Meet Lydia. She’s my borrowed smile.
This cutie of a senior was quite the beauty in her prom dress and was all smiles and sparkles at her shoot. This was one of my hardest shoots to date — not because of anything related to this wonderful girl, she was a gem. Sometimes when your world comes crashing down around you the rest of the world continues to move on.
A little backstory: Three days prior I had received the news of the death of my boyfriend that dropped me to my knees and took the wind out of me. In a state of shock, I slept for three days straight shutting out the world and had completely forgotten that this shoot was even on my calendar. At that moment nothing mattered. With a thankful heart, my best friend that had come to stay with me and had literally spent the last 3 days sitting on my couch while I slept in the next room got the nerve to wake me up, hand me my camera, and tell me I needed to do this. It was time.
I am so grateful she did. Quite frankly I don’t remember the shoot at all. Except for the part where I didn’t lock my $600 external flash and dropped it…I distinctly remember that part. Not my best moment, not my best shoot, and definitely not my A-game. I never said a word about what I was going through, but I was definitely a hot mess and I owe this poor girl and her darling family an apology! Now when I see this photo, I look back and remember that this was someone else’s smile…and it was a reason to get back up. Sometimes in our deepest, darkest moments we need to see and remember that someday there will be a moment to smile again…even if it’s someone else’s.
