The Pitzers had their whole big extended family at St. George Island for vacation, so why not spend an hour at sunset on the beach getting portraits done? Olyn and I were thrilled to capture these memories for them– their big rowdy family and then lots of the individual smaller families, siblings, grandkids, etc.
Many of you have realized that I have been in a total fog for the last month. One month ago, our nine year old bulldog, Bella, went to sleep and did not wake up. If you are not a dog person, this heartbreak probably does not seem that severe, but for me this has been a significant loss. It has taken me a month to post this and even as I type, tears are flowing down my cheeks.
Bella was my first dog, my first baby and a wonderful friend to me. She was basically me in dog form. She was sassy, silly, stubborn, loyal, protective and loving. She was the first real commitment Olyn and I ever made as a couple. She came along before our first home, our marriage or our children. She taught me volumes about love and devotion and I will be forever grateful to her in so many ways.
I am faced with the most hypocritical regret I can imagine… I have very very few images of Bella and only cell phone photos of her with the boys. I have been saying for about a year that I really needed to bring her into the studio with them for a portrait. As is the case with most families there were always other things going on and I was frankly overwhelmed at the thought of wrangling her and my two wiggly boys. I was in denial about her aging and as a result of my procrastination, I will never have that portrait.
I am posting this not only to let everyone know that I have been lost for the last month and that I am slowly emerging from my emotional stupor, but also to encourage anyone out there who was procrastinating the way I was to please have their family photographed. It doesn’t matter who is behind the camera or how you are dressed… you need to have your family photographed. I am so sad that my boys will never have a framed image with their wonderful dog and I will forever feel guilty about it.
Be photographed with the ones you love– do it for them and do it for yourself. People run into burning buildings to save photographs. Those who have lost everything almost always stand in the devastation commenting on how they have nothing… not even their photographs. Ten, twenty, fifty years from now, the family portraits you create now will be some of your prized possessions. Don’t have a regret like I do– find the time and have portraits with those whom you cannot imagine life without.
At the Tallahassee Photographers Guild formal print competition last month I was thrilled to merit two of my images! I got lots of great feedback from the panel of judges and these two along with two others have been submitted for the International Print Competition! Wish me luck!
Jordan is an angel. Well, her mom might not agree to that, but any senior who is willing to endure countless mosquito bites during her session without a complaint must be an angel! 🙂 Through the heat and the bugs, Jordan was a total trooper and I think we got some great images despite those challenges! 😉
I love when we can do a senior portrait session at a cool location that includes some of the senior’s hobbies and interests– for Taylor, she is definitely a beach girl, a cheerleader and a bit of a country girl. It was so fun to roll all those things into one portrait session with some sassiness!