a friend posed this question today on her facebook wall: what is holding you back from booking a family photo session?
quite a few women (moms) quickly commented that their weight is holding them back, which made me really sad. and a few posted money, which i understand but i also believe that there’s enough photographers out there to cover everybody’s budget.
this all led me to thinking about the perfect time.
is there ever a perfect time to have photographs taken of your family?
i posted on our wallflower friends blog today about an awesome article i read, which had the overall theme of taking the time to slow down and appreciate life and the everyday beauty that surrounds us. in a swirly kind of way, i feel what i shared there and what i’m sharing here is totally intertwined.
it’s so easy to say –
i’m too fat.
i have too much going on.
we’re too busy.
maybe next year.
but i just want to say STOP IT! we need to take the time to appreciate the value of family photos, if not for ourselves (because we’re too fat or whatever), then for our children. in 20 years, your children are not going to say,
i really love this photo of my family but i wish my mom had waited until she lost some weight.
and i think about steve’s mom, who died when she was 40, only months after being diagnosed with breast cancer. steve was five at the time she passed away. he cherishes every single photo of his mom (not just the ones where she was thin, beautiful and looked perfect).
and kirsten sandstrom, who recently passed away at the age of 37, leaving behind a husband and three young boys. i don’t think for one second that those boys will look at photographs of their mom (who pre-cancer probably wished she could have lost some weight) and see her as anything except the most amazing and beautiful mom there ever was.
we never know what tomorrow will bring our way. and life is quickly racing by; before we know it, our kids will be grown and leaving the house.
NO, THERE IS NO PERFECT TIME.
i hope that this will inspire someone, who might be waiting for that perfect time or to lose a couple of pounds, to book a photographer…today!
and let us all try to slow down, remember what’s important and see and hear the everyday beauty that surrounds us. © deb schwedhelm | tampa family photographer
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Gulp. Sigh.
Still catching my breath on this one. What a beautiful reminder of our days — and the opportunity to capture the beauty in each one of them.
We chase hard after “perfect,” and miss beauty right under our nose.
So true! I’ve shared this article everywhere, on my personal FB page, on my professional page… Thanks for the reminder!
you just photographed by best friend serena so i wanted to come check you out! i have to say i am overwhelmed by what a beautiful spirit you have and i am so very grateful for the gift you have given my dear friend it means so much to her as i am sure you know! this post resonates with me as i avoid {family} photos because i am very judgmental about my looks and have to have the perfect pose to be happy with the way i look in a picture…thank you for reminding me that i am beautiful and that time is too short and waiting is not and option. you are lovely and amazing indeed <3
Wow this blog really touched my heart…My son was married Saturday August 7th 2010..I did not want my picture taken because of all the extra pounds that have accumulated..I even said to the photographer I hate having my picture taken..because I am so over weight..If I had read this first I doubt I would have said that to Meghan from Double Exposure…
I am a cancer survivor almost 9 yrs…what a beautiful woman Kirsten is..the photographs of her and her family will always be cherished…
Couldn’t agree more, sharing this post- thank you.
I am so happy that I came across your site and blog. We were just in Tampa and so wish that I could have met you! I love your work! AMAZING!
Angel
Great article. Thanks for writing it. So true. I just booked my family portraits for September! Yay!
I always try to encourage our mom’s to get family photos in the near future or their child’s session. But RARELY push the issue of having them done that day. However, this one particular day, I would not quit pushing the issue and convinced the mom to just get a couple of shots done with her kids while she was there. Her hair was a mess, she had no make up on and was in a simple blue t-shirt that happened to go with what she had dressed her kids in. I simply told her that I did not expect her to buy them but she would at least have a copy with her proofs. As expected, she did not buy them, but had decide that she would get her family photos done… eventually.
Well, about 3 years goes buy, and I had forgotten all about the session until I read in the paper that a local school teacher and her 2 small children were in a fatal car accident. We later found out that while the kids both survived, their mother was killed instantly. I knew I recognized the name. But could not remember if she was a customer or if I just knew of her thru the school. I kept hoping that someone in her family would remember if I had taken any family pictures for them and give me a call.
Sure enough, the kids grandmother was with them the day they had their pictures taken! About 3 months after her daughters death, and finally getting her grandson out of the hospital, she had time to give me a call. She had over heard that I back up all of my pictures to disc, and was wondering if I by chance still had the copies from that session, Thank God, I sure enough did!!!!!
Mom had never gotten around to getting the family pictures done. And like most mom’s they are the ones taking the pictures, not being photographed them selves, even with simple snap shots. Grandma came in and picked out what she wanted and for the very first Mother’s Day after their mom’s death, Grandma gave her grandkids the very Pictures that I had taken 3 years earlier. I know these kids said nothing of how mom had no make up on or her messy hair. Just that Mom was holding them, and kissing their cheeks.
I know that ,everyday, I get to preserve a memory for a lot of people. I feel privileged to be a part of their lives and to be able to capture a time that will come and go faster than we think it will. It is true that a picture says a thousand words, but it is also true that a picture can bring you joy, peace and a simple reminder of the love that surrounds you.
I have sense learned that any time I can get the parents in front of the camera is an opportunity that I must take. Even if it is not the best shot, and the parents are not dressed for the part, I do try to sneak in a couple candids of the parents. I also do not allow them to delete them, they can have the proof, put it in a drawer some place and forget about it. When it is needed, the picture will find it’s way back to you.
Great-full to be a photographer,
Jen of Jen’s Photographic Memories:Salem, Ohio
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