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Already Missing Right Now: Why I'm Nostalgic for the Present Moment
- ashleyfermophotography
- Sep 3, 2025
- 6 min read
Serving families between Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC
You know that feeling when you're living a moment and simultaneously mourning it? Like you're already nostalgic for something that's literally happening right now?
That's my entire existence as a mom with a camera.
I'll be watching my 3-year-old smiling at and kissing my 10-week-old, and I'm hit with this overwhelming wave of "I'm going to miss this exact moment." Not tomorrow, not next year. Right now, while it's still happening.
It sounds crazy, but if you're a parent, you probably know exactly what I mean.
When Present-Moment Nostalgia Became My Reality
This whole nostalgic-for-right-now thing started when my first daughter was born. I'd be holding her during those 3am feeding sessions, half-delirious from sleep deprivation, and instead of just being tired and wanting to go back to bed, I'd get this panicky feeling like "what if I forget how small she feels right now?"
I started taking pictures of everything. Not just the cute stuff—though there was plenty of that—but the ordinary moments that I was somehow already nostalgic for while they were happening. Her tiny fingers wrapped around mine. The way she made this specific little grunt when she was trying to latch. How peaceful she looked when she finally fell asleep on my chest at 4am.
People thought I was being a typical new mom, documenting everything. But it felt deeper than that. I was trying to hold onto moments that I could already feel slipping away.
The Second Time Around: Nostalgia in Real Time
Having a second baby while watching my first grow up has turned this present-moment nostalgia into something almost overwhelming.
My oldest is three now, and when did that happen? When did she stop being my baby and become this whole person with opinions about what dress she wants to wear and whether or not bananas are acceptable today?
Now I'm holding my 10-week-old, and instead of thinking we have forever, I'm acutely aware of how fast this goes. She's two months old and I'm already nostalgic for her tiny newborn phase. I catch myself staring at her sleeping face, trying to memorize it, knowing that next week she'll look different.
It's this weird time warp where you're present but also already missing the present. Does that make sense?
Why I'm Always One Click Away from Tears
Here's what happens when you combine motherhood with photography: you become professionally nostalgic for the present moment.
I'll be photographing a family session, watching a toddler toddle around while their baby sibling sleeps in mom's arms, and I'm hit with this double dose of nostalgia. I'm missing my own kids' moments like this AND I'm watching this family's moment happen in real time, knowing how precious and fleeting it is.
The mom will say something like "I just want to remember them like this," and I want to tell her that I'm already nostalgic for this exact afternoon we're spending together. That this light, this temperature, this stage of her children's lives will never exist again.
The Restart: When Coming Back Feels Impossible
If I'm being honest, photography slowly got pushed to the back burner as my pregnancy progressed. Between chasing after a toddler and dealing with exhaustion and all the physical changes, it felt like my camera started collecting dust.
Now, with a 10-week-old at home, getting back into it feels like finding my footing again. There's this weird adjustment period where I'm rediscovering my rhythm—remembering which settings feel natural, rebuilding my confidence behind the lens. It's like muscle memory that needs a gentle nudge to wake back up.
But then I'll have a moment—watching my girls together, seeing how my toddler gently touches her baby sister's head—and something clicks. The instinct is still there. The eye for capturing emotion hasn't gone anywhere. When I do photograph other families now, I'm bringing even more to the table. I understand on a deeper level what these moments mean, how precious they are, and how desperately parents want to hold onto them.
What Present-Moment Nostalgia Feels Like Behind the Lens
The photos that make people cry aren't the perfect ones. They're the ones that capture that feeling of "oh my god, this is happening right now and I never want to forget it."
Like when I'm photographing a birth and a partner sees their baby for the first time—that split second of pure awe and overwhelming love.
Or when a toddler meets their new sibling and instinctively reaches out to touch their tiny hand, not quite understanding yet but somehow knowing this person is important.
Or when a new mom looks down at her hours-old baby during those first quiet moments, still processing that this little human was inside her just moments ago.
These moments make us nostalgic for the present because they're so monumentally life-changing yet so fleeting. You can actually feel the before and after happening in real time.
The Thing About Time and Kids
Time does this cruel thing when you become a parent where it simultaneously crawls and flies. The days are endless but the years are short, right?
My 3-year-old still needs help brushing her teeth, but she can also have full conversations about why she doesn't want to wear clothes today. She's still little enough to fit in my lap for stories, but big enough to correct my pronunciation when I read her books wrong.
I'm nostalgic for when she was two, even though I was probably nostalgic for when she was one while she was being two. And I'm already nostalgic for three, even though she's still three right now.
For Other Parents Living in Present-Moment Nostalgia
If you're reading this while your kids nap or after they've finally gone to bed, you probably know this feeling. That bittersweet awareness that childhood is happening right now and you can't slow it down no matter how hard you try.
That's exactly why I do this work. Not just to create pretty pictures (though I hope they're pretty), but to honor this feeling we all share. This desperate desire to freeze time and hold onto the present moment just a little longer.
When I photograph your family, I'm not just capturing how your kids look right now. I'm capturing this exact stage of your life together—the chaos, the sweetness, the way your toddler still mispronounces certain words, the way your baby still falls asleep on your shoulder.
I'm documenting all the things you're already nostalgic for while they're still happening.
The Promise I Make to Families
When you trust me with your family's present moments, I bring all my own present-moment nostalgia with me. I know what it feels like to want to pause time. I know which fleeting expressions matter most because I'm desperately trying to capture the same things with my own daughters.
I promise to see your ordinary moments as the extraordinary memories they'll become. Because the truth is, we're all just trying to hold onto right now a little bit longer.
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Ready to capture the moments you're already nostalgic for? Let's document your family's beautiful, chaotic, fleeting present before it becomes just a memory. Contact me for family and birth photography sessions in the Charlotte-Winston-Salem area.
About Me: I'm a family and birth photographer and mom of two little girls who understands the desperate need to freeze time. Based between Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC, I specialize in capturing those ordinary present moments that become extraordinary memories.
Connect With Me
Services: Family Photography | Birth Photography | Newborn Sessions | Maternity Photography Location: Serving Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and surrounding North Carolina areas Email: [ashleyfermophotography@gmail.com] Phone: [716-803-7078]Instagram: [@ashleyfermophotography]
Frequently Asked Questions About Present-Moment Photography
Q: What makes your approach to family photography different? A: As a mother experiencing these same fleeting moments with my own children, I understand the urgency of capturing not just how your family looks, but how it feels to love them this much right now.
Q: Do you photograph births in Charlotte and Winston-Salem? A: Yes! Birth photography is one of my specialties. There's no moment more filled with present-moment nostalgia than welcoming a new life into your family.
Q: How do you capture authentic moments with young children? A: Having a 3-year-old and 8-week-old myself, I know how to work with kids' natural rhythms. The best photos happen when children are comfortable being themselves.
Q: What if my kids aren't cooperating during our session? A: Real family life includes meltdowns, silly faces, and unexpected moments. These often create the most nostalgic, authentic images that you'll treasure years from now.
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