WHY PHOTOGRAPHY?
This very moment, the one you are in right now, is already gone when you finish reading this sentence.
Moments pass immediately, and we take all of them for granted.
When my oldest daughter was in 4th grade, I made the decision to homeschool her. I didn't do it for religious reasons, I did it because I wanted to be the one raising her, and I wanted her, and her sisters to be beyond smart.
What I didn't think about was the school pictures. It didn't take me long to figure it out. I was getting my nephews and nieces school pictures in the mail. That's when I decided I needed to get my camera out.
I came by photography through generations of exposure to it. When my grandmother died, she left me all of her negatives, some of them dating back to 1904. She simply said to "Give them to Cherie, she'll know what to do with them." She took pictures all the time.
When Grandma passed away, they used a photograph I had taken of her for the memorial service simply because she was smiling. In her 94 years on this earth, no one had captured a photograph of her smiling, and we were downright laughing with our heads thrown back when I took it. What a precious, precious memory, just because I was ready with my camera in that very moment.
My dad was always tinkering around with cameras or 8mm film projectors. He liked to play. His brother, too, loves photography, and is a professional. I love our hours together talking shop.
Some people I knew from church noticed the "school pictures" I had taken of my kids. "Hey, can you do ours, too?" That transitioned into photographing high school seniors, and sports teams, and then the high school seniors who got married a few years later, then I would book another wedding from those. Then the bride or groom's grandparents who were going on their 50th wedding anniversary asked if I could take photographs for their parties. Then someone would ask if they could book family pictures.
One of my favorite memories was of a sweet old couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary. They still held hands. She even asked me if I wanted her to kiss him for one of the photos! Of course I did! Moments.
A few weeks later, she passed away, and just a few days after that, he joined her at the pearly gates himself. Those photographs were what the family had left of those last few weeks they spent here on earth.
Moments pass immediately, and we take all of them for granted.
When my oldest daughter was in 4th grade, I made the decision to homeschool her. I didn't do it for religious reasons, I did it because I wanted to be the one raising her, and I wanted her, and her sisters to be beyond smart.
What I didn't think about was the school pictures. It didn't take me long to figure it out. I was getting my nephews and nieces school pictures in the mail. That's when I decided I needed to get my camera out.
I came by photography through generations of exposure to it. When my grandmother died, she left me all of her negatives, some of them dating back to 1904. She simply said to "Give them to Cherie, she'll know what to do with them." She took pictures all the time.
When Grandma passed away, they used a photograph I had taken of her for the memorial service simply because she was smiling. In her 94 years on this earth, no one had captured a photograph of her smiling, and we were downright laughing with our heads thrown back when I took it. What a precious, precious memory, just because I was ready with my camera in that very moment.
My dad was always tinkering around with cameras or 8mm film projectors. He liked to play. His brother, too, loves photography, and is a professional. I love our hours together talking shop.
Some people I knew from church noticed the "school pictures" I had taken of my kids. "Hey, can you do ours, too?" That transitioned into photographing high school seniors, and sports teams, and then the high school seniors who got married a few years later, then I would book another wedding from those. Then the bride or groom's grandparents who were going on their 50th wedding anniversary asked if I could take photographs for their parties. Then someone would ask if they could book family pictures.
One of my favorite memories was of a sweet old couple celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary. They still held hands. She even asked me if I wanted her to kiss him for one of the photos! Of course I did! Moments.
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©CherieElainePhotography2020
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I have other stories, too. So many. And after every session, I KNOW that what I do is an extremely precious gift. Life is short, and keeping record of it is priceless.
In a world of cell phones and selfies, few people are concerned with professional photographs anymore. It is a common conception that those pictures on their phones are "good enough."
I don't want to take precious moments for granted and be happy with good enough!!!! I want those times to be permanent, something to look back on, something tangible to touch and feel and pull out of a box or see hanging on my wall. I want to remember.
When I am asked "why photography?", it is easy to answer. Because I don't ever want to forget, and I don't want my clients to forget either. My kids grew up way too fast. My grandkids are doing the same thing. I've lost some friends over the years, and having photographs of them are so precious to me. And my grandmother, what if she had passed away without anyone having a picture of her smiling?
People are so willing to spend over $100 for ONE dinner at a restaurant that is here today and gone tomorrow (the dinner, I mean). Some of those same people cringe at paying $175 for a photo session that will give them something that is going to outlive them. And guess what? If they spend that two meal amount of money, they will never be forgotten.
That's my why. Photography is my passion, and that's why I do it.
Curious about the photographs I capture? Visit me on the web at www.cherieelaine.photoreflect.com. Scroll through the pages of events. Then think about what photographs are missing from your life. And then take some.
Love you.
Follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CherieElainePhotography/
and Instagram @cherieelainephotography
Follow me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CherieElainePhotography/
and Instagram @cherieelainephotography
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