Why I’ll Always Prioritize Family Photos

If there’s one tradition we’ve kept every single year, it’s making time for family photos.

Every time I start planning a session, I find myself wondering if this will be the year we skip it. Life always feels full, especially with little ones. It can feel difficult to find a weekend that works for everyone, not to mention choosing outfits, hoping everyone stays healthy, watching the weather forecast, and crossing my fingers that at least one child is in the mood to smile.

However, by the time the session actually arrives, I always remember why it’s worth it!

Family photos aren’t really about documenting what we looked like as much as they are about preserving a season. And as you know, living as present as possible to the season I’m in is so important to me.

When I flip through old photo galleries, I notice the things I never would have thought to remember on my own. The features in my children’s faces that have already changed through the years and the small interactions between all of us that I love having caught on camera.

These details might quietly disappear while we’re busy living our everyday lives, if we don’t capture them!

One of the things motherhood has taught me is that childhood changes gradually enough that we don’t always notice it happening. Photographs have a way of giving us some perspective.

Plus, our children can look back one day and see themselves in previous years. They can see how they’ve changed and how throughout every season, they’ve been surrounded by love.

That’s really what these sessions have become for me. They’re less about creating the perfect Christmas card and more about preserving our family’s story while we’re still living it.