Your Family’s Story Needs to be Told

I often hear from friends that I am crazy for investing in family portraits year after year after year. That phones take amazing pictures and that is all that they need. That as long as they have pictures of their kiddos that is all that matters. WRONG. On so many levels. Pictures are a way to tell your story, your family’s story!

I preach to GET IN THE PICTURE! Seriously, have pictures taken with your whole family in the frame. You will thank me later. In fact, I have a client/friend who contacted me last minute to get on my schedule for an extended family session. Her Dad was sick and they were not sure how much time he had left. I found a time and got them in. You know why? Because those pictures are going to be heirlooms, all that is left of her father, a way for her family to remember him.

Well, unfortunately he passed away about a month ago and when I sent my friend my condolences, she told me how grateful she was that I had been able to get them that one last photo shoot with her father. Tugs at the heartstrings, doesn’t it? My kids are older (10 and 13) and we still do family portraits every year. Everyone hates it and gets mad at me. They all act like toddlers (yep, even my husband) but we do it because I know how important it is.

Why Your Family’s Story Needs to be Told

I was cleaning out my closet a few months ago and came across a box of pictures. My kids and I spent hours going through them talking about each one and who was in it. I had photos of my grandmother and my great grandparents in that box. Photos of my mother when she was a child, and of me when I was a child. There were photos of my father and my step father neither of whom my children ever got to meet as they passed away before they were born.

My kids got a big laugh over the clothing and hairstyles that I had in those images. They even got to see baby pictures of themselves, family pictures when they were younger and, as they say, Daddy had way more hair. Lol! It was such an eye opening experience. Not once did they comment about someone’s weight or that they were not perfectly put together. All they cared about was learning about who those people were in the photos and how they related to them. And they loved seeing how little they were! Please I beg you – tell your family’s story, leave a legacy, get in the picture. Give your family, and the generations that come, a way to know you.

I feel so fortunate that I get to call this work. Who else gets to wake up every single day and help families celebrate life & love? I love that I get to tell their story. It is incredible to be able to create a moment in amongst all of the chaos that is parenthood, where moms and dads can really just focus on the amazing family that they created. I am pretty lucky if you ask me!

Are you are looking for a family photographer? It would be an honor to craft a completely custom portrait experience for you!

To learn more, drop me a note at hello@erinjachimiak.com or click here.