Reasons you NEED to hire a professional family photographer

If there is anything that I believe in with all of my heart, especially as a mother… it’s that every single family deserves beautiful, FUN, and authentically true images of their family!  Images that they can look back on in one year, five years, ten years and then twenty years to remember that season of life!  Images that are true to who they are one hundred percent, images that capture their own special magic, and most importantly images that make you FEEL how much love there is in those bonds of parent and child/husband and wife/brother sister!

These days, everyone has a great camera and we all click away trying desperately to freeze these moments in time.  We use any means we can to capture our stories and our legacies and it makes my heart so happy!  Our moments need to be captured!  These moments, especially with young children are so fleeting and it is my hope that you are chasing every single smile, laugh, canon ball and adventure!

Sometimes though, we can’t always catch the moments on our own!  We all need a little help every now and then and so it’s my sincere hope that families are able to hire a professional photographer at least once a year!  I know for many it can seem like a lavish or unnecessary expense:  I have a good camera and I’m doing a great job on my own.  Why do I need to hire someone to take pictures of my family?!  Believe me, I thought that way too for a long time, until I finally corralled my family out to the beach for our own photo session.  There are so many benefits and reasons why you need to hire a professional family photographer and I want to share 7 of my top reasons with you!

1. Every family member needs to be present!  When you hire a professional photographer, whomever the resident “photo taker’ of the house gets to finally be present in the images!  As the mom and the photographer of my own little family,  I have a million images of my son and my husband and son.  I’m never able to be IN the images because I’m responsible for documenting our moments.  It’s important for everyone to be present.   Years from now we will look back at all the adventures we captured and realize that our story is living and breathing in these images.  I want to be a part of that!  Even though I may not LOVE being in front of the camera because I feel my place is behind the camera, I know that it’s important for me to be captured as well!  Years from now my son will look back on these images and remember me.  He will see all the small details that make up his mother.  He will see how we were together, all of us, as a family and carry that with him wherever he goes.  This is probably the single most important reason why it’s important to have a professional photographer capture your family!  Everyone needs to be in the image!
2. A professional photographer comes with education, experience and professional equipment!  These images WILL be beautiful!  They will be crisp and clear and have a certain style to them that you have researched and found fits your family.  As a professional photographer, I have spend countless hours on education and technique so that each one of the families that sits before me has the best quality images I can give them.  Your photographer will know which light is the best for your family!  They will have control over their cameras so that they can photograph you in any situation that might arise.  They have the best lenses in order to give you variety and depth in what you see.  Most importantly, professional photographers know how to shoot an image with a composition that is meant to be displayed as art in your home!
3. A professional photographer can rally your family!  It’s important for you to enjoy your family!  It’s important to have images that are authentic and FUN!  A professional photographer will be able to take the stress out of the “annual family photo” by allowing you to just be mom for a little while. One of my favorite things to say to a client before we meet is that this session should and will be fun.  It should feel like a special evening out where you don’t have to worry about anything except playing with your child!  A professional family photographer should be skilled enough and have tricks up their sleeve to make your time together exciting and adventurous for every person involved!  As a mom myself, one thing I adore about having my own family images taken by a professional photographer is that I don’t have to worry about “getting the shot”.  I don’t have to worry about a tantrum or whether or not my son is smiling or running away!  I know that as a professional photographer they have that covered!  I can finally just be present in the moment with my family and not have to think five steps ahead every second!  I can be joyful, relaxed and playful!
4. A professional photographer will see your family in the most beautiful way!  When you find someone that you truly trust to capture your family you should know that they will see your family in a different light than you!  As a parent, sometimes we are “too close” to our subjects.  We can be affected by the days events or whatever might be going on in our daily lives at the moment.  A professional photographer will view you and your family in a clean, bright love light!  They will see you in a way that is fresh and beautiful and as a result will capture images that are also endearing, raw and beautiful!  A professional photographer won’t see the flaws you think you might have, they won’t see the battles that went on to get everyone in the car and to the location.  They won’t feel the frustration or lack of patience.  They will see you in the most beautiful love light that you might not even know how to see yourself and as a result of that new perspective, those images that unfold will touch your heart in a way that can’t be described in words!
5. A professional photographer will have a keen attention to detail!   As a photographer with education and experience under my belt, I can tell you that we see everything!  We are noticing everything around and take in the entire scene.  Each shot is perfectly intentional so that you receive a clean and beautiful image without distractions!  We notice if your hair is out of place and we will fix that!  We will know where the gorgeous light is shining and we will move you in that light so that your unique features truly shine.  We can make a crowded space feel as if you were the only ones present! We are able to give you consistent images that have been handled with the most critical care!  We take care of all the little things so that you can just enjoy these moments together!
6. A professional photographer will be able to capture the candid moments and help you tell your story:  Everyone loves a great posed image.  It’s important to have that one great shot every year where everyone is looking at the camera and happy and joyful.  However, we aren’t always smiling and looking at the camera.  We are living and breathing and interacting and having our own adventures.  It’s in these candid moments that we truly tell the world who we are!  It’s in these candid moments that our story can shine!  A professional family photographer is able to see these moments as they are happening.  They can anticipate a moment and freeze it in time for you to see for years to come.  These are the images that show you just how you love!  These are the images that will live long after the years.  These are the moments that we don’t ever get to see ourselves and when we do… they steal our breath!
7. A professional photographer understands and values photography in a way that truly celebrates every day life!  Most families will hire a professional photographer for the Christmas card photo but true photographers understand the need to document the every day life.  The real life verses the “celebration/special occasion” moments.  These are the moments where we aren’t in our Sunday best and gosh we may not even be on our best behavior.  These are the moments that bring light to who we are when we are alone with each other, left just to love and nurture and care for one another.  These are the moments where our legacy truly lives!

I could go on and on but to me, these are some of the most important reasons why you need to hire a professional family photographer!  These are the reasons that I hire a family photographer to capture our little family of 3 each year.  We can capture so many beautiful moments on our own and we have the ability to tell our story in a way that no one else can.  But, sometimes we just need someone else to step in and show us just how amazing we are when we are living life in the moment.  Sometimes we need a professional photographer to capture us just doing our thing:  being a parent, a wife, a husband, or just loving someone!

Time is fast!  It is like a speeding train that just won’t quit.  Our children grow like weeds and although sometimes the days feel so incredibly long the years we have with them are going to be way too short!  Photographs are what keeps these moments fresh.  Photographers give our fleeting moments life and sustainability!  They give us a gift that can’t be replaced and that’s the ability to visit our lives at any given season or stage and feel the flood of all the emotions and memories rush back into our hearts.

We can’t stop time but we can freeze it.  That’s an investment that is worth every penny!