You Won’t Miss Your Photos Until It’s Too Late

June 02, 2010

As a photographer with a “high-tech” camera, I’m used to the fact that I’m usually the one taking photos, not smiling in them. About a month ago, we celebrated Billy’s birthday with 30 of our closest family and friends and of course I forced everyone to pose for a snapshot. Wanting to prove that I was actually at the event, I asked a slightly tipsy friend to take a photo of me and my Grandfather. This was the result…

Pretty terrible and this was the only shot of us the whole night. I didn’t think much of it until my Grandfather was rushed to the hospital less than a week later. He’s still there. And I’m extremely mad at myself. Not for letting someone take a bad photo of us, but because the last photo I took with my Grandfather was at my wedding a few years ago. I’m mad because I take hundreds of photos every month and yet I rarely take photos with the people that matter in my life. The photos that I would save first if my house was burning down...the photos you can never take after someone is gone and you realize too late.

I had a depressed bride email me last week telling me her family had talked her into hiring a cheaper photographer. Brides often cut corners on photography to pay for fancier meals and venues. Do you remember what you ate at the last wedding you attended? Neither does anyone else, even if it cost $100/plate and yet the moments are gone and the photos can never be captured again and they realize too late. I know because I hear this all the time from guests viewing my work and it breaks my heart.

So I’m on a mission to photograph what matters most to me more often. Though my visit was short, I was sure to snap a few shots with my parents and Grandma this holiday weekend. In fact the whole family (I have 30 first-cousins on one side of the family!) is itching to get a copy of Grandma’s portrait because it’s been years since she had one too.

Don’t wait until it’s too late!

Posted In:
The Deelicious Life, Wedding

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