Why should you take family portraits? {Austin Photographer}

When people ask me why I love being a photographer, the answer is simple.  I get to capture life memories and stories that people will hold onto forever.  In a moment they can look at a picture and be transported to the exact moment the picture was taken.  Remember every emotion.  We often measure time by how our family grows. So here are just a few reasons capturing those special times with a family portrait may be more important than you'd realized.

1. From a parents point of view 

"I treasure these pictures. With all of my heart. In spite of the grumbling, whining, rolling of eyes, muttering under the breath that I endured each year to get my family to cooperate. It is worth it. Really, it is."

2. Document your family history for your children

I know that the shelf in my house of family photo albums gets pulled out and we can spend hours looking through them.  It's a reliving of memories, laughing at how times change, and realizing how valuable life is and the relationships and friendships we have.  Exhibit A.. how times of changed since this family picture of us was taken in England in the early 90's. 

3. Life is unpredictable

Have you ever gone through the album pages of your parent’s wedding album? I'm sure you've heard of family members who have past away and crazy stories about them and their character.  Life is fleeting – we never seem to know how long we will have; photographs document the people we love.  

4.  To capture the growth of your children at different stages

If you laid out a storyboard of birth to early 20s, it would be truly amazing to see the progression and the growth. In the beginning years of childhood the face changes, their size, even the eye color from birth to one year. I get such joy out of taking pictures of youngsters because years later, it's a joy to look back and remember them so joyous and innocent.

5. Pictures are a forever treasure

When you take a picture, at that very moment, you just took a snapshot of your life. It's a picture that will be forever remembered when you look back. You can share a picture with someone, and several years down the road, you can say, "wow, I remember that." A picture is a memory of our past.

6. Pictures tell a life story

A picture is more than just a picture. It's life, its past and it's present. It's speaks of not only who you were, but where you have been, and what you have made of your life. There is something about a picture that explains it all.