Why

As photographers we are often asked to explain our Why?  Why do we do this?  Why do we want to document families and relationships? Why? Why Why?

So I'm going to fill you in on mine.  Life is fleeting.  Sometimes more so than you can ever imagine.  I lost my Dad when I was 30.  He was only 57.  I was not the photographer then that I am today and the images I have of him are grainy, out of focus and not of very high quality.  Do I still love these images?  Absolutely.  I will cherish them, they are all that I have.  Do I wish that I could take the pictures then that I do now?  Absolutely.  

I recently lost my grandfather too.  But I had already learned that the people I love will not always be with me.  I made a point to document him with my kids, to photograph him with my grandmother.  To capture more of who he was.  I can't tell you how much these images mean to me now.  

And I want to do the same for you and your family.  When your kids are all grown up, you will treasure the images you have of their lopsided, toothless grin, or their chubby little baby fingers or the way they wrap their hand in your hair while you snuggle.  This is the way I document my own family, these are the moments that evoke the biggest response for me when I look back at them.  Certainly I still love the photos of all of us smiling and looking at the camera, but I can't often put myself back in that moment in time.  But the photos of us all playing or my boys wrestling their dad?  Those I can feel.  I remember those moments and the pictures help me replicate what I was feeling.  And moms, we are such a huge portion of our children's lives and they need to see that.  Too often we are the ones capturing the moment but we need to get in pictures too.  It is so important for our kids to see us there, to see us loving on them.  It doesn't have to be perfect, daily life rarely is, right?  But those little imperfections are what you will want to remember, when these crazy days of rushing around with little sleep are over.  Your kids need to see you.  And I assure you they will not require makeup, or need your hair to be "perfect", to remember the way you cuddled and loved them like crazy.

So when you book a wedding or session with me, I want to get to know you, your loved ones, what's important.   The relationship we create before a session even takes place is important to me.  I want to feel like friends and have fun together so you'll forget about the camera in my hands and just relax and breathe in the space we've created with your loved ones.