I found myself talking to a mom at the ballfield...
This in and of itself is not strange. I find myself in this situation like 6 days out of the week. But if you know me, you know I don't really do small talk. Like, hardly ever.
I was toting around my film camera (sidenote, it was my Dad's back in the 80s!) and I took it to the ballfield because I had a few frames left to shoot and I really wanted to drop off the film the next day.
While hanging around and waiting for the perfect shots, I found myself chit chatting with another mom that I hadn't ever really spoken to. We talked a bit about taking pictures and she asked if I did it a lot. I told her yes, I was actually a photographer, but somewhat new to film. I told her quickly what my approach to photography was - unscripted, unposed, day in the life, etc etc - and how I wanted all the pictures I made to look like something from my old family albums.
I told her about this picture of my cousin and his wife, hanging out on their front stoop of their apartment. How when I saw that picture it instantly took my breath away because of the ease of the photo, the subject matter, the colors, the lines... but most of all, it's because it transported me to another place and time.
I told her about my mom and dad and the pictures I saw of our family growing up and how the absolute best ones were candid and somewhat voyeristic.
All of this took about 45 seconds to share, ha!
![man and woman hanging out on their front steps of their townhouse apartment](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/PkJMLGn/charlieandsonyafrontdoor-c451ce84-1500.jpg)
But then she said something to me that hit me like a brick...
She looked at me and said, "I don't have any pictures of me being a mother like that. I don't have anything like that of me at all.
I have formal pictures of me and my husband... and not many with the kids. But that's not me. I'm not formal. I don't have pictures like that. I would really like something like that. That's really, really cool."
And then the game picked up and we didn't speak another word.
Some conversations are just like that.
Short and to the point.
No fluff.
And I can really appreciate that.
What about you? What is it about conversations that you appreciate? What is it about family photos that you appreciate? What makes you fall in love with a photograph?
![mom playing in the water at the beach with her girls in norfolk, virginia](http://images-pw.pixieset.com/elementfield/Dba1mDW/HH0A6412-b8add525-1500.jpg)