they paid me

i got my first check as a freelance photographer (all but saturday 2). let me just say, that this would not have been my first choice of jobs, but a check is a check.
my favorite subject has and always will be children from birth to about six; these are the only humans who you do not need to coax out of self-consciousness. my favorite pictures of those i love, are those taken when they are not aware of the camera, those are the photographs who are really them.
taking photographs, for me, is about capturing pieces of personality, nonmanufactured and real. years later, that posed smile photograph will show the outlines of a figure, a photograph of personality will trigger a thousand feelings and memories. when i used to work at a mass photo studio, all the parents wanted that perfect smile picture, because they were paying an arm and a leg for them. the whole reason i quit was because i wanted these parents to have that pouty, on the verge of tears picture, along with the sweet smile. the sweet smile will last much longer than the face they made on the verge of tears for those three months.