This is long so bear with me! When I share images of our family, I always see comments about how much fun we have or how crazy our lives must be. In reality, our everyday life seems kinda boring. We wake up and do the same things over and over. On some days we may do something fun like go to the park or maybe take a small trip, but at the end of the day, our life is no different than the majority of everyone else who has kids.
We all feel our lives are a bit mundane because we experience them from the inside. However, what you feel is “boring” and “repetitive” is actually very special. These special moments you live through everyday are fleeting. You read the same boring book to your kids 10 times a day before bed for weeks on end, until one day they don’t like that book anymore. Then, you happily begin a new book.
Years down the road you may stumble upon that book you once dreaded and look at it with a longing. You’ll remember the way it made your child laugh or the way they asked the same silly questions and got excited about the same dramatic part of the story. You’ll remember their favorite page and wish you could read it to them again.
These moments play out in our lives every day. Like dreading the tears you’ll receive when you have to leave for work only to wish they even noticed you were gone 10 years later.
Our images only seem special because they are new to you. You don’t live in our shoes so what you see feels exciting and fresh. Similarly, images of your family will be unique to your life. They will tell your story to the outside world in that same new way.
The key here though is that your children will experience these images with that same feeling of excitement. Like you and me, they won’t remember the full days of their youth. Yes, they will have some key memories, but everything else they have will be based on the images you leave them to look back on.
That’s why I feel family documentary sessions are so important. Not only do they give you and your children the ability to look back at what life was like, but they also give you the ability to remember the things you take for granted. The things you didn’t know mattered to you until they were gone.
If you want images like these for your family, send me a message (hint, I travel 😉)! And please share this post so others know family photos don’t have to be the same old group-hug portraits at the park. The real moments matter.
Hi Guys,
As a photographer and dad I really admire your family photos. I find it so hard to balance family life and the need to document it, and I can tell your have spent time and effort to get those kind of shots. Well done!
Thank you so much!