One of the highlights of being three years old: everything around you is new and exciting, and with your new found ability to engage with the world, you love to ask one thing:
WHY?
My daughter's favorite question has gotten me thinking of late. The last years of my life have been spent in much the same manner: asking why. Why do we act without thinking? Why do you consume without questioning? Why do we spread hatred all while expecting the world to turn fully to love?
On an unrelated but actually very related note, I've been asking why every time I pull up my instagram feed lately. I follow a lot of very talented wedding photographers. Don't get me wrong, I respect their work, and the incredible amounts of effort that go into every photo they take. But lately, as I mindlessly scroll through those photos, seeing wedding after wedding after perfect wedding (and I'm one of those who posts lots of wedding photos, so maybe I'm throwing myself under the bus here, too), I find myself growing tired of seeing brides and grooms in stunning locations posing in a way that makes their hair, their makeup, their bodies and their clothes look... perfect.
Friends, perfection isn't real.
I do not deny the desire, or even the need for gorgeous photos from your wedding day. What kind of wedding photographer would I be if I denied that need? I do truly believe that everyone deserves beautiful pictures.
BUT WHY?
So you can print out a huge canvas of yourselves on a mountain and hang it over your bed? Hell yeah.
So you can share a thousand photos of how perfect your day was, and how beautiful you looked, and how stunningly handsome your person is? Maybe.
But here's what it actually comes down to-- for me at least.
Your 89 year old grandma, caught up in the high spirits, threw her cane aside and danced the boogie at 10pm on a Saturday night.
Your four year old niece insisted on meticulously sprinkling EVERY LAST ONE of her flower petals before she sat down and let you walk down the aisle.
Your groomsman dove/tackled you into the family pond, effectively ruining your suave look and really getting the party started.
Your favorite people in the world flash mobbed you during the reception, belting out Justin Bieber at his finest.
Your parents on the dance floor, moved almost to tears, held each other closer than they have in years.
Your dear friend was present on your day, living and laughing and loving, who will, only weeks later, pass away unexpectedly.
That is why. Because you don't only hire a photographer to capture you at your finest (which you should). You hire them to capture photos of grandma, auntie, best friend, cousin you haven't seen for twenty years, your sons, his daughters, whatever your family/friends/loved ones look like. I will be there to take photos of them on one of the happiest days of your life. And you will have those photos to treasure forever.
Because the value of photography only grows with time. Fifty years from now, can you imagine?
*All of these are based on things that really happened at weddings. Totally. Worth. It.
Let's talk, friends, and preserve some memories together.
