A dichotomy in the perfect shot and a missed opportunity.

For most photographers, golden hour is ideal. that hour or so before the sun sets when you get this beautiful glow to your photos. We have apps that tell us the perfect start and end time based on location coordinates. Add children to the mix and that time frame becomes a ticking bomb before you lose all light and it's over.

The perfect shot is organic and captures everything you envision the photo to encapsulate. This happens so rarely. A cotton candy sunset on a Michigan beach with your son running through the waves, childhood at it's finest. And what appears in frame... a sailboat sailing in the distance. Perfection. It was the first photo I edited and I can't express in words how much this photo represents my son: fleeting innocence.

My daughter models for a few children's companies, so I had the intention of taking her photos wearing two different dresses. Remember that ticking time bomb, I wasn't just referring to losing light. After a day of beach and pool fun, restaurants, shopping and ice cream, all the things you do in a small beach town, she was tired. I pushed as only a mom does. My normal smily girl that is so corporative was done. Her long dress was dragging in the sand and she didn't like it. No twirling or smiling. Get it over with, mom.

As the light faded and my kids were over me and my camera, I saw my husband take their hands to walk back, I tripped over my sundress and missed focus. I normally shoot wide open, so didn't have time to adjust my aperature to accommodate the three people now in my frame. Missed opportunity at it's finest.

My technical eye only sees the imperfections, but my momma heart only sees the love. I couldn't discard the photo. It represents the ying and yang of that day, sometimes it's perfect and other times there are flaws, which are still worth cherishing.

If you get a chance to travel to New Buffalo, MI, take a stroll down main street, peruse the art galleries, get ice cream at Nancys, eat at the Stray Dog and most importantly, never miss the sunset.

XOXO, Ash