I love shooting weddings. They’re beautiful, happy days filled with wonderful emotions, and most couples understand how important it is to hire a good photographer to document the day in photographs. However, when it comes to documenting our children, these precious little people that fill us with such love and happiness, parents don’t always appreciate the importance of hiring a professional photographer.
Just consider the time and money that you may invest in your family. You purchase a nice home in a good school district and decorate it to be comfortable for your family. Buy a new car that’s large and safe so that you can take your kids to play dates, sports practice, and music lessons. Start a college fund. Take your family on vacation every year. Outfit the children in new clothes. Purchase toys, books, games, and movies to keep them busy.
However, when it comes to actually documenting the children themselves and your relationships with them, how much do you spend? Imagine that you have portraits of your family from last year, five years ago, or ten years ago. How valuable would those photos be to you? When your children graduate high school, get married, or have their own families, how much will they value the photos that they have from their childhood? How valuable is a photo of a mother with her child when that child grows up and is one day burying her mother or if, god forbid, the mother is one day burying her child?
In my mind, photographs are more than just ink and paper. They can be one of the most important, priceless investments that you can make for your family. Sure, life is busy, but children grow up almost before our very eyes. Don’t be left with only memories. Create something priceless for your children.