think you need stitches?”, I just don’t expect to hear those words from a client on one of my photo shoots. I haven’t heard those words in the twenty-four years that I’ve been working with families, so yeah, I’m kind of  “safety girl” that way – until now, that is.

I’ve been photographing the Snyder family for years (love you guys!) and we decided to try a new location in Boulder for this session. We liked this rustic barn on Open Space land.  I’ve never been to this location but love trying out new places so I arrived a little early to scout it out. Discovering there was no clear path to the barn – you have to cross a field of brambles and milkweed, and uneven terrain to get there  – I thought, “Oh well”, as I made my way across the field, “no big deal”. Soon I’m hearing the skittering of little critters everywhere I walk. Not sure what KIND of critters but I was definitely not alone.  Ewww! Anyway, I get to the barn and it’s AMAZING with a beautiful brownish, red patina and falling down fences and views of the flatirons. So cool!

I texted my clients to let them know the scoop on the barn location and I get this bit of news!

I really do LOVE owls and there he was right out in the open at three in the afternoon. So this confirms there were definitely little critters skittering in that field. Owls know where to find an easy meal. Here is the one photo I managed to get of him before he flew away. Such a beautiful bird!

So I’m feeling like this session has some extra good mojo now and we start shooting. I set up the family for a portrait with the mountains in the background but I see a tall weed in the foreground that bugs me. I pull it and as I yank hard to rip the top off it sliced through my finger. Whaaat? It must be some kind of super mountain RAZOR weed.  I get little cuts and scrapes all the time but noticed this one was fairly deep. Not spurting or anything but a notable amount of blood. ” I cut myself on that weed”, I said and Karen came over, “Oh wow, do you think you need stitches?”, she asked because at this point the blood is running down my arm and it’s on my jeans and camera bag and well, pretty much everywhere. Now here is where her awesome mom gene kicks in because she says she had band-aids in the car and did I want one? I told her I didn’t want her to have to bushwhack all the way back to the car in the middle of her family photos but she ignored me and did it anyway. I’m so thankful! I’ve always been what you might call, “unprepared” mom and have never had band-aids in my car. Or purse. Or sometimes even in the medicine cabinet at home. Ha! Definitely not in my camera bag.  Thank you, Karen! I kept photographing the kids while she was gone  (her daughter said to me , “Oh that looks bad, maybe put some leaves on it – so sweet) and when she got back and I got bandaged up we continued as normal.

Now here is the thing about this family, they photograph soooo beautifully. I mean, they SHINE in camera. SO. PHOTOGENIC. The whole family! I don’t know, their pictures simply have a great energy about them every year.  See for yourself!

I’ll be asking Santa for a camera bag first aid kit this year ( :