My 9-hour drives to PA are made a lot more enjoyable by my satellite radio. Last week as I was driving home I was channel surfing and came across a talk show where they were discussing how to avoid the high cost of professional photography for a wedding. Basically the dilemma was how to get high quality, artistic, out-of-the-box different, reliable service…without actually paying much for it. Callers talked about their experiences using a friend, an art or photography student, a hobbyist, or someone who does it on the side without a registered (ie, tax paying) business. Several said they were thrilled with their choices, and some said they were sorely disappointed.

Let me say that I am in a fairly contemplative mood nowadays, as I just had another birthday and we are preparing to move into our dream home in just over a week. But I feel like I just have to share my thoughts on this topic, as it is a question that I myself struggled with as a young mom – why custom photography?

I have always loved photography, even more so when I had children and wanted to capture my wonder at their beauty and their personalities. I knew I didn’t want to forget any of it. I spent so much time trying to breathe in the moments, burn what they were like into my memory forever. I seriously did not believe that I would ever forget the way they looked, sounded, smelled, laughed. I almost didn’t even bother labeling the backs of photographs with dates and ages – I knew that I would instantly remember what age they were in those images, and where it was taken and why.

I was pretty good with a camera, and I was proud of a lot of the images I captured of their sweet faces and expressions and little outfits. I got lots of fun photojournalistic shots that I thought were very cool. I didn’t feel like I needed to spend money on custom photography when I took such great pictures, and besides, there were cute outfits to buy.

Well here it is, nearly thirty years later. The girls are grown, and I’m a nanna. I have been packing up old photo albums and scrapbooks for our move and have had some very sweet moments looking through them. But my underlying thought when I look at them is a feeling of a job not quite complete, and certainly not worthy of its goal of capturing my children completely and beautifully.

What I didn’t realize is that my “mommy goggles” colored the greatness of those pictures I took. At the time, my heart filled in the slight blur, the poor color, the over or underexposures. All I could see were my kids, like a mom views a child’s crayon drawing with pride because her darling produced it. And guess what? The memories do fade. I have to try to decipher an unmarked photo – sometimes I can’t even tell which baby it is!

I want to encourage all of you to take lots of photos, learn all you can about photography, document every happy moment. But I also want to share my experience with you in the hopes that you will not repeat my misguided mistakes. Especially in this economy it is important to cut back on unnecessary expenses, and certainly custom photography is a luxury. But I will tell you that it is one luxury that I wish I would have dedicated more resources to. I always managed to buy them cute clothes that are now so forgotten that it isn’t even funny. I took them to chain store studios to save money, but those images of them with giant bunnies for Easter are not something I would display in my home as art now. How I wish I would have supplemented my own pictures with professional ones!

Over the next few weeks I will be writing about all of the things that make custom photography worth it – and why it costs what it does. I don’t want to convince you just because I’m now a professional photographer (!). It’s because I want to make sure that you don’t have the same sense of loss that I do when the day comes that you have to pack up your own albums. And that day will come faster than you can believe possible.

(Anderson SC photographer, Lake Keowee Photographer, Washington PA photographer)

This little sweetheart has been in front of my camera almost yearly since she was a tot, and it’s always such fun to see her grow and change. The camera just loves her, and so do I! Just look at what we got this year:

Clemson SC photographer, Anderson SC children’s photographer, Mt Lebanon PA photographer

I’m a little behind on posting sessions on the blog, but this one just melts my heart. I’ve been photographing Ethan since he was three and I can’t believe how fast he’s growing! His mom brings him to me every year and gets a Storybook, so it’s really fun for her to have a collection of albums that captures his look and personality over the years as he grows. This year he just blew me away with how confident he is, and his new big-boy-non-fake smile is just dazzling!

Everyone always asks for sessions in the late fall to try to take advantage of the beautiful leaves…and you can sure see why!

I think I’ve photographed Julie’s kids for three years in a row now – always a fun time, they are easy & so photogenic! But this year I noticed a change; they are slowly entering that pre-pubescent stage…losing their baby looks….starting to stretch up, thin out, and give us glimpses of the teens that they will be. I love that – and I hate that at the same time. (sigh). But let’s not think about that too much! Just enjoy these wonderful kids, as always dressed perfectly in a fun colorful style that suits them so well!
Last year:

This year:

First of all, Gavin just had his third birthday on Monday – I can’;t believe it! He is getting kind of tough in front of the camera now, but I did get these:

I love his look of pure joy in these one with his Dad:

And then I managed to get Genevieve to actually pose for me (briefly) in exchange for "looking for squirrels" with her:

Then, the next day, I bought her a fairy costume at the Children’s Place which she loved and was able to get pics of her running and pretending to fly:

So sometimes my job is really, really tough. I have to go out on a sunny day and take photographs of handsome young blue-eyed men for their Senior pictures. Don’t you feel bad for me?

Janet wanted to capture her family as it is now, while it is still just the four of them. Her kids are now young adults, and no doubt will be moving on to their own lives and families before you know it. I think they all look terrific, and even though we were all melting down on the day of the session from the heat you would never know it from these images. (and a special thanks to Julie – I don’t know what you were doing behind me to get your dad to loosen up and smile naturally, but it worked!).

Julie hasn’t really taken her boys to have portraits made because they are – well, little boys…who really aren’t themselves when they are confined for a camera. So I went to their beautiful home on a very hot day and had a fun, easy session with two little guys who are so naturally photogenic that it was hard for me to narrow down their image choices! Here are a few of my favorites – Grant, with his soulful eyes that are going to do in the girls someday:

And Kyle, who is so bubbly and always smiling – uh, let’s call his eyes mischievous:

As promised…Brad & Bonnie took full advantage of the balmy evening and the beautiful pool at the Inn. As soon as their reception was officially over, they leaped into their future together:

Followed in about 5 seconds by their wedding party & assorted guests:

Thanks for choosing us to photograph your day – you guys were awesome!