i haven’t taken photos of my daughter in a long time. i had all my gear still up from another shoot & i asked her.
“UUUuugghhhh, no mom, i’m so ugly” she said.
“i know, i just want to document how ugly you are” i said. (she knows i’m being as ridicules as she is)
“can you change your shirt?” i ask. She is wearing a black SAAB t-shirt that three other people could fit into.
“uuugghhh, why?” “just something prettier then a black t-shirt, please? i’m taking a basic head shot.” i feel a glimmer of hope because she leaves to change into a…sports bra.
“i don’t own anything pretty” i think she thought i’d give up. I grab a hair clip to pin up some of her MOUNTAINs of THICK hair.
“uuuggghhhhh, why are you messing up my hair?! you always clip it up & it looks ugly” she says.
“because it looks ugly, don’t worry about it, i’m not taking pictures for you, they are for me” i say.
so many of the images i took (i took less then a minutes worth of pictures) were caught mid-eye roll. among the 20 images, this is the one that made my heart stop. a heart stopping reaction is how i know i got a good one. the others? they make me laugh because i can’t wait to show her.
“Come and see how ugly you are!!! You’re gonna love it” i yell (a few days pass between shooting & editing because i got/have the flu) I have the one above on screen.
“oh, cool color, can you get rid of your logo and send it to me?” that is the best compliment i’ve ever gotten-about a photo i took of her.
“there is a much better one, wanna see it?” i show her all the mid-eye roll photos & we laugh over them. we play around with editing for a while. then she leaves the room & a little while later i hear…
“how do i look with a much darker eyebrows?” I look up from my computer & she has drawn a HUGE, dark monobrow above her eyes. she looks like a neanderthal. I beg to take pictures. she takes off at a run, to wash the brows off, i chase her saying…
“Pleeeaaaassseee? You look so beautiful”
2me4art 
what a lovely post…….. it made me smile
your daughter is a gorgeous young lady 🙂
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Oh, thank you so much. I gave up arguing with her when she said she was ugly…i have found it is much more fun just to agree with her, because she begins to let go & have fun too. ~amy
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thats so funny!
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Thanks, deb! ~amy
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Your daughter is gorgeous. 🙂
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Thank you, Mary. She is something. She is at that yucky age where she is everything anti-mom…i’m just very uncool. So it was a HUGE compliment for her to ask for the photo. 🙂 ~amy
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Beautiful daughter as you have Amy 😀
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It’s funny – she looks about the age my youngest began not wanting to pose for me. I used to get the constant eye-rolls and could only convince her it was due to some testing I was doing. Teen-aged girls…
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Oh, it was a trial to photograph her…that was the only one i got, but she is glaring at me a bit. I thought it was funny that she ended up LIKING IT!!! Perhaps, she will be more willing next time. Good luck getting yours. Perhaps money for a movie would work? :)~amy
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Thank you so much, Irene! ~amy
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Wow… she is *gorgeous*, Amy. Not an ounce of ugly in her at all. Such a powerful spirit shines through her eyes. Remind her! 🙂
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Hi Reggie, Sophie is amazing in so many ways. I cannot wait until 14 is over & she starts to be more mature & loving again. I miss her terrible. We still play often, but she is anti-mom. Ugh, eye roll. ~amy
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Beautiful portrait.
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Thank you, Jane. ~amy
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an image
that waters
my happy
calm seeds 🙂
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Thank you for that. ~amy
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You’re 100% right Amy, your daughter is very beautiful. She has eyes of an angel! Nice portrait too! 🙂
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Thank you so much. She has eyes of an angel in this photo…most of the time, they have contempt or mischief. But she is 14 & i remember being 14 too. What a mess. ~amy
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Tell her I said she is beautiful! 💛
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I told her. Still she is 14 & that voice in her head does yell. But the photographic evidence to the contrary certainly shocked her! Thank you! ~amy
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