An Open Letter to the Parents Who Apologize at the Door

An Open Letter to the Parents Who Apologize at the Door

     You know exactly the moment. The coats are half off, someone is already running toward the props, and before you've even taken a breath, you look at me and say, "I'm so sorry, they are just so hyper today."

     And every single time, I will look right back at you and say, "Stop. I've got this."

      When you walk into EMIAC Studio, you are stepping onto a working family farm, not a museum. I built this tiny studio from the ground up with your kids in mind. Those toy tractors on the Christmas tree? They are there on purpose, meant to be grabbed. The bears underneath? They are meant to be held.

      If your kid knocks a tractor off the tree, or sits down on the floor to just play, I don't care. In fact, I love it. It means they feel safe. It means this isn't a stressful mall line where they are shoved onto a stranger's lap while screaming. The hardest part of the session shouldn't be taking the photo; the hardest part should just be having to leave the toys behind when it's time to go.

      I’m going to be completely honest with you: I am not there to make you, the parents, happy. I am there for your kids. I am there to show them that there is a real human being underneath this red suit. If I have to act completely out of character, be goofy, and break all the "rules" of professional photography just to get a real smile, I will do it. I don't have a corporate headquarters pointing a camera at me, judging how I run my sessions. It is my time, my space, and my rules.

      Sometimes, with neurodivergent kids, the "perfect" posed shot just isn't going to happen on my main camera. And that is okay. I have literally gone back and pulled 4K still frames off my security cameras just to give a parent a freebie shot of their child having a genuine, messy, unposed moment of joy with Santa. It might not be technically perfect, but it is real.

     I run this studio to pay the bills, provide for my own kids' Christmas, and then take the rest to lift other people up. Whether it is rodeo photography, family portraits, or Social Santa—the goal is always the same: cover the costs, and use the rest to make as many people smile as possible.

     But here is the truth: I couldn't do any of this without you. None of the community give-back, none of the adopted families, none of it happens without the families who keep coming back year after year.

     Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for walking in, dropping your shoulders, and letting me take the reins for 15 minutes. Thank you for letting your kids be loud, chaotic, and beautifully themselves.

Next time you pull up to the farm, leave the stress in the truck.

I've got this.

Lee J. Kemp

Every Moment is a Choice Studio @emiacstudio.ca

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