“I have no idea what we would wear…”

“Maybe after I lose a little weight…”

“My husband hates having his photo taken…”

I’ve heard these and a hundred other excuses for procrastinating family photos. From friends? clients? No, actually. From my own head! Photography is my personal passion and I still have trouble corralling my crew into a session. So, why make 2016 the year you finally book family photos? It’s about so much more than a holiday card. Let me give you a few reasons…

1. The days are long, but the years are short. Sure, it may take an entire bag of skittles to keep your preschooler smiling. Your teenagers may be embarrassed about their braces. The thought of getting everyone clean and dressed exhausts you. But the truth is, you never now what another year will bring. Your three-nager will be a teenager faster than you can sweep the cheerios and figure out Snapchat. Your high school freshman will be a college freshman before you can sing a fight song. So much changes in a year. Do your future self a favor and document this season before it’s gone. The days are long, but the effort is worth it.
2. Your children think you’re beautiful. We are so good at taking photos of our kids. If you don’t have pro photos, you probably have a smart phone full of them right now. Those are so important and wonderful, but let me ask you a question – are you in any of them? You should be. Think of it from your own perspective as a child. What if you didn’t have any old photos of your parents? of you with your parents? Don’t do that to your kids. Sure, you and your husband may not look exactly like your wedding photos, but your children think you are beautiful exactly as you are, this very moment. Think of it as a gift to your adult children and get in front of the camera.  I promise you they’ll be so thankful you did.
3. Your future children-in-law will thank you. What’s almost better than looking at my family’s photos? Looking at my husband’s. Think about it, this person is my best friend in the world. We know each other better than anyone, and yet there are decades of his life I know nothing about. I never got to see him in his awkward braces and no beard stage (sorry, Sugar…). I never knew his baby brother with the orangutan hair (sorry, David…). I didn’t get to go to his sister’s wedding or meet his grandparents. The family photos they have are the closest I get to sharing in those memories. I know it’s hard to think about your babies getting married. But the day is coming when they bring home “The One” and the only thing better than joking about your son’s bleached tip hair phase is having family photos to prove it.
4. They make great gifts. On a lighter note, we are fast approaching the holiday season and you know what that means. Gift shopping. Lucky for you, I think I can speak for all the mom’s and grandma’s out there when I say they would love a new photo of your sweet family to show off.  If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for them. They have lived long enough to appreciate the true value of a family photo. It’s priceless.

Afraid your husband still won’t cooperate? Well, they can be bribed, too. (Wink.) Now that you’re convinced to finally book that session, let’s chat about how to make it as stress free as possible. Yes, you can actually enjoy family photos. We’ll save that for the next post!

I’d love to hear from you! What motivates you to take family photos?