Why you should take more photos of your family
My mum and sister, at our first family gathering after lockdown
“Life moves pretty fast…”
As Ferris Bueller once said, “…if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
It seems all of us are struggling with just how quickly time seems to pass these days. We lead busy, hectic lives. Often stressful, normally hard work, sometimes joyful, at times peaceful, occasionally mundane. It’s a rich tapestry, as they say.
However we’re experiencing time, one thing we can be sure of is that it only goes in one direction, and it ain’t slowing down. Whether we’re reminiscing about the past, planning for the future, or enjoying being in the moment, we want to be able to hold onto it.
My niece with Grandad, Christmas 2017
Why family photos matter
Photos are an amazing way for us to do this. They freeze time, capture a moment, and tell a story. Family photos are a gift: a legacy for you, your children, and future generations. It doesn’t matter whether you are on an amazing adventure together, or simply documenting quiet moments at home. These images matter, and none more so than those of the people you love.
Even the most ordinary family moments deserve to be remembered. Your photos tell the story of the life you’ve lived, and the love you’ve shared. When you look back on them in years to come, they will be full of meaning, and among your most valued possessions.
My nephew trying his hand at the ukulele
Your photos don’t need to be perfect
…they don’t even need to be technically ‘good’. But if you approach photography with attention, and an open heart, you’ll find that you are creating important images that you will cherish for years to come.
So I encourage you to take more photos of your family. As you do, don’t look for perfection, don’t worry about telling people to look at the camera, and there is no need to say ‘smile!’. Look for connections, personality, interactions, relationships, expressions, unexpected moments, quiet moments of reflection. Look for the beauty in your everyday lives.
I’ve created a slideshow of images I have taken of my family taken over the last few years (sound on!). Not all portfolio material by any means, but for me and the people I love, they are honest, moving, and important. They connect us to each other, and to the past. They help us make sense of time, and perhaps, just for a moment, slow it down.
If you’d like to take better phone camera pictures…
As the adage goes, the best camera is the one you have on you. Our phones have made photographers of us all, recording our everyday experiences, holidays and fun times together. As a photographer it’s easy to get snobbish about phone cameras. For sure, they don’t have all the capabilities of a ‘proper’ camera. But they have many unique advantages, and some of my most precious pictures were taken with my phone. I’ve written a guide to taking better photos with your phone camera, which you can download here.
If you’d like to be in the photos for once!
Step out from behind the camera, relax, and let me do all the work. All you will need to worry about is being present and engaged with each other. If you’d like to know more about my approach to family photography and details about my sessions, prices and packages, just download my brochure here.
Thinking of booking a family photo shoot in the spring?
If you’d like to get to the front of the queue for spring shoots, you can join my Wait List here. You’ll be first to know when dates are released, have first dibs on sessions for March, April and May, and get a Wait List discount.