Take the pictures

Tue, 31 Dec 2024 12:24:53 -0800

These are my parents. This was an impromtu shot taken at the graduation party of one of their many grandkids.

Our family is very fortunate that we always take pictures at family gatherings or to commemorate milestones, or just because someone was doing something interesting. As a family, we have taken thousands of pictures over the years. When I go back and see pictures of me in my 7th grade basketball uniform, I wonder if we might not have been a little too snap happy, but I digress.

Mom and Dad are gone now, but we have so many images that trigger memories and for that I am extremely grateful. I hope that you and your family do the same and that you also have tons of amazing memories in albums and boxes, and more importantly, displayed on your walls and shelves.

It's so important to take the pictures. When loved ones are gone, pictures are a big part of their legacy and the best way to remember and honor them. In a discussion recently, I was reminded that "memory is fleeting - have something physical to remember". That's why I love to print these images large and hang them on the wall.

I had this image of my parents printed on canvas and it was hung in a place of honor in their living room for family and friends to see. It's now in my home. What better way to bring their memory forward to my grandkids that were too young to know their great-grandparents?

The Image on the Wall

Wed, 06 Apr 2022 09:36:02 -0700

Say hello to my Mom. This is her senior portrait. The first time I saw it was hanging on the wall of my Grandparent's farmhouse living room. I looked at it every time we visited. She is the eldest of six kids, and each of them had a senior picture hanging on that wall.

The senior portrait experience has changed a bit from 1956, when this image was taken.

Her senior class was loaded onto a bus (there weren't many of them), driven to the photography studio in town, and photographed. The studio provided the jewelry and the black shoulder drape for each of the girls. There was no makeup artist, no hair stylist. They sat down, were posed by the photographer, and got one picture. Click - NEXT! I can't imagine that it took more than an hour to shoot the whole class and load them back on the bus. The 8x10 of Mom on the wall was the only print I ever saw.

What I remember about my own "senior session" in 1976 consists of my putting on a jacket and tie, being posed on a stool, and having a few images taken. I don't really remember the studio, the photographer, or anything else about it. I think we bought an 8x10 (still on the wall at Mom's house) maybe a couple of 5x7's for grandparents, and some wallets. We swapped wallets with friends at school back before cell phones made that pretty much obsolete.

Today, things are much different, as you're aware. These days, at a minimum, kids are getting a couple of outfit changes, and some studio time and outdoor location(s). I shoot them with their pets, their cars or trucks, in uniforms, with musical intstruments, you name it. It can be a whole afternoon of shooting and some folks get multiple sessions - spring and fall. The experience is on par with a magazine shoot for a celebrity - and that's a great thing. I love providing that for my seniors. My hope is that they remember it for the rest of their lives.

Families buy big canvas prints to hang on the walls, they get beautiful albums with 20 or more images, which is amazing.

But in the end, every time I shoot a senior, I think about my Mom's single image. It reminds me that the REAL goal is to provide my seniors and their families - current and future - with images that make them stop and look and get the same feeling I got as a kid looking at her image on the wall.

patward

Take the pictures

The Image on the Wall