We’re all telling a story, each day of our lives. Every little decision, every word, and every interaction with each other goes into a big book chronicling our lives. We’re adding onto it each day, with new experiences, new hardships, and all the joys that come from living out each day. We remember the previous pages of this book, but as we try to think about the earliest entries, they become hazy, and over time we can’t remember them anymore. Thankfully, we have things that help us remember those important moments from a time long past. Namely, photographs. Memories captured and put onto paper, moments that we can hold in our hands to jog a memory forgotten. For mothers, these moments fly by us before we realize how important they are, and they’re quickly covered by the pile of daily duties that we become so busy with.
Your kids are precious, your family of the utmost importance. We’re so busy with work, taking care of children, cleaning, homework, studies, and just plain tiredness that we often let those moments slip by us, and so slip out of our memory. It’s so important to memorialize and capture these moments, especially as a family. We want to chronicle each stage of growth, and the only way to do that is to regularly take photos together. Sometimes, we convince ourselves that it’s not important to do this every year, and only do it ever so often. That approach leaves gaps in our histories that we have to fill in somehow. We should want to create an authentic biography, one that spans each year and accurately tells the story of our family. This repetition is important for your own memories, and for practicality. Choosing one family photographer and sticking with them allows you to develop a relationship with them, and your kids will feel more comfortable around them after each shoot. It’ll help them to build trust, and the more they see the photographer, the easier it’ll be for them to open up and be themselves. We all know what it’s like to be around a stranger, and for a little one, it can be scary to have someone they don’t know pointing a camera at them. That’s to be expected regardless, but the more the stranger becomes a friend, the more you’ll see those tiny smiles and hear those cute laughs, and the less posed your family pictures will seem! And this isn’t just practical for your kids’ comfort level, it’s good for retaining a certain style and theme for your family each photo shoot you have. If you’re bouncing around from photographer to photographer, then you have to tell them all about what you like over and over again. Imagine your photographer like your hair stylist: the more they know what you like, the easier it’ll be the more you visit them. If you like a specific atmosphere for your family photos, the best photographers will know how to incorporate that into any session, and they’ll be able to offer advice or ideas on how to make it even better. They’ll be able to do this more and more as time goes on and your relationship improves, and they’ll feel more comfortable sharing their creativity with you to get the most out of your family session!
It’s one of the best feelings to be able to have a whole wall of photographs that chronicle the very beginnings of your family, all the way to where you are now. For a lot of us, that means that we can see the kids that have grown up (and moved out, right?) anytime we want to, and for the young families just starting out, it’s an important tradition to start that you’ll reap the benefits from year after year. Having a professional photographer take your family photos, and having the same one do it over and over, will only bless your family. It’s a practical move, and it’s a nostalgic one, where the photographer becomes a part of your family too. You’ll meet and spend time with someone who really cares for your family, and wants just as much as you do for you to see a beautiful memorial of your family, anytime you want to.
We here at Marie Holmes Photography want to help you capture your family’s history, one of the most beautiful stories being told. Contact us today to set up your next family session!