Memories Are Precious

I got my first journal from my grandmother.
 
It had dolphins on the front and I loved it.
 
That first book lasted me four years, because I hardly wrote in it the first three. As bad as my handwriting and spelling were when I was young, I love reading my old journals. I have six completed books that span pretty much my whole remembered life and almost my whole homeschooling journey.
 
I am all about memories. I can hardly throw a photograph away. On my corkboard, I have a photo of my brother's baseball team, only some of the team is cut off, because I messed up the printing. He got a new one, with everyone, but I couldn't throw the photo away! Some of my most prized possessions are my scrapbooks, photo albums, journals, letters, and memory boxes. These are the things that are irreplaceable.
 
When I look back through these things, I see the life that shaped me. I see the victories and heartbreak. I read my old journals and I laugh and cry. I see God at work. I remember.
 
This is a huge factor that shapes my photography business; a large part of my why. Why I do what I do and why I love it. A photograph is only a snapshot of a moment, but it triggers so many memories of an event or an experience. You might have forgotten about something, but when you see a photograph of it, suddenly you remember. You can look at old photos with friends and family and share the memories and laughter. Everyone connects to photos. You can see so much emotion in a single frame, if the photographer is good at what they do. (Hopefully I am!)
 
Memories are a big deal to me. I save them up to the extent that I might go a bit overboard :) My granddad was really into genealogy, so maybe my obsession with personal history is from him. I want to remember and share my life with my kids and grandkids one day. That's my goal for your photographs as well. To create precious images that freeze a moment in time so you can look back on and remember.