Why is photography so important to me?  As I sit here and try to remember how far back I loved pictures, it was a slow rewind of my life.  It was before cell phone cameras were in our pockets, so I believe it was after my mom died when I was 16.  My mom didn’t want to be in pictures alot, she didn’t like the way she looked or maybe she didn’t feel like she was worthy enough.  She always joked and said, “The camera will break if you use it on me”.  I actually hear that alot from many people when I talk to them about getting some updated pictures done.  They always come back at me with “I don’t like the way I look”, “I need to lose weight first”, “I don’t want any pictures of me”, and the list goes on. It really makes me sad because we all have some form of insecurity or something we wish could change or even work on, but you will NEVER get right now back again.

Over the past month, I have seen two lives lost who were actually the same age.  They didn’t know each other, but they did pass on from this world at the age of 37.  They both didn’t know that their time was coming to an end soon, just like most of us and they both left children behind.  One of those individuals that did pass, I had done a photo shoot with her family a few months ago.  When I heard about her passing, I instantly thought of the photo session for 2 reasons.  The first reason is because that is the one and only time I got to meet her and her family and the second reason is because I knew her children and family will have pictures of her and them together right at the end of her life.

My mom was 42 when she passed and I don’t have any kind of pictures like that and I so wish I did.  We just don’t know when its our time, and when it is, its so great to know that our family members can hold on to happy times and great memories when time goes by and our memories start to fade.  Even though I have been doing photography for 9 years, I still never got to have a family photo session of my grandpa and I and I regret that.  Both of my parents are gone and I will never be able to be in one more picture with them with any new phase of my life.  I truly feel like that’s why photography is so important to me.  I want to capture the importance and intimate of a wedding day between two loved ones and the family.  I want to capture a baby turning 1, a pregnant mother with her 1st or even 5th child, a cute mini at the fair with the family having fun and the list goes on.

My husband and I talk about money and going and having fun and we are smart with our money, but we sit down and talk about what is important.  In a few months I will be going to Vegas to see the Backstreet Boys, its been a dream of mine since I was 10.  Money is tight and it will be a challenge to get there, BUT someone asked me if they think maybe its a sign I shouldn’t go.  My response was, “This may be my one and only time I will ever get the chance to see them.  They may go in retirement after this or I may get pregnant and start a family.  Ten years from now I’m not going to be in debt over this Vegas trip, but I will always have the memories”.

That my friend is how I feel about pictures.  I know that pictures are a luxury, you don’t need pictures, but investing in pictures is something you will have forever.  You can spend some money now that you may feel it your pocket temporarily, but in a few months you wont, you will have captured memories for you and your family to have a lifetime.  When I tell you I love photography, yes its an art, its being creative, but its something I feel like I can give back to someone.  I truly want the experience of taking the pictures to be fun and I want smiles on your face when its time to see the pictures completed.

I will leave with this, it is the quote I use on my photography page, right when you enter my website….

Photographs will become the most important, when they are all you have left.

*Pictures done by Chae Photography*