I believe photography is essential, not optional. And here’s why.
It’s the tale as old as time – you joyfully prepare to welcome a baby into your life, prepping the nursery, nesting, reading books and asking thousands of questions. And you might love your growing body and the life happening within. And you might choose to celebrate it with maternity photos to mark a moment in your life poised on the edge of expectation.
And then the little bundle arrives, squalling and screaming, coming into this world with a force of nature that truly cannot be stopped. And once the baby is here, you cannot imagine how you ever were without and how you could ever have known love before this. And you want to memorize this moment, so you hire a photographer to capture life, just as it is.
As days go by and the baby grows, and crawls, and then walks, the moments become more uncountable and you try to capture every one of them even as they slip daily, hourly through your fingers. But maybe you don’t have the time to hire a photographer, or maybe you think you have enough footage on your phone to tell the story. And maybe this is true. But think about what matters, what will matter to him or her years from now. Will it be cell phone photos, small and pixelated by comparison to growing technology, lost in an endless and unsorted, often unbacked up, sea of scrolling images that you simply cannot even begin to tackle because life gets in the way. How would you feel if you lost those images? Your phone crashes, the cloud goes on strike, your phone is stolen, your backup fails. Does anyone else hold your photographic memories?
And what about you? You’re always behind the camera, recording life as it passes. You hold the phone, and you try for selfies, and sometimes they work and sometimes he squirms and the moment is gone. But what will he remember of you twenty years from now? Are you really present in any of the photos? Is your family ever all together in a photo that is truly a good one, one you’d be proud to hang on your wall and not just zoom by on your cell phone?
Maybe it’s time to hire a professional photographer. Photography doesn’t have to be every month. Or every year. But enough that you have a history you can trace of quality moments that will be part of the legacy you leave behind. This is one of the best gifts you can give your child. And I’d love to be your photographer.
Mother’s Day is coming up. Father’s Day quickly follows. Photography of you, your children, your family – this is the perfect gift for your significant other. It’s a gift that says I love and I appreciate you and I want to stop time. Just for a moment. And that is how you live forever.
This little guy is all grown up since his newborn session. And his mama looks fab (though she looked fab in her maternity session too…and her wedding.) Time flies when you’re having fun!
