Finding the Magic of a Moment*

Does anyone else find that a holiday goes by way faster than the time you spend leading up to the holiday? I have an app on my phone where I put all holidays or adventure dates into so when LM asks how long to go I can show her the numbers going down. But they go down so slow compared to the 3, 10, 14 or even 28 days a trip lasts (we did 28 days in Florida March 2016 and it still went by so much faster than the 28 days prior to us leaving). Then you come home and feel sad that the trip is over. Those holiday blues are the worst, right?

But one of my favourite things to do once I get home is look at all the amazing photos I’ve taken, and I take a lot. Especially on a Disney holiday. It’s one of my favourite ways to relive a trip once I come home. Taking photos is an amazing way to capture Little Miss’ childhood and I’ve taking thousands of her over the last almost six years.

My favourite things to photograph on holiday are Little Miss’ character interactions. Seeing her so happy in that freeze frame, completely oblivious to the world in such a magical place can still bring tears to my eyes even months after we’re home. They also help her to remember. People always comment about LM being so young and going to Disney, they ask me why I bother if she won’t remember. But she does remember. The second she sees a photo of a particular moment, especially in the past two years, she remembers and we can talk about it together. For me, that’s the magic in a moment that I have captured on my camera.

Today I’m going to share with you a couple of magical photos I took while we were in Disneyland Paris last weekend.

In these photos Wendy had just told Peter Pan that he was Little Miss’ boyfriend. Of course his reaction was to tell Wendy to be quiet and we all end up laughing. But in the second photo the way LM is looking at Peter melts my heart. It’s that innocent look of pure adoration and love. To her, Peter Pan is a real person and she sees him at Disney. Every single second she spends with him is magical, and over the last three years I’ve caught so many hugs, kisses, conversations, giggles and games on my camera. Those moments are frozen in time for me to enjoy for the rest of my life, and as her mother, that’s magical.

Of course, it’s not always the case. Some places at Disney I miss out of magical moments because of the low lighting and my camera isn’t designed to combat that. I really need to invest in a new camera that does like the Lumix GH5S. Check out the video to see just how fantastic this camera makes things look in more challenging lighting without the use of the flash.