“I just need a couple of pictures, nothing crazy.” 

If I had a dime for every time I’ve heard that phrase… And I can’t say I blame you for thinking that way. After all, we all have a camera in our hands almost every minute of every day. The value of photos can seem to diminish when they’re always a quick swipe away. So it would make sense that when you come to someone like me, you only want a handful of the “nicer photos”. Just enough to post a few on Facebook. A really good one for a profile picture. Maybe a couple for Christmas cards.

Sound about right?

Or worse yet – you don’t even want to be in photos at all. Because you’re waiting to lose those pesky 15 pounds. Or to find the money to book that photographer you’ve always wanted to work with.

Moms, I’m gonna talk to you for just a minute. Here’s the thing – you were just as hard on yourself 15 pounds ago as you are now. It’s not about the weight. It’s about loving yourself exactly how you are in the season of life you’re in RIGHT NOW. Because when your kids look back at photos years down the road, they’re going to want to see you in them. 

 

 

And that money you need to save up before you’ll even book the shoot…? Let’s get super honest. It’s going to be spent anyway – and on things that won’t last past next week.

But I’m going to dig even deeper on this topic because I want you to understand why photographers are so passionate about the value of photos… 

In the 7 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve received several emails similar to this one:

“Hi Emma, we recently lost _______ and our hearts are completely shattered. I know we only wanted a couple of photos from our session but is there any way we can have all of them? We will gladly pay whatever the cost is, but we would really like any other photos you have from our session. It would mean the world to us. Those photos are all we have left.”

I want you to let those words sink in for a second.

But wait – surely, they have 2,000+ images in the camera roll on their phone – why do they need the professional photos? Because chances are, you’ve probably never printed your cell phone photos to hang on your wall. You’ve probably never ordered a canvas of that selfie you love so much. Don’t get me wrong – I take a million pictures with my phone (just ask my kids).. Those are great. My husband calls those the “shoebox” photos. You know the ones you find stored in a shoebox in the garage. But those aren’t the ones you’ll see in the album on your coffee table… or the ones hanging proudly above your mantle.

These emails usually knock some much needed sense into me too. There are times in this industry that you fall into “cruise control” mode. People constantly tell you that they only need a couple of photos. That they don’t need prints. They’re not interested in the full collection… It really makes you question the value of what you’re doing.

But then I stop and think of these stories.. these families and what these photos now mean to them. Crazy how something you once didn’t give much thought to can become priceless when it’s all you have left.

“In 50 years, the most photographed generation in history will have no pictures. Print what you want to preserve” – Missy Mwac  

– Emma…xo

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To all of my clients, past, present & future – if you ever need help when it comes to printing your photos, creating custom albums or capturing the seasons of life that you never want to forget, I’m here! Reach out to me & let’s tell your story!
www.emmahillxo.com